Paul Conroy (born 22 May 1989) 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 and teacher who plays at senior level for the Galway county team. Conroy was captain of the All-Ireland winning Minor team in 2007 when they narrowly defeated

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 ...

. Conroy made his Senior championship debut 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 built ...

and scored finished the game with a tally of 0–6. Conroy won an Galway Intermediate Club Championship with St James' in 2010 and followed that up with a Connacht title. He played twice for

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 ...

against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the

2013 International Rules Series The 2013 International Rules Series (officially the 2013 Irish Daily Mail International Rules Series) was the 17th International Rules Series contested between Gaelic footballers from Ireland and Australian footballers from Australia. Ireland en ...

. Conroy was named as

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

captain for the 2014 season. He is an Irish and business teacher at

Coláiste Bhaile Chláir Coláiste Bhaile Chláir is an Irish co-educational, multidenominational community college situated in Lakeview, Claregalway, County Galway. It is under the patronage of the Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West o ...

Claregalway Baile Chláir or Baile Chláir na Gaillimhe (anglicized Claregalway) is a Gaeltacht village about 10 km north of Galway city in County Galway, Ireland. Claregalway was founded on the banks of the River Clare, hence the derivation of its ...

. His fellow teammate

Damien Comer Damien Comer (born 11 January 1994) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for Annaghdown and at senior level for the Galway county team. Early life and playing career Comer is a former pupil of St Jarlath's College in Tuam, and also a gradua ...

also teaches in the school. The

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

has been an integral part of Conroy's life as his parents hail from the

Connemara Connemara (; )( ga, Conamara ) is a region on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speak ...

Gaeltacht ( , , ) are the districts of Ireland, individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The ''Gaeltacht'' districts were first officially recog ...

. In March 2022, Conroy was announced as the GAA's Irish language ambassador for 2022 at an event in

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

Career statistics

: ''As of match played 24 July 2022''

Honours

;St James' *Galway Minor Football Championships (2): 2006, 2007, *Galway Intermediate Football Championship (1): 2010 *

Connacht Intermediate Club Football Championship The Connacht Intermediate Club Football Championship is a Gaelic football competition played between the Intermediate Championship winner from each county in Connacht. The winners compete for the All-Ireland Intermediate Club Football Championshi ...

(1): 2010 ;Galway *

Connacht Minor Football Championship The Connacht Minor Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition organised by the Connacht Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1928 for the youngest competitors (under-18 until 2017, now under-17) in the province of C ...

(1): 2007 *

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 ...

(1): 2007 *

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 ...

(2): 2008, 2016, 2018 * National Football League, Division 2 (1): 2017

References

1989 births Living people Galway inter-county Gaelic footballers Irish international rules football players Irish schoolteachers St James' (Galway) Gaelic footballers {{Galway-gaelic-football-bio-stub