# Carlow county football team

The Carlow county football team (/ˈkɑːrloʊ/ KAR-loh) represents Carlow in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Carlow GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Leinster Senior Football Championship and the National Football League.
Carlow's home ground is Dr Cullen Park, Carlow.
The team last won the Leinster Senior Championship in 1944, in Athy, but has never won a match in Croke Park or the All-Ireland Senior Championship or the National League.

## History

Carlow have claimed very few honours at senior level. The team won a Leinster Senior Football Championship (SFC) in 1944. The final was played in Athy due to the war and Carlow defeated Dublin by a scoreline of 2–6 to 1–6. Carlow also lost Leinster SFC finals in 1941 and 1942 to the same opposition. Kerry fisherman-publican Paddy Bawn Brosnan kept Carlow from reaching an All-Ireland SFC final in 1944. His second-half goal put Carlow out of the All-Ireland semi-final by a scoreline of 3–3 to 0–10.
Ten years later Carlow reached the National League final with a famous 1–10 to 1–7 win against Armagh, but were well beaten by Mayo in the final.
Carlow won the 1994 All-Ireland B Senior Football Championship, and an O'Byrne Cup in 2002. The team defeated Wicklow by a scoreline of 2–10 to 0–8.
Other significant performances include reaching the Leinster Minor Football Championship final in 2007, when the team lost to Laois. The Carlow Vocational Schools team won the VEC All Ireland Championship in 1973, while Carlow CBS won an All-Ireland B title at Croke Park in 2015. An under-21 team came within a point of defeating Dublin in 1984.
In the 1980–81 National League Carlow once fielded a one-club selection so that Éire Óg could prepare for their first Leinster Club final. Tommy Dwyer, at 6'7, was one of the tallest midfielders in GAA history.
Paul Bealin spent a year as manager.
In late 2012, Anthony Rainbow was appointed manager of the senior county football team.
Carlow played Laois in a first round qualifier in 2013 — the first Friday night game in the history of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.
Turlough O'Brien managed Carlow between 2014 and 2020. In the 2018 National Football League, O'Brien led the team out of Division 4. This was their first promotion in more than three decades. In the 2018 Leinster Senior Football Championship, he led Carlow to a quarter-final victory against Kildare at O'Connor Park. He resigned in June 2020.
Also in 2018, Paul Broderick was nominated for an All Star, the first Carlow player to receive a nomination since Colm Hayden in 1994, which was the year Carlow won the All-Ireland Senior B Football Championship.
In August 2020, Niall Carew replaced O'Brien as manager.

## Panel

Team as per Carlow vs Longford in the Leinster SFC, 27 June 2021
| No. | Player | Position | Club |
| 1 | Ciaran Cunningham | Goalkeeper | Bagenalstown Gaels |
| 2 | Liam Roberts | Right corner back | Kildavin\Clonegal |
| 3 | Shane Redmond | Full back | Tinryland |
| 4 | Josh Moore | Left corner back | Rathvilly |
| 5 | Jordan Morrissey | Right half back | Éire Óg |
| 6 | John Murphy | Centre back | Grange |
| 7 | Seanie Bambrick | Left half back | Old Leighlin |
| 8 | Sean Gannon (c) | Midfield | Éire Óg |
| 9 | Eoghan Ruth | Midfield | Éire Óg |
| 10 | Ross Dunphy | Right half forward | Éire Óg |
| 11 | Colm Hulton | Centre forward | Éire Óg |
| 12 | Jamie Clarke | Left half forward | Bagenalstown Gaels |
| 13 | Conor Crowley | Right corner forward | Palatine |
| 14 | Paul Broderick | Full forward | Tinryland |
| 15 | Darragh Foley | Left corner forward | Kilbride |
| No. | Player | Position | Club |
| 16 | Robbie Molloy | Substitute | Rathvilly |
| 17 | Mikey Bambrick | Substitute | Old Leighlin |
| 18 | Conor Lawlor | Substitute | Palatine |
| 19 | Jordan Lowry | Substitute | Éire Óg |
| 20 | Tomas Kenny | Substitute | Palatine |
| 21 | Conor Doyle | Substitute | Rathvilly |
| 22 | Jason Kane | Substitute | Palatine |
| 23 | Shane O'Neill | Substitute | Palatine |
| 24 | Chris Blake | Substitute | Éire Óg |
| 25 | James McGrath | Substitute | O'Hanrahans |
| 26 | Cormac Mullins | Substitute | Éire Óg |
$^{INJ}$ Player has had an injury which has affected recent involvement with the county team. $^{RET}$ Player has since retired from the county team. $^{WD}$ Player has since withdrawn from the county team due to a non-injury issue.

## Management team

* Manager: Niall Carew
* Head coach: Ger Brennan
* Selectors: Darren Leonard, Simon Rea
* Performance coach: Eamonn Callaghan, since August 2022

## Managerial history

Carlow have a history of appointing "foreign" managers, including Liam Hayes (Meath), Pat Roe (Laois), Paul Bealin (Dublin), Andy Shortall (Laois) and Bobby Millar (Laois).
Luke Dempsey: 2004, on an interim basis
Luke Dempsey (2) 2009/2010/2011/2012
| Dates | Name |
| ?–? | Paul Bealin |
| 2012–? | Anthony Rainbow |
| 2014?–2020 | Turlough O'Brien |
| 2020–2024 | Niall Carew |

## Players
### Records

* Paddy Quirke (Naomh Eoin, Myshall) – dual All Star (hurling and football), Railway Cup Hurling and Football
* Tommy Dwyer (Tinryland) – International Rules Football, Railway Cup Football
* Luke Kelly (Leighlinbridge) – Leinster SFC winner 1944
* Jim Morris (Ballon) – Leinster SFC winner 1944
* Jimma Rea (O'Hanrahan's) – Leinster SFC winner 1944
* Simon Rea (Éire Óg) – Railway Cup SF
* Mark Carpenter (O'Hanrahan's) – Railway Cup SF, Leinster Club SF 2000
* Tom "Drakes" Walker (O'Hanrahan's) – Railway Cup SF
* Colm Hayden (Éire Óg) – Railway Cup SF, 5 Leinsters in 1990s with Éire Óg
* Johnny Nevin (Old Leighlin GFC/Naomh Brid HC) - Railway Cup SF, SH, All-Ireland Senior B Football Championship 1994, Carlow Championship 1997, All-Ireland over-40s runner-up 2008
* Andy Murphy (Tinryland) – Railway Cup SF
* "Paks" Connolly (Clonmore) – Railway Cup SF
* Martin Molloy (Clonmore /Rathvilly) – Railway Cup SF
* Luke Dempsey (Ballinabranna) – manager of Westmeath, Longford and Carlow
* Thomas Walshe (Fenagh GFC/Ballinkillen HC) – Railway Cup SF
* Cyril Hughes (St Andrew's, Bagenalstown GFC/Ballinkillen HC) – Railway Cup SF, manager of Carlow and Wexford
* Brendan Murphy (Rathvilly) – Leinster MFC runner-up 2007, professional Australian rules player
* Tommy 'The Boy Wonder' Murphy (Graiguecullen) – Team of the Millennium as Laois player, originally Carlow before the Graiguecullen expulsion
* Brendan Hayden Snr (Tinryland GFC/St Fintan's HC) – Railway Cup SF
* Ned Doogue (O'Hanrahan's) – Railway Cup SF
* Eamonn Long (O'Hanrahan's) – Railway Cup SF
* Cran Hogan (Éire Óg) – Railway Cup SF
* Willie Quinlan (Éire Óg) – Railway Cup SF, All-Ireland Senior B Football Championship 1994
* Andrew Corden (O'Hanrahan's) – O'Byrne Cup 2001
* Peeney Whelan (Tinryland) – Railway Cup SF
* Garvan Ware (Éire Óg) – Railway Cup SF, 5 Leinsters in 1990s with Éire Óg
* Joe Hayden (Éire Óg GFC/Carlow Town HC) – Railway Cup SF, 5 Leinsters in 1990s with Éire Óg
* Richie Moore (Éire Óg GFC/Carlow Town HC) – All-Ireland Senior B Football Championship 1994
* Willie Doyle (O'Hanrahan's) – International Rules 1985
* Hugh Brennan (Éire Óg) – Mayo minor, 5 Leinsters in 1990s with Éire Óg, All-Ireland Senior B Football Championship captain 1994
* Ned Gladney (St Mullins) – All-Ireland and Leinster 1961, 1962, eight county titles, and full forward on Team of the Century. The first man to captain Carlow at senior level.

### All Stars

Carlow has no All Stars.

## Honours
### National

* All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
** Semi-finalists (1): 1944
* All-Ireland Senior B Football Championship
** Winners (1): 1994
* Tailteann Cup
** Quarter-finalists (1): 2022
* National Football League
** Runners-up (1): 1953–54
* National Football League Division 2
** Winners (1): 1934–35
* All-Ireland Vocational Schools Championship
** Winners (1): 1973

### Provincial

* Leinster Senior Football Championship
** Winners (1): 1944
** Runners-up (2): 1941, 1942
* O'Byrne Cup
** Winners (1): 2002
* Leinster Junior Football Championship
** Winners (3): 1913, 1923, 1933
* Leinster Under-21 Football Championship
** Runners-up (1): 1984
* Leinster Minor Football Championship
** Runners-up (1): 2007