Craig Gilroy (born 11 March 1991) is an Irish

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who played

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

for

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

, and a former

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

international. He was Ulster's player of the year in 2014–15, and was named in the Pro12 Dream Team twice. Born in the seaside town of

Bangor, County Down Bangor ( ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the southern side of Belfast Lough. It is within the Belfast metropolitan area and is 13 miles (22 km) east of Belfast city centre, to whic ...

, Craig was the middle of five children. Encouraged by his parents from a young age to play various sports, he took up both

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

in his childhood. He then attended

Methodist College Belfast Methodist College Belfast (MCB), locally known as Methody, is a co-educational voluntary grammar school in Belfast, located at the foot of the Malone Road, Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1865 by the Methodist Church in Ireland and is one of e ...

, where he began to play rugby, and soon became a starting player in a team that won the Ulster Schools' Cup twice. After he left school, Justin Fitzpatrick signed him for

Dungannon Dungannon (, ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 16,282 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2021 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Counci ...

, and his form in the All-Ireland League led to him joining the Ulster academy in 2010. He scored the first try at the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium, also known as Lansdowne Road (, ) or Dublin Arena (during UEFA competitions), is a List of stadiums in Ireland by capacity, sports stadium located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,711 spectators ...

, in an exhibition match between an Ulster-Leinster team against a Munster-Connacht team in August 2010. He made his first start for Ulster, scoring two tries, against

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

in the Magners League in November 2010. He made 14 appearances, scoring 8 tries, in the 2010–11 season, and was named Academy Player of the Year in the 2011 Ulster Rugby Awards. The following season he made 29 appearances, scoring six tries, as Ulster made the 2012 Heineken Cup Final. He was invited to train with the

team for the 2012 Six Nations Championship, and made his debut for Ireland in May 2012 in a friendly against the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

, scoring two tries. He was awarded Ulster's Young Player of the Year for the 2011–12 season, and was nominated for Irish Young Player of the Year, losing out to

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

's Peter O'Mahony. In November 2012 he scored a hat-trick of tries for Ireland in a non-test match against

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

at Thomond Park, He made his international test debut, scoring one try, against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

soon after. Early in the 2012–13 season, Gilroy signed a three-year contract extension to remain with Ulster until summer 2016. In February 2015 he earned his 100th cap for Ulster in a 43–3 win over Benetton Treviso, scoring two tries in a Man of the Match performance. He was named in the Pro12 Dream Team two years running, in 2014–15 and 2015–16. He was Ulster's Player of the Year in 2014–15. He scored a hat trick of tries for Ireland against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in the

Stadio Olimpico Stadio Olimpico (; ), colloquially known as l'Olimpico (The Olympic), is an Italian multi-purpose sports venue located in Rome. Seating over 70,000 spectators, it is the largest sports facility in Rome and the second-largest in Italy, after ...

in a 63–10 win in the 2017 Six Nations. He made his 200th appearance for Ulster against Ospreys in December 2021."200 Club , Craig Gilroy"
Ulster Rugby, 30 December 2021 In April 2023 Gilroy announced his departure from Ulster at the end of the season.

References

External links

Ulster Rugby profileUnited Rugby Championship profile
*
Ireland profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilroy, Craig Ireland international rugby union players Ulster Rugby players Living people 1991 births People educated at Methodist College Belfast Ireland Wolfhounds international rugby union players Dungannon RFC players Irish rugby union players Rugby union wings Sportspeople from Bangor, County Down Rugby union players from County Down