Colm O'Rourke is a secondary school principal, sports broadcaster, columnist and former Gaelic footballer. 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, O'Rourke was raised in Skryne, County Meath after his family moved there in 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. While studying at University College Dublin he won a Sigerson Cup medal in 1979.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 has worked as a studio analyst with the flagship programme The Sunday Game for over twenty-five years. O'Rourke also writes a weekly column for the Sunday Independent
Wikipedia
“I often got a belt from my mother with a wet dish cloth for kicking a ball through a window.”
A disagreement with Oisín McConville over the best gifts to give loved ones at half-time during the 2020 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. Quoted in The Irish Times https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/tv-view-dublin-look-towards-seventh-heaven-as-mayo-s-hell-lingers-on-1.4441949 in December 2020
“There is no hope for anybody else. You might as well give up the ghost now.”
On Dublin's dominance, RTÉ https://www.hoganstand.com/Article/Index/309065, February 2020
