Setanta Ó hAilpín (born 18 March 1983) is a Fijian-Irish sportsman. He played

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

at senior level for the Cork county team before becoming a professional

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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er. Ó hAilpín is of mixed Irish and Rotuman background. His brothers Seán Óg, Teu and Aisake are also noted sportsmen.

Early life and Gaelic games

Ó hAilpín was born in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

to an Irish father and a mother from the

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

an dependency of

Rotuma Rotuma () is a self-governing heptarchy, generally designated a Local government in Fiji, dependency of Fiji. Rotuma commonly refers to the Rotuma Island, the only permanently inhabited and by far the largest of all the islands in the Rotuma Gro ...

. The family moved to Cork in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in 1988 and Ó hAilpín played both

and

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

for Na Piarsaigh, eventually concentrating on hurling. In 2000, he was selected for the Cork minor team. He studied at

Waterford Institute of Technology The Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT; ) was an Institutes of technology in the Republic of Ireland, institute of technology, located in Waterford, Ireland. The institute had six constituent schools and offered programmes in business, engi ...

and starred on its Fitzgibbon Cup-winning side in March 2003. Ó hAilpín joined his elder brother, Seán Óg, on the Cork county team for the 2003 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, with the team losing the final to

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

that September. His contribution to the campaign earned him an All-Star award and the Young Hurler of the Year award. In December 2003, Ó hAilpín announced his move to Australia to play

for the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Princes Park (stadium), Princes Park in Carlton North, Victoria, Carlton North, an inner suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The c ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. This was considered surprising, as AFL recruiters in Ireland primarily targeted Gaelic footballers and Ó hAilpín had concentrated on hurling. Younger brother Aisake followed Setanta to Carlton, while elder brother Seán Óg continued with the Cork hurlers. Ó hAilpín returned to Ireland in 2004 to play for the Irish team against

in the 2004 International Rules Series. During his trip, he also turned out alongside his brothers for Na Piarsaigh as they won the Cork Senior Hurling Championship.

AFL career

Carlton

Originally placed on the rookie list, strong performances for Carlton's , the

Northern Bullants The Northern Bullants are a semi-professional Australian rules football club that currently competes in the Victorian Football League (VFL). The club, which is based in the Melbourne suburb of Preston, plays its home games at Preston City Ov ...

, saw Ó hAilpín elevated to the primary list in place of Anthony Franchina during 2004; however, injury stunted his progress during that season. He made his AFL debut during 2005, but had limited game time, scoring a goal with his only kick – a set shot at the very end of the game. Setanta 3

Ó hAilpín was placed on Carlton's senior list in 2006. After playing largely in the forward line for the first years of his development, he was shifted to half-back in early 2006. He gained regular senior selection late in the season, going on to play in the final ten games of the season. Ó hAilpín began the 2007 season playing at full-back, playing the first six games there. An injury to Cameron Cloke then saw Ó hAilpín replacing him as a back-up ruckman. He was also rotated forward from the ruck position, making him versatile. In June 2007, he exchanged punches with teammate Cain Ackland in a training match. The event drew some media attention, however the club at the time brushed the incident off. Ó hAilpín became a crowd favourite among Carlton fans. His nickname, "Carlos", is derived from the similarity between "Setanta" and "Santana", the surname of the Mexican-American guitarist

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the Rock music, rock band Santana (band), Santana. Born and raised in Mexico where he developed his musical background, he r ...

. "Setanta" was the birth-name of Cúchulainn, hero of the

Ulster Cycle The Ulster Cycle (), formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the Ulaid. It is set far in the past, in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly counties Armagh, Do ...

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally Oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era. In the History of Ireland (795–1169), early medieval era, myths were ...

. On 6 February 2009, Ó hAilpín was suspended indefinitely by the Carlton Football Club for his involvement in a violent altercation with teammate Cameron Cloke in an internal trial match. His actions were scrutinised by the AFL's match review panel on 9 February and he faced being forced into anger management counselling. On 9 February 2009, Ó hAilpín was suspended for four weeks by the AFL tribunal after being charged with a level four offence for striking Cloke and a level two offence for kicking him. He came close to returning to Ireland. Ó hAilpín was back in the side in Round 5 for the Blues' game with the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...

. In Carlton's Round 11 clash with

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

the Gabba The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Gab ...

, Ó hAilpín played his 50th AFL game, the third Irishman to achieve the milestone. He kicked a goal and set up

Brendan Fevola Brendan Fevola (born 20 January 1981) is a former professional Australian rules footballer and radio presenter. He played with the Carlton Football Club, Carlton and Brisbane Lions football clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL). Fevol ...

for one as the Blues won by six points. Ó hAilpín played one of his best games against the unbeaten Saints on Round 12 clash. He kicked a vital final quarter goal and set-up another to Brendan Fevola. Ó hAilpín's match performances only got better and, for the first time ever, he kicked four goals in a game against

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

in which the Blues came from behind at three quarter time to score an important win. Before the game that would have seen Ó hAilpín play his first AFL final, he was dropped by the Carlton selection committee before the elimination final against Brisbane. Following the departure of Fevola in the 2009/10 offseason, Ó hAilpín became the regular full forward/half forward in the Carlton line-up. He began to average over two goals per game, and on 2 May 2010 he kicked a career high five goals, becoming the first Irish player to do so. During the AFL Trade Week at the end of 2010, Ó hAilpín was linked with a move to the

after apparently being unhappy at being dropped from the Blues' side midway through the season and never getting back in. He played eight matches in 2011, including two finals, but was delisted at the end of the season; Carlton indicated that it would have preferred to have kept him on the list, but was forced to delist one more of its out-of-contract players due to league requirements that clubs make three changes to their primary list each season.

Greater Western Sydney

In the following offseason, Ó hAilpín was recruited to the inaugural AFL playing list of the

Greater Western Sydney Giants The Greater Western Sydney Giants (officially the Greater Western Sydney Football Club and colloquially known as the GWS Giants or simply GWS or Giants) are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney Olympic Park which repres ...

, the club using its fifth round selection in the 2011 AFL National Draft (No. 79 overall) to recruit him. He played his first match for Greater Western Sydney in Round 6, 2012, against his former team Carlton, kicking two goals before rupturing his

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

in the third quarter of the game. He kicked five goals on his comeback from this injury in Round 4 of the 2013 season against Melbourne. Ó hAilpín was delisted by the Giants at the end of the 2013 season after playing seven games for the club. In December 2013, he was appointed by NSW/ACT, the governing body of Australian rules football in New South Wales, as the "Multicultural Program Coordinator" for Western Sydney.

Albury

Since 2014, Ó hAilpín has played for

Albury Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

in the

Ovens & Murray Football League The Ovens and Murray Football Netball League (OMFNL or O&MFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing ten clubs based in north-eastern Victoria, Australia, Victoria, the southern Riverina region of New South Wales ...

, alongside brother Aisake; he was the O&M's leading goalkicker in 2014, kicking 103 goals in the home-and-away season, and was part of the club's premiership winning teams in 2014 and 2015.

References

External links

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Setanta Ó hAilpín profile in Blueseum
{{DEFAULTSORT:OHailpin, Setanta 1983 births Living people Albury Football Club players All Stars Awards winners (hurling) Alumni of Waterford Institute of Technology Australian emigrants to Ireland Australian Gaelic footballers Australian hurlers Australian people of Irish descent Australian people of Rotuman descent Carlton Football Club players Cork inter-county hurlers Dual players Greater Western Sydney Giants players Irish international rules football players Irish people of Fijian descent Irish people of Rotuman descent Irish players of Australian rules football Na Piarsaigh Gaelic footballers Na Piarsaigh hurlers Setanta People educated at North Monastery Sportspeople from Sydney Northern Bullants players Sportspeople from Cork (city) Sportsmen from New South Wales 20th-century Irish people Waterford IT hurlers Australian rules footballers from Sydney 21st-century Irish sportsmen 21st-century Australian sportsmen GAA/GPA Young Hurlers of the Year