Stephen O'Brien (Kerry Gaelic footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Irish name | Stiofáin Ó Bríain | ||
| Sport | Gaelic football | ||
| Position | Right Half Forward | ||
| Born |
27 February 1991 Kenmare, Ireland | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Occupation | Chemical engineer | ||
| Club(s) | |||
| Years | Club | ||
2009– | Kenmare Shamrocks | ||
| Colleges(s) | |||
| Years | College | ||
| UCC | |||
| College titles | |||
| Sigerson titles | 1 | ||
| Inter-county(ies) | |||
| Years | County | Apps (scores) | |
2014– | Kerry | 19 (4-25) | |
| Inter-county titles | |||
| Munster titles | 6 | ||
| All-Irelands | 1 | ||
| NFL | 1 | ||
| All Stars | 0 | ||
Stephen O'Brien (born 27 February 1991) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for the Kenmare Shamrocks club and at senior level for the Kerry county team since 2014.[1]
He is the son of Noel, who died at home in 2014 from an illness.[2] Mary, O'Brien's mother, runs a bed and breakfast in Kenmare.[3]
Underage and junior
O'Brien never played with the Kerry minor team. He joined the county's under-21 team in 2011. Kerry sustained a 22-point loss to Cork in the Munster final. He was still underage in 2012 and for the second year in a row he was on the losing side in a Munster final to Cork after extra time. In 2012 he also lined out for the Kerry junior team in a Munster semi-final win over Cork.
Senior
He made his debut for Kerry in the 2014 Munster Senior Football Championship semi-final against Clare and scored two points.[2] He lined out in a first Munster Senior Football Championship when they faced Cork, he scored a point in a 0-24 to 0-12 win and a first Munster title. He missed out on Kerry's win over Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final. He was back in the starting line up for the semi final with Mayo scoring a point in a 1-16 each draw. An injury while out racing on his quad caused him to miss the 2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final replay win over Mayo.[2] However, he started the 2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final at right half forward.[4] He was brought off at half-time as Kerry won out 2-09 to 0-12.[2]
Retirements brought new opportunities for O'Brien in 2019.[2] He scored Kerry's first goal against Dublin in five games during a 2019 National Football League fixture in Tralee.[2] In the 56th minute of the 2019 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final against Tyrone, O'Brien scored his fifth championship goal after intercepting a pass from Kieran McGeary, distributing the ball and running the length of the field.[2]
Honours
- Kerry
- All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (1): 2014
- Munster Senior Football Championship (6): 2014, 2015,2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
- National Football League (1) 2017
- McGrath Cup: 2022
- Kenmare Shamrocks
- Kerry Intermediate Football Championship (1) 2016
- Munster Intermediate Club Football Championship (1) 2016
- Kerry Junior Football Championship (1) 2012
- Munster Junior Club Football Championship (1) 2012
- All-Ireland Junior Club Football Championship Runner-up 2013
- Kenmare District Team
- Kerry Senior Football Championship Runner-Up 2016
References
- ^ "Profile". Kerry GAA. 14 September 2014. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g Kissane, Sinéad (31 August 2019). "The making of Stephen O'Brien". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 31 August 2019. "The making of Stephen O'Brien" was the title in the print edition.
- ^ O'Riordan, Ian (13 September 2019). "Patrons of Ireland's highest pub travel to see Kerry back on top". The Irish Times. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
In Kenmare the dozen or so pubs that are still open (beginning with The Horseshoe) are almost all decorated with a picture of the four Templenoe players plus the two of their own, Seán O'Shea and Stephen O'Brien... O'Shea's parents run the dry cleaning and photography centre on Main Street; O'Brien's mother Mary runs the Hawthorn House B&B around the corner on Shelbourne Street; [Tadhg] Morley is back teaching here after a few years in Dublin, and even if this isn't exactly rural Kerry there's no denying football still lies at the heart of it.
- ^ Foley, Cliona (19 September 2014). "O'Se recalled as Donaghy handed No 14 jersey for final". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 19 September 2014.