 |
This biography of a living person does not cite any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. (April 2008) Find sources: (Bernard O'Connor – news, books, scholar) |
Bernard O'Connor (born March 20, 1979) is a Gaelic footballer.
Contents |
Biography
O'Connor was born on March 20, 1979 in Cahersiveen, County Kerry, Ireland. He is the youngest of five children born to Bernard and Mary O'Connor.
Football career
O'Connor played football for Kerry U16, Minor, and U21. He is the winner of one U16 Munster medal, two Minor Munster medals, two Munster U21 medals, and an U21 All-Ireland medal in 1998 along with numerous club medals including 4 South Kerry Senior championships medals with his football club,
O'Connor moved to Boston, Massachusetts in the summer of 2003 to play with the Kerry Boston GAA. In his first summer, in a match against the Boston Cork Club, Bernard scored 2-4 of the team's 2-6 to lead his team to victory. The Cork side had previously been undefeated. He served as captain for two years to follow with Bernard winning his first Boston All Star in 2004 but they fell to the intermediate rank in 2005 after losing a hard fought game to the Connemara Gaels.
2006 Season
With a new division, Bernard would win his second Boston All Star award despite handing over the role of captain to Brian Geraughty, a cornerback from Dublin. The Kerry Club were able to qualify for a semifinal in both Intermediate and Junior B. Both teams were defeated in the semifinals despite good efforts from both.
2007 Season
Brian Geraughty returned to Ireland and Mike Godley, a former Boston All Star was named to captain the Kerry team. However, with Bernard playing at his best in years, along with the addition of Johnny Maroney, led the team to a Boston Intermediate Championship in 2007. The Kerry Club won both the Northeast Intermediate Championship and Northeast Junior B Championship that year, which saw Kerry's Junior squad go all the way to the North American final with the likes of Carol O'Connell, Sean Pete O'Sullivan, Ger Barry, Dan O'Connor, Timmy O'Neill, Mike Moriarty and Chris O'Connor, Bernard's brother-in-law, leading the way. The Intermediate side made it to the semi-final but were defeated in a tough competition against the Sons of Boru from San Francisco. Bernard tallied 0-3 in this match as well as winning great breaks from the middle of the field. The Kerry club made it through this season without a manager, just a team of selectors.
2008 campaign
O'Connor along with the help of Ballylongford man Johnny Maroney led Kerry to an impressive start in the Senior Championship with wins over the Wolfetones, Cork, and Donegal and Bernard also played a massive role in the draw with the three time defending and eventual 2008 Northeast Champions, Aiden McAnespies, by scoring 0-9. He matched this feat by scoring 0-9 of Kerry's 11 points in their win over Cork. The "Boston Kingdom" would go on to capture the North American Intermediate Championship after losing the Boston Divisional crown.
2009 season
Bernard sat out the 2009 GAA season in Boston. Bernard would have been a excellent veteran presence on a relatively young team. Kerry Boston lost two games in the dying minutes and these wins would have allowed them to compete for the Senior Crown.They competed for the Intermediate crown but were defeated by the Connemara Gaels in the semi-final by 3 goals.
Marriage
O'Connor was married on October 19, 2007 to Orla O'Connor and they have made a home together in Milton. Orla is currently working on her Master's degree in Education and is working as a teacher. Bernard and Orla returned to Ireland for vacation at the end of August 2008. Bernard's brother, Frank "The Tank" O'Connor was married on September 6 and Bernard was his best man. Bernard worked feverishly on his speech in an attempt to match some of the illustrious speeches in the history of his wife's family. As a whole, the speech went over well.
Family
Bernard and his wife, Orla, welcomed their first child, Ellie Rita O'Connor into the world on June 3, 2009. She was 6 lbs. 13 oz. and 19 inches long. All are in good health.
Career
O'Connor works as a carpenter for Karney Construction Design, Inc.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
