Jarlath "Ja" Fallon (born 1973) 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 ki ...

er who played for the

Tuam Stars Tuam Stars ( ga, Réalta Thuama) is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in the Tuam area in County Galway, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The club is a member of the Galway GAA. Underage teams up to U-16's play in the Galway GAA, Galway lea ...

club and at senior level for the Galway county team. He is regarded as one of the finest players to come from Tuam since

Seán Purcell Seán Purcell (17 December 1928– 27 August 2005), was a Gaelic footballer who played at senior level for the Galway county team. Best known as a centre half-forward, he played in most outfield positions during his career. In 2009 he was ...

and

Frank Stockwell Frank Stockwell (7 December 1928 – 9 March 2009) was an Irish Gaelic footballer who played for his local club Tuam Stars and at senior level for the Galway, Louth and London county teams at various periods between 1949 and 1960. He is regar ...

. He was an integral part of the

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

from 1995 to 2005, winning All Stars footballer of the year in 1998. Fallon was born in

Tuam Tuam ( ; ga, Tuaim , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. Humans have lived in the area since the Bronz ...

and played Gaelic football in primary school at St Patrick's and in secondary school with

St Jarlath's College St Jarlath's College () is a Catholic secondary school for young men in Tuam, County Galway. The college was founded in 1800 and in 2009 absorbed St. Patrick's College, Tuam. The College, which operates under patronage of the Archbishop of Tuam, ...

, both in Tuam. He began his inter-county career with Galway in 1991, having already established himself with his local team

. He became

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the county team after Tuam Stars won the 1994

Galway Senior Football Championship The Galway Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition between the top Gaelic football clubs in Galway. The winners of the Galway Championship qualify to represent their county in the Connacht Senior Club ...

. He led Galway to the 1995

Connacht Senior Football Championship The Connacht Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition for the senior county teams of Connacht GAA. All of the counties of Connacht participate in the championship, as well as counties London and New York. The winning ...

but lost out to the

Peter Canavan Peter Canavan (born 9 April 1971) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer, manager and pundit. He played inter-county football for Tyrone, and is one of the most decorated players in the game's history, winning two All-Ireland Senior Football Ch ...

-inspired Tyrone on a scoreline of 1-13 to 0-13 in the semi-finals of the

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 ...

. Galway failed to build on their success of that year in 1996 and 1997, but things turned around when

John O'Mahony John Francis O'Mahony (1815 – 7 February 1877) was a Gaelic scholar and the founding member of the Fenian Brotherhood in the United States, sister organisation to the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Despite coming from a reasonably wealthy fa ...

was appointed

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 activitie ...

in August 1997. Galway won the 1998 All-Ireland SFC title, with Fallon playing a pivotal role in bringing the

Sam Maguire Cup The Sam Maguire Cup ( ga, Chorn Sam Mhic Uidhir), often referred to as Sam or The Sam , is a trophy awarded annually by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) to the team that wins the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the main competiti ...

back to Galway for the first time since 1966, with notable individual performances in the Connacht SFC final replay against

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 buil ...

, the semi-final against

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 ...

and his second-half performance in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

against

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 ce ...

, in which Galway came from behind at half-time to win by 1-14 to 1-10. He deservedly won Footballer Of The Year that year. Galway failed to defend their title the following year after losing to fierce rivals Mayo in the Connacht SFC final at Tuam stadium. Fallon sustained a cruciate ligament injury in a club game versus UCG in Caherlistrane in 2000. His loss was felt by the Galway team against Kerry in the All-Ireland SFC final that year, which Kerry won. Fallon returned to the Galway set-up in 2001 and, made an impact as Galway, despite losing to Roscommon in the Connacht SFC second round, reached the All-Ireland SFC final for the third time in four years, a game in which they outclassed Meath on a scoreline of 0-17 to 0-08. Galway reached the quarter-final stage of the 2002 All-Ireland SFC but lost to Kerry. In 2003, they reached the same stage again but lost 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 ...

after a replay. After the game, Fallon announced his retirement from inter-county football. In 2004, newly appointed county manager Peter Ford, chose Fallon as one of his three selectors on the Galway backroom staff. In 2006, Fallon's fine form for Tuam Stars prompted him to come out of Inter-County retirement and play for Galway again. However, his fairytale return was short-lived, as he lasted less than 20 minutes in Galway's 5th-round defeat to

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 ...

, suffering a broken-collarbone. After a disappointing Championship season for Galway in 2007, Ja decided to retire from Inter-county football for the final time, to allow younger players to make a name for themselves. He continues to play club football with Tuam Stars. In March 2013, he was profiled on the TG4 television programme ''

Laochra Gael ''Laochra Gael'' (; "''Heroes of the Gaels''") is an Irish television programme. With the 2022 series its twentieth, the show profiles and celebrates some of the greatest names in Gaelic games (hurling, Gaelic football, ladies' Gaelic football an ...

''. In May 2020, the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

'' named Fallon as one of the "dozens of brilliant players" who narrowly missed selection for its "Top 20 footballers in Ireland over the past 50 years".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fallon, Jarlath 1973 births Living people All Stars Awards winners (football) Gaelic football selectors Galway inter-county Gaelic footballers Irish international rules football players Irish postmen People from Tuam Tuam Stars Gaelic footballers Winners of two All-Ireland medals (Gaelic football)