Oisín Kiernan (born 1 October 1992) is an Irish

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

er who plays for the Cavan county team. He plays his club football with

Castlerahan Castlerahan () is a barony in County Cavan, Republic of Ireland. Baronies were mainly cadastral rather than administrative units. They acquired modest local taxation and spending functions in the 19th century before being superseded by the Local ...

, having previously played for the St Brigid's club in Meath.

Playing career

Club

St Brigid's

Kiernan played with the St Brigid's club from a young age, and later joined the club's senior team. Kiernan played with the club up until he suffered a

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in a toy Jacob's la ...

injury at the age of 23, which kept him out for seven months.

Castlerahan

Kiernan transferred to Castlerahan for the 2017 season. On 8 October 2017, Kiernan was at full back for the county final against

Cavan Gaels Cavan Gaels is a Gaelic Athletic Association club from Cavan Town, County Cavan in Ireland. They are affiliated to Cavan GAA. The club was founded in 1957 following the merging of two clubs in Cavan Town, Cavan Harps and Cavan Slashers. They are ...

. Kiernan scored two points but for the third consecutive year, Castlerahan came out on the losing side. In 2018, Castlerahan were in the county final once again where they faced

Crosserlough Crosserlough, historically known as ''Cros Ar Loch'', is a large civil parish in southern County Cavan, in the province of Ulster, Ireland. It is located between Ballyjamesduff and Lough Sheelin. The parish consists of three areas. Kilnaleck, w ...

. Castlerahan claimed their first championship, but Kiernan had been diagnosed with cancer and didn't feature. On 5 November, Kiernan started the Ulster Club loss to

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

champions Eoghan Rua. Castlerahan reached the county final for the fifth consecutive year in 2019, facing Ramor United on 13 October. Kiernan scored one point as Castlerahan edged the final for their second title in a row. After a surprise relegation from Senior in 2021, Castlerahan reached the final of the Intermediate Championship in 2022. On 9 October, Kiernan scored a point in the final against Ballyhaise as Castlerahan won by a goal.

Inter-county

Meath

Kiernan represented Meath at under-21 and junior level, but never represented his native county at senior level.

Cavan

Kiernan joined the Cavan panel ahead of the 2018 season. On 27 January 2018, Kiernan made his

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

debut, scoring a point in a draw against

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

. On 1 April, Kiernan was in the half back line as Cavan faced

Roscommon Roscommon (; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60, N61 and N63 roads. The name Roscommon is derived from Coman mac Faelchon who built ...

in the National League Division 2 Final. Roscommon were winners on a 4–16 to 4–12 scoreline. On 13 May, Kiernan made his championship debut in a loss to

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

. Kiernan didn't feature for Cavan in the early part of 2019 as he was going through cancer treatment. On 24 March 2019, Kiernan featured as a substitute against

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

in the National League, and started the Ulster quarter-final win over

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), barony. The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7 ...

on 19 May. Kiernan started the Ulster final loss to

on 23 June. On 22 November 2020, Kiernan was in the half-forward line as Cavan faced Donegal in the Ulster Final for the second year in a row. Kiernan scored two points as Cavan bridged a 23-year gap with a 1–13 to 0–12 win. On 5 December, Kiernan started the All-Ireland semi-final, scoring two points in the loss to eventual champions

. On 9 July, Kiernan started at wing back in the inaugural

Tailteann Cup The Tailteann Cup is a second tier Gaelic football championship competition held annually since 2022 and organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is contested by those county teams who do not qualify for the All-Ireland Senior Foot ...

decider against

Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

. Kiernan scored a point but Westmeath were four-point winners.

Personal life

In September 2018, Kiernan was diagnosed with

testicular cancer Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle, or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility. Risk factors include an u ...

. He had found a lump a month earlier, but didn't get it looked at because he wanted to keep playing football, a decision he later regretted. Kiernan continued training through

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

, and by March 2019, Kiernan was cancer-free.

Honours

;Cavan *

Ulster Senior Football Championship The Ulster Senior Football Championship is an inter-county competition for Gaelic football teams in the province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and begins in early May. The final is usu ...

(1):

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

Division 4 (1):

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

;Castlerahan *

Cavan Senior Football Championship The Cavan Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association club competition between the top Cavan Gaelic football clubs. It was first competed for in 1888. The winners get the Oliver Plunkett Cup and qualifies to represent t ...

(2):

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Cavan Intermediate Football Championship The Cavan Intermediate Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition between the middle-tier Gaelic football clubs organised by Cavan GAA. It was first competed for in 1915, before a lapse prior to being revived in 1 ...

(1):

;Individual * ''Irish News'' Ulster All-Star (1): 2020

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiernan, Oisín 1992 births Living people Cavan inter-county Gaelic footballers Castlerahan Gaelic footballers