Pádraig Nolan (born 1964) 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 ...

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 and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

, who played for the Kildare county team at minor, under-21 and senior level in the late 1980s. He later managed two county teams:

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

and Kildare.

Early life

Nolan is originally from in

Kilcock Kilcock () is a town and townland in the north of County Kildare, Ireland, on the border with County Meath. Its population of 6,093 makes it the ninth largest town in Kildare and 76th largest in Ireland. The town is located 35 km (22 ...

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

, Ireland. As of his appointment as Kildare manager in 2002, Nolan taught and coached at

Naas C.B.S. Naas C.B.S. ( ga, Méanscoil Iognáid Rís Nás na Riogh) is a Christian Brothers secondary school in Naas, County Kildare, Ireland. History Méanscoil Iognáid Rís is a voluntary secondary school under the trusteeship of the Edmund Rice Sch ...

Playing career

Nolan represented Kildare at the end of the 1980s, a career which included one historic achievement. He was on the Kildare team which lost to Kilkenny in the O'Byrne Cup.

Managerial career

Nolan coached at

St Patrick's Classical School St Patrick's Classical School () is a Roman Catholic-run school for boys in Navan, County Meath. It has produced a number of politicians, journalists, Irish sports personalities, broadcasters and two winners of the Perrier Comedy Award at the ...

, work which produced several members of the Meath county team. He then succeeded

Tommy Lyons Tommy Lyons is an Irish former Gaelic football manager and player from County Mayo who managed two inter-county teams. He was also a regular panellist/analyst on RTÉ's ''The Sunday Game''. Although born in County Mayo, Lyons considers himself ...

as Offaly manager. Nolan was a comparatively young appointment at 35 to the Offaly job in 1999. His first year in charge saw Offaly dethrone the reigning All-Ireland SFC champions Meath in the Leinster SFC quarter-finals. Kildare knocked Offaly out after a replay in following round. In 2001 Offaly saw off

Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

in the Leinster SFC, but narrowly lost to

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 semi-final. With this being the inaugural year of the 'back-door', Offaly had a qualifier game against

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town * Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia **Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * Cou ...

six days later, but lost that game to a late winning point. 2002 was to prove Nolan's final championship in charge of Offaly. After again edging out neighbours Laois in the opening Leinster SFC fixture, Offaly faced Kildare with a place in the Leinster SFC final at stake. Similarly to 2000, Offaly lost in a replay. As was to prove a trait for Offaly, they failed to make progress through the qualifier system and lost to

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 ...

in the first qualifier fixture. Nolan stepped down from the post and was succeeded by Paul O'Kelly. Following on from this, Nolan took charge of Kildare guiding them to the 2003 Leinster SFC final, where Laois defeated his team. Nolan resigned in 2005. He has not managed at inter-county level since.

References

External links

Profile
at

Maynooth University The National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann Mhá Nuad), commonly known as Maynooth University (MU), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. It ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nolan, Padraig 1964 births Living people Gaelic football managers Irish schoolteachers Kildare inter-county Gaelic footballers People from Kilcock