Paul Clarke (born 1966 in

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

) is a former

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 played for the

Whitehall Colmcille Whitehall Colmcille (Irish: ''Fionnbhrú Colmcille'' ) is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based on Collins' Avenue in Dublin 9, Ireland. The Club has contributed in a big way to the success of various County Football teams and All Ireland t ...

club and was a senior member of the Dublin county team for a number of years, starting in 1985. He won his only

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

medal in 1995, the same year in which he won his only All Star award. Married in 2015 to Emer Mullaney and first child born Ben Stephen Clarke in June 2016.

Biography

Having played

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

as a child up to Under-14 level, Clarke began playing Gaelic football while at school at St. Aidan's CBS, in

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 ...

. He went on to join

's, his local club, and was quickly noticed and selected for the inter-county Under 14 side, with whom he went on to win an under-14 leinster title. Clarke joined the Dublin minor football team in 1983, and in 1984, led them to an

All-Ireland Minor Football Championship The Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Championship is the premier under-17 "knockout" competition in Gaelic football played in Ireland. 2017 was the final year of the minor under 18 football championship as it were replaced by an under ...

as captain. In 1983, he went on a tour of

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with a colleges team, where try-outs for

Australian Rules Football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

were held, but he was not selected. In September 1994 Clarke signed for

Shelbourne F.C. Shelbourne Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Shíol Bhroin) is an Irish association football club based in Drumcondra, Dublin, who play in the League of Ireland Premier Division. Shelbourne were founded in Dublin in 1895. In 1904 the club join ...

https://archive.irishnewsarchive.com/olive/APA/INA.Edu/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=IND%2F1994%2F09%2F24&id=Ar01502&sk=36BA1330&viewMode=image

Senior inter-county

Clarke joined the Dublin senior panel in October 1985 and had his debut in a win against

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 ...

in a

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 ...

fixture. Over the course of the next decade, he would play in many positions in the backs, midfield and forwards. In 1995, playing in his fourth All-Ireland final, Clarke finally won an

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...

medal, and also won an All Star award the same year.

References

1966 births Living people Dublin inter-county Gaelic footballers Irish firefighters Winners of one All-Ireland medal (Gaelic football) People educated at St Aidan's C.B.S. Whitehall Colmcille Gaelic footballers Shelbourne F.C. players League of Ireland players Men's association football players not categorized by position Association football players not categorized by nationality {{Dublin-gaelic-football-bio-stub