Paul Conroy (Gaelic footballer)

Paul Conroy (born 22 May 1989) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays at senior level for the Galway county team and works as a teacher. Conroy was captain of the All-Ireland winning Minor team in 2007 when they narrowly defeated Derry. Conroy made his Senior championship debut against Roscommon and finished the game with a tally of 0–6.^[1]

Paul Conroy

Personal information
Irish name	Pól Ó Conaire
Sport	Gaelic football
Position	Midfield
Born	(1989-05-22) 22 May 1989 (age 35) Galway, Ireland
Height	1.9 m (6 ft 3 in)
Occupation	Secondary school teacher
Club(s)
Years	Club
2006–	St James'
Club titles
Galway titles	1
Connacht titles	1
Inter-county(ies)*
Years	County	Apps (scores)
2008–	Galway	64 (4-93)
Inter-county titles
Connacht titles	6
NFL	1
All Stars	1
*Inter County team apps and scores correct as of match played 28 July 2024.

Career

Conroy won an Galway Intermediate Club Championship with St James' in 2010 and followed that up with a Connacht title.^[2]

He played twice for Ireland against Australia in the 2013 International Rules Series.^[3][4]

Conroy was named as Galway captain for the 2014 season.^[5]

He is an Irish and business teacher at Coláiste Bhaile Chláir in Claregalway.^[6] His fellow teammate Damien Comer also teaches in the school.^[7] The Irish language has been an integral part of Conroy's life as his parents hail from the Connemara Gaeltacht. In March 2022, Conroy was announced as the GAA's Irish language ambassador for 2022 at an event in Croke Park.^[8]

Conroy won an All Star and was selected as GAA/GPA Footballer of the Year at the end of the 2024 season.^[9]

Career statistics

As of match played 28 July 2024

Team	Year	National League			Connacht		All-Ireland		Total
		Division	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score
Galway	2008	Division 1			3	0-07	1	0-00	4	0-07
	2009				1(?)	0-00	1	0-02	2	0-02
	2010				2	0-01	1	0-00	3	0-01
	2011				1	1-00	1	0-00	2	1-00
	2012				2	1-07	1	0-01	3	1-08
	2013				1	0-01	4	0-08	5	0-09
	2014				2	0-04	2	0-04	4	0-08
	2015				3	0-10	3	0-07	6	0-17
	2016				3	0-04	1	0-01	4	0-05
	2017				2	0-02	2	0-01	4	0-03
	2018				2	0-00	1	0-01	3	0-01
	2019		DNP		DNP		DNP		DNP
	2020				1	0-03	—		1	0-03
	2021				2	0-02	—		2	0-02
	2022				3	0-06	3	0-01	6	0-07
	2023				1	0-00	4	0-04	5	0-04
	2024				3	1-03	7	1-13	10	2-16
Career total					32	3-50	32	1-43	64	4-93

Honours

St James'

• Galway Minor Football Championships (2): 2006, 2007,
• Galway Intermediate Football Championship (1): 2010
• Connacht Intermediate Club Football Championship (1): 2010

Galway

• Connacht Minor Football Championship (1): 2007
• All-Ireland Minor Football Championship (1): 2007
• Connacht Senior Football Championship (6): 2008, 2016, 2018, 2022, 2023, 2024
• National Football League, Division 2 (1): 2017

Individual

• All Star (1): 2024
• GAA/GPA Footballer of the Year (1): 2024