Colm O'Rourke

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title: "Colm O'Rourke" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1957-births", "living-people", "all-stars-awards-winners-(football)", "alumni-of-university-college-dublin", "broadcasters-from-county-leitrim", "gaelic-football-forwards", "gaelic-football-managers", "gaelic-games-commentators", "gaelic-games-writers", "heads-of-schools-in-ireland", "ireland-international-rules-football-team-coaches", "irish-columnists", "irish-sportswriters", "leinster-inter-provincial-gaelic-footballers", "meath-county-football-team-non-playing-personnel", "meath-inter-county-gaelic-footballers", "skryne-gaelic-footballers", "sportspeople-from-county-leitrim", "sunday-independent-(ireland)-people", "texaco-footballers-of-the-year", "ucd-gaelic-footballers", "winners-of-two-all-ireland-medals-(gaelic-football)", "writers-from-county-leitrim", "20th-century-irish-businesspeople", "21st-century-irish-businesspeople"] description: "Meath Gaelic footballer, school principal, broadcaster, manager" topic_path: "science/astronomy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colm_O'Rourke" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Meath Gaelic footballer, school principal, broadcaster, manager ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox Gaelic games player"]

Field	Value
name	Colm O'Rourke
sport	Gaelic football
feet	6
inches	2
occupation	Secondary school principal
county	Meath
code	Football
province	Leinster
club	Skryne
clubs	Skryne
clposition	Right corner-forward
clyears	1975–1995
clcounty	2
counties	Meath
icyears	1975–1995
icapps(points)	59 (16–105)
icposition	Full Forward Line Right
icprovince	5
icallireland	2
allstars	3
nfl	3
birth_date
birth_place	Aughavas, County Leitrim, Ireland
::

| name = Colm O'Rourke | irish = | sport = Gaelic football | feet = 6 | inches = 2 | occupation = Secondary school principal | county = Meath | code = Football | province = Leinster | club = Skryne | clubs = Skryne | clapps(points) = | clposition = Right corner-forward | clyears = 1975–1995 | clcounty = 2 | counties = Meath | icyears = 1975–1995 | icapps(points) = 59 (16–105) | icposition = Full Forward Line Right | icprovince = 5 | icallireland = 2 | allstars = 3 | nfl = 3 | birth_date = | birth_place = Aughavas, County Leitrim, Ireland Colm O'Rourke (born 31 August 1957) is a Gaelic football manager, former player, retired secondary school principal, sports broadcaster and columnist. His league and championship career at senior level with the Meath county team spanned twenty years from 1975 to 1995.

Born in Aughavas, County Leitrim, his family moved to Skryne in County Meath, where O'Rourke spent his youth. He played competitive Gaelic football during his schooling at St Patrick's Classical School in Navan. O'Rourke first appeared for the Skryne club at underage levels, before winning two county senior championship medals in 1992 and 1993. He gained his Bachelor of Arts degree (1978) and Higher Diploma in Education (1979) from University College Dublin. While studying at University College Dublin he won a Sigerson Cup medal in 1979. He was awarded UCD Alumnus of the Year in Sport in 2016.

O'Rourke made his debut on the inter-county scene when he was picked for the Meath minor team. He later joined the under-21 side but enjoyed little success in these grades. O'Rourke made his senior debut during the 1975–76 league. Over the course of the next twenty years he was a regular member of the starting fifteen and won back-to-back All-Ireland medals in 1987 and 1988. He also won five Leinster medals, three National Football League medals and was named Footballer of the Year in 1991. O'Rourke played his last game for Meath in July 1995.

In retirement from playing O'Rourke combined his teaching career with a new position as a sports broadcaster. His media career began with RTÉ where he worked as a studio analyst with the flagship programme The Sunday Game for over twenty-five years. O'Rourke also managed the Meath senior team between 2022 and 2024, and writes a weekly column for the Sunday Independent.

Early and family life

Despite becoming a Meath county footballer, O'Rourke is not a Meathman by birth; he was born in the small parish of Aughavas within County Leitrim. He moved with his family as a youngster from County Leitrim to County Meath

O'Rourke's son Shane also played with the Meath senior football team, while his nephew Paddy played as a goalkeeper for Meath.

Playing career

As a Gaelic footballer, O'Rourke won two All-Ireland medals with Meath, in 1987 and 1988. He also won five Leinster Senior Football Championship medals and three National Football League titles. His involvement would be considered pivotal for Meath's success against Dublin at this time.

O'Rourke received three All-Star for Meath in 1983, 1988 and 1991. His performance, playing with a bandaged knee, in the Dublin-Meath matches of the summer of 1991 are still recounted in Meath. When playing for Meath he was part of a full forward line of himself, Brian Stafford and Bernard Flynn, often considered to be one of the best full-forward lines of all time.

In May 2020, O'Rourke was included in the ''Irish Independent'''s "Top 20 footballers in Ireland over the past 50 years", where he was regarded as inferior to such players as Donegal's Michael Murphy and Tyrone's Seán Cavanagh.

Management career

O'Rourke has managed Simonstown Gaels GFC in Navan, guiding them to two Meath Senior Football Finals in 2003 and 2004, only for the team to lose on both occasions. He also guided the club to its first adult title in 2005 when it won the Meath Football League Division 1.

He led Simonstown Gaels to their very first Senior Championship in 2016 and then again in 2017.

He returned as Simonstown manager for a fourth stint in November 2020, hinting that this would be his last managerial job.

O'Rourke managed Ireland's team that competed in the Compromise Rules competition on two outings, 1998 and 1999.

He ruled himself out of contention to replace Andy McEntee as county team manager in 2022, stating: "My beautiful wife Patricia has a very negative view toward managing the county team and with good reason when you see the upshot of Andy McEntee going and the social media abuse that has taken place. People who put in enormous time at their own expense - it's not like Pep Guardiola getting £15m a year - and then being subjected to that sort of thing by unnamed people. I can't understand how, in a society, we can allow people to abuse others without having given their name and address. It's just a shocking indictment of society in general".

In July 2022, O'Rourke was confirmed as the new manager of the Meath senior football team. O'Rourke led Meath to win the 2023 Tailteann Cup, the second-tier Gaelic football competition, after defeating Down on a scoreline of 2–13 to 0–14. Without a win in the 2024 All-Ireland SFC, and with a ten-point defeat to Louth behind him, O'Rourke ceased to be manager of Meath in August 2024.

Teaching

For 42 years O'Rourke worked at St Patrick's Classical School in Navan, first as a teacher, then later as principal. He also trained the school's Gaelic football team, managing them to numerous successes at provincial and national levels. In October 2022, O'Rourke announced that he would be retiring as principal to focus on his role as manager of the Meath senior inter-county men's team.

Despite his classical education, he has been known to mix up his Latin with his Greek in public.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland, he voiced his disagreement with the then education minister Joe McHugh's plan to delay the Leaving Cert until July as well as his plans to socially distance it. He voiced his concerns on how this would be feasible and on the safety of teachers overseeing the exam.

Media career

O'Rourke started working for RTÉ on The Sunday Game in 1991, and has been a contributed sports columns in the Sunday Independent.

He writes occasional columns for the Sunday Independent on the topic of education.

O'Rourke also is slated to make a cameo role in "The Rising" an Irish film that covers the events of the Easter Rising.

In 2020, O'Rourke was accused of using homophobic language on television.

Political beliefs

O'Rourke is an opponent of the welfare state. He has written about his disapproval of Sinn Féin.

O'Rourke wrote in defence of Phil Hogan after the Oireachtas Golf Society scandal forced the European Commissioner from office, describing Hogan as one of the "good people" and the "constant rage" at his wanderings around three provinces to play golf among other things as "a bit over the top".

Career statistics

::data[format=table]

Team	Season	Leinster	All-Ireland	Total	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Total
Meath	1976	4	2–9	0	0–0	4	2–9
1977	0	0–0	0	0–0	0	0–0
1978	1	0–1	0	0–0	1	0–1
1979	3	1–9	0	0–0	3	1–9
1980	2	0–4	0	0–0	2	0–4
1981	1	0–3	0	0–0	1	0–3
1982	1	0–1	0	0–0	1	0–1
1983	2	1–8	0	0–0	2	1–8
1984	4	2–8	0	0–0	4	2–8
1985	2	0–4	0	0–0	2	0–4
1986	3	0–6	1	0–2	4	0–8
1987	2	1–2	2	1–4	4	2–6
1988	3	0–2	2	0–9	5	0–11
1989	3	2–2	0	0–0	3	2–2
1990	3	3–7	2	0–0	5	3–7
1991	8	0–5	2	0–1	10	0–6
1992	1	0–2	0	0–0	1	0–2
1993	2	0–6	0	0–0	2	0–6
1994	3	0–2	0	0–0	3	0–2
1995	2	3–8	0	0–0	2	3–8
50	15–89	9	1–16	59	16–105
::

References

References

1. (23 August 2020). "Hills are alive with the sound of anger - GAA absolutely right to demand an explanation for us peasants on the ground". [[Sunday Independent (Ireland).
2. Crossan, Brendan. (23 August 2007). "Colm O'Rourke: I wish the ravages of time could be slowed down so I could still play".
3. (23 January 2017). "Sigerson Cup".
4. (13 September 1991). "Colm O'Rourke Happy 51st". Lynn Publications.
5. McMahon, James. (10 May 2020). "All-Stars of The Sunday Game era: Football full-forward". RTE.
6. Breheny, Martin. (30 May 2020). "Revealed: The Top 20 footballers in Ireland over the past 50 years". [[Independent News & Media]].
7. (25 November 2020). "O'Rourke returns as Simonstown manager and hints it could be his swansong". Hogan Stand.
8. "Colm O'Rourke back for a fourth time as senior manager". Simonstown Gaels.
9. (13 June 2022). "O'Rourke won't be next Meath manager". Hogan Stand.
10. (25 July 2022). "Colm O'Rourke to be confirmed as new Meath senior football manage". Irish Independent.
11. Verney, Michael. (15 July 2023). "Jack Flynn on fire as Colm O'Rourke's Royals end 13-year wait for Croke Park silverware". [[Irish Independent]].
12. (26 August 2024). "Colm O'Rourke departs Meath hot seat after two seasons". RTÉ.
13. Yearbook of St. Patrick's Classical School, 2013
14. Lynch, Fergal. (6 October 2022). "O'Rourke to retire from St Patrick's to focus on Meath job". [[Meath Chronicle]].
15. O'Rourke, Colm. (28 July 2019). "Donegal in need of bite to match their bark in order to overcome Mayo". [[Sunday Independent (Ireland).
16. McGinn, Padraig: [[Carrick-on-Shannon]]. (4 August 2019). "Letters to the Editor: Meath legend Colm waxes lyrical". [[Sunday Independent (Ireland).
17. McGrath, Graham. (24 April 2020). "Principals want more detailed information about management of Leaving Cert". Extra.ie.
18. O'Rourke, Colm. (12 April 2020). "This half-baked plan for Leaving Cert raises more questions than it answers". Sunday Independent.
19. (3 March 2019). "'I'm a school principal - but even I can't converse in Irish': A Russian lecturer appointed to promote the Irish language in Kerry faces an uphill task, writes Colm O'Rourke". [[Sunday Independent (Ireland).
20. (26 April 2019). "Teachers' bad behaviour just lets Quinn off the hook". [[Sunday Independent (Ireland).
21. (26 April 2019). "Tables pressure on schools to steer students to third level". [[Sunday Independent (Ireland).
22. (5 April 2020). "For the sake of our students, a way should be found to carry out this year's Leaving Cert". [[Sunday Independent (Ireland).
23. O'Brien, Shane. (24 April 2020). "GAA stars to join Liam Neeson's son in new 1916 film "The Rising". Irish Central.
24. McGonagale, Suzanne. (27 April 2020). "Some of Ireland's most successful GAA players set to star in movie about Easter Rising". Irish News.
25. Barry, Steven. (3 February 2020). "Colm O'Rourke criticised for using 'homophobic language' on RTÉ".
26. (6 September 2020). "Glaring contradiction of draconian spectator ban needs to be questioned". [[Sunday Independent (Ireland).
27. (30 August 2020). "Great opportunity missed this year to alter provincial championship for the better". [[Sunday Independent (Ireland).

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