Declan Fitzpatrick (born 12 July 1983) is an Irish former

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. He played 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 ...

from 2006 to 2015, and won seven caps for

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 ...

. Born in

Bromsgrove Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about north-east of Worcester and south-west of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 34,755 in at the 2021 census. It gives its name to the wider Bromsgrove District, of which it is ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, England to parents from counties

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

and Mayo,Jonathan Bradley
"We were so close, it's still hard to take: Fitzpatrick"
''Belfast Telegraph'', 5 November 2016 he was identified as a prospect by the

Irish Exiles Irish commonly refers to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the island and the sovereign state *** Erse (disambiguati ...

programme, and moved to

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

where he played for

Belfast Harlequins Belfast Harlequins is a multi-sports club located off the Malone Road in south Belfast, Northern Ireland. The club name provides the overall umbrella for rugby union, men's and ladies' field hockey, hockey, and Squash (sport), squash. The club i ...

, and later 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 ...

.Patrick McCarry
"REVEALED: The inside story of Declan Fitzpatrick's decision to quit rugby due to concussion"
SportsJoe while studying quantity surveying at the

University of Ulster Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...

. He was part of the Irish national academy, and represented Ireland at under-21 level.Edward Newman, "Ulster give Fitzpatrick and Jackson Cup call-ups", ''Irish Examiner'', 1 October 2004 He made his debut for Ulster in 2006, and made 98 appearances for the province. He was capped seven times for Ireland,Ruaidhri O'Connor
"'My family life suffered and I became depressed' - Ireland international Declan Fitzpatrick on his concussion-enforced retirement"
''Belfast Telegraph'', 16 April 2015 including three test appearances on the 2012 tour of New Zealand. His final appearance for Ireland was in a 2013 defeat to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. His final match for Ulster was a Champions Cup defeat away to

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

in January 2015. He announced his retirement in April 2015 for medical reasons, having sustained six concussions in his career. He issued legal proceedings against the IRFU, Ulster and

World Rugby World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...

in March 2023 in relation to head injuries.Jonathan Bradley
"Former Irish prop Declan Fitzpatrick to sue Ulster Rugby and IRFU over alleged concussion injuries"
''Belfast Telegraph'', 29 September 2022

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzpatrick, Declan Living people 1983 births Dungannon RFC players Belfast Harlequins rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Rugby union props Irish Exiles rugby union players Ulster Rugby players Ireland Wolfhounds international rugby union players