Pádraic "Podge" Collins (born 14 January 1992) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Gaelic footballer 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 ...

and hurler who plays as a right wing-forward for the Clare senior team. He arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of eighteen when he first linked up with the Clare minor team, before later lining out with the under-21 side. He made his senior debut in the 2012 championship. Collins has since gone on to play a key role for Clare, and has won one

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. At club level Collins is a dual senior championship medallist with

Cratloe Cratloe () is a village in County Clare, Ireland, situated between Limerick and Shannon in the mid-west of Ireland. It is possible that the name derives from ''Croit-shliabh'' meaning "hump-backed hill", referring to Woodcock Hill. The present ...

Early life

Born in

Caherdavin Caherdavin () is a northern suburban district of Limerick city in the mid-west of Ireland. It had a population in 2002 of 6,613. Local landmarks include the Moylish campus of the Limerick Institute of Technology, a third level college and research ...

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

, Collins first played competitive hurling whilst at school in St. Caimin's C.S., Shannon. His father,

Colm Colm is a male given name of Irish origin. Colm can be pronounced "Collum" or "Kullum". It is not an Irish version of Colin, but like Callum and Malcolm derives from a Gaelic variation on ''columba'', the Latin word for 'dove'. People * Colm Br ...

, managed the

Clare senior football team The Clare county football team represents Clare in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Clare GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Irelan ...

from 2013 onwards.

Playing career

Minor and under-21

Collins first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Clare minor team in 2010. He won his first

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

medal that year following a 1-16 to 1-11 defeat of

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

. Clare subsequently qualified for the All-Ireland decider against

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

, however, Collins's side faced a narrow 2-10 to 0-14 defeat. By 2012 Collins had joined the Clare under-21 team. He won a

medal in that grade as Clare defeated

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

by 1-16 to 1-14. Clare subsequently faced Kilkenny in the All-Ireland decider. After trailing at half-time, Clare outscored their opponents by 1-10 to 0-4 in the second period of play to secure a 2-17 to 2-11 victory. It was Collins's first

medal in the grade. Clare dominated the under-21 series once again in 2013. A 1-17 to 2-10 defeat of Tipperary in the provincial decider gave Collins a second Munster medal. The subsequent All-Ireland saw Clare face first-time finalists Antrim. In a complete mismatch, Clare powered to a 2-28 to 0-12 victory, with Collins collecting a second consecutive All-Ireland medal.

Senior

Collins made his senior championship debut at right wing-forward in a 2-17 to 1-18 defeat by Waterford on 17 June 2012. On 8 September 2013, Collins lined out against

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

in his first All-Ireland final. Three second-half goals through Conor Lehane, Anthony Nash and Pa Cronin, and a tenth point of the game from Patrick Horgan gave Cork a one-point lead as injury time came to an end. A last-gasp point from corner-back Domhnall O'Donovan earned Clare a 0-25 to 3-16 draw. The replay on 28 September was regarded as one of the best in recent years. Clare's Shane O'Donnell was a late addition to the team, and went on to score a hat-trick of goals in the first nineteen minutes of the game. Horgan top scored for Cork, however, further goals from

Conor McGrath Conor McGrath (born 29 May 1991) is an Irish hurler who plays as a left corner-forward for the Clare senior team. Born in Ennis, County Clare, McGrath was introduced to hurling by his father, a Toomevara native who was heavily involved in hu ...

and

Darach Honan Darach Honan (born 21 March 1990 in Clonlara, County Clare, Ireland) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club Clonlara and was a member of the Clare senior inter-county team from 2010 until 2017. Early life Born in Cl ...

secured a 5-16 to 3-16 victory for Clare. It was Collins's first

medal. He rounded off the season by collecting his first All-Star award, while he was also a nominee for Hurler of the Year. In 2014 along with his brother Sean he joined up with the Clare senior football team who were managed by his father Colm. He played during their HFL Div 4 campaign, but missed out on the final. He then lined out in the

Munster Senior Football Championship The Munster Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Munster Championship and shortened to Munster SFC, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It i ...

game with

, he missed out on the replay due to hurling. He returned to the side for the Munster semi final where Clare went down by 4 points to

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in Count ...

. Clare then entered round 2 of the qualifiers where they faced

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...

. Collins scored a goal as his side ran out 4-26 to 2-13 winners. In the next round despite leading for long stages of the game Clare fell short by a point to

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cen ...

. At the end of the 2014 Collins along with his brother reported they would be committing to football only for the 2015 season. In October 2015, it was reported that Collins would again play with the Clare footballers and hurlers in 2016.

Honours

;Clare *

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hurling competition i ...

(1) :

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling Under-20 All-Ireland Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling Under-20 All-Ireland Championship) is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (G ...

(2) : 2012,2013 *

Munster Under-21 Hurling Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Munster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-co ...

(2) : 2012, 2013 *

Munster Minor Hurling Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Minor Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Electric Ireland Munster GAA Hurling Minor Championship) is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Associ ...

(1) : 2010 * National Hurling League Division 1 (1) : 2016 *

Waterford Crystal Cup The Waterford Crystal Cup was an annual hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association from 2006 to 2015 for the top inter-county teams and third-level institutes and universities in the province of Munste ...

(1) : 2013 *

Munster Senior Hurling League The Munster Senior Hurling League (known in some years as the Munster Hurling Cup) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 2016 for the top inter-county teams in the province of ...

(1) : 2016 ;Cratloe *

Clare Senior Football Championship The Clare Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association club competition organised by Clare GAA between the top twelve gaelic football clubs in County Clare, Ireland. The winners represent the county in the Munster Senior ...

(2) : 2013, 2014 *

Clare Intermediate Football Championship The Clare Intermediate Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition organised by the Clare GAA, Clare County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association for the second tier football teams in the county of County Clare, Clare in Ir ...

(1) : 2009 *

Clare Senior Hurling Championship The Pat O'Donnell & Co. Senior Hurling Championship, more commonly known as the'' Clare Senior Hurling Championship ''or'' Clare SHC, ''is an annual hurling competition organised by the Clare County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. It ...

(2) : 2009, 2014 *

Clare Under-21 Football Championship The Clare Under-21 Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association club competition between the under-21 Gaelic Football clubs in Clare. The current (2022) champions are Ennistymon who defeated their North Clare neighbours Cor ...

(2): 2009, 2011 Awards * GAA-GPA All-Star Award (1): 2013 * ''

The Sunday Game ''The Sunday Game'' is RTÉ's main Gaelic games television programme. It is shown on RTÉ2 every Sunday during the Football Championship and Hurling Championship seasons. It is one of RTÉ2's longest-running shows, having been on air since 197 ...

'' Player of the Year (1): 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Podge 1992 births Living people All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners All Stars Awards winners (hurling) Bank of Ireland people Clare inter-county Gaelic footballers Clare inter-county hurlers Cratloe hurlers Dual players