Darach 'Jigger'O'Connor (born 15 November 1995) is an Irish

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 ...

er who plays for Buncrana and the Donegal county team. He has also played

association football 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 ...

for teams such as Buncrana Hearts and the Republic of Ireland national schoolboy football team. His father is former

Roscommon Roscommon (; ; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60 road (Ireland), N60, N61 road (Ireland), N61 and N63 road (Irelan ...

star John 'Jigger' O'Connor, famed for scoring a goal past Kerry's

Charlie Nelligan Charlie Nelligan (born 1957 in Castleisland, County Kerry) is an Irish former sportsperson. He played Gaelic football with his local club Castleisland Desmonds and at senior level for the Kerry county team between 1974 and 1991. He also played ...

35 seconds into the 1980 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. O'Connor didn't play inter-county at Under-16 or Under-17 level, but Stephen Friel called him up for the minors in 2013. After leading Buncrana to glory in the 2013 Donegal Minor Championship,

Jim McGuinness Jim McGuinness (born 16 November 1972) is a Gaelic football coach, and former player, who won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship as a player with, and later manager of, the Donegal county team. Since 2023, he has been manager, for ...

called him up to the senior inter-county squad for winter training in September 2013. He scored a point on his senior championship debut as a late replacement against

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

in the

2014 Ulster Senior Football Championship The 2014 Ulster Senior Football Championship was the 126th installment of the annual Ulster Senior Football Championship held under the auspices of Ulster GAA. It was one of the four provincial competitions of the 2014 All-Ireland Senior Footba ...

quarter-final on 25 May 2014, ahead of his

Leaving Certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certificate ...

. Then, again as a late replacement, he scored a wonder goal for Donegal in the semi-final against Antrim. McGuinness said afterwards: "I was hoping for a point and then he turns back onto his right foot and hit a goal. It was a bit of class and he does have that wee trick up his sleeve which is nice in a forward. And I think he was well goosed by the time we took him off. Because he ran himself into the ground." O'Connor started the Ulster Final against

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), Monaghan barony. The population of the town as of the 2022 cen ...

, which Donegal won. He made substitute appearances against

Armagh Armagh ( ; , , " Macha's height") is a city and the county town of County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Primates of All ...

in the All-Ireland quarter-final and in the shock victory over

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in the semi-final. He then started the 2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final against Kerry. Following his surprise start in the 2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, O'Connor (still eligible for the competition) played in the 2015

Ulster Under-21 Football Championship The Ulster GAA Football Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Ulster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest in ...

final loss to Tyrone, scoring two points.

Honours

Ulster Senior Football Championship The Ulster Senior Football Championship is an inter-county competition for Gaelic football teams in the Irish province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and begins in April. The final is ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

runner-up: 2015

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:OConnor, Darach 1995 births Living people Buncrana Hearts F.C. players Donegal inter-county Gaelic footballers Gaelic footballers who switched code Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Men's association football players not categorized by position Republic of Ireland men's association footballers 21st-century Irish sportsmen