Ian Fitzgerald is a former

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 from

County Laois County Laois ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medieval kingdom. Hist ...

. He played his club football for

Portlaoise Portlaoise ( ), or Port Laoise (), is the county town of County Laois, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Midland Region, Ireland, South Midlands in the province of Leinster. Portlaoise was the fastest growing of the top 20 largest town ...

and was also a member of the

Laois County Laois ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medieval kingdom. Hist ...

senior team. He was part of the Laois Under 21 side that won the Leinster title in 1998 and was unfortunate to lose out on a

Leinster Minor Football Championship The Leinster Minor Football Championship is the premier under-17 "knockout" competition in gaelic football played in the province of Leinster. 2017 was the final year of the minor under 18 football championship as it were replaced by an under 17 ...

medal in 1995 when it took three games to separate the O'Moore County and eventual

All-Ireland Minor Football Championship The Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Championship is the premier under-17 "knockout" competition in Gaelic football played in Ireland. 2017 was the final year of the minor under 18 football championship as it was replaced by an under ...

winners Westmeath. Also in 1995 he earned a reputation as a penalty kick specialist during Laois's Leinster MFC run, famously netting a game-saving spot kick against Kildare in Navan. Fitzgerald made his senior debut against Kildare in 1996 and in 2003 was captain of the Laois team that won the

Leinster Senior Football Championship The Leinster Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Leinster Championship and shortened to Leinster SFC, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Leinster GAA, Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Asso ...

title for the first time in 57 years. Fitzgerald won

Laois Senior Football Championship The Laois Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by top-tier Laois GAA clubs. The Laois County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1888. Portarlington won the 2024 title, af ...

medals with

in 1999, 2002, 2004 and 2011. Fitzgerald retired from the game in 2006 at the young age of 29 in order to concentrate on his career as a dentist. He attended Marquette University School of Dentistry in Milwaukee, Wi and was a resident in the dental school's orthodontic program before returning to Ireland in 2010. He briefly returned to club football with Portlaoise in 2011 winning a fourth Laois SFC medal that year. Stephen Attride became the first Laois captain since Fitzgerald to raise a trophy aloft in the

Hogan Stand Hoganstand.com is a news website and the online face of the monthly Gaelic games magazine ''Hogan Stand'', which is distributed throughout Ireland. The magazine is named after the main stand in Croke Park Croke Park (, ) is a Gaelic games ...

Croke Park Croke Park (, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and headquarters of the Gaelic At ...

when John Sugrue led Laois to the 2018 National Football League Division 4 title.

References

External links

2003 SFC Leinster Final report

Profile from hoganstand.com
Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Irish dentists Laois inter-county Gaelic footballers Portlaoise Gaelic footballers Health professionals from County Laois {{Laois-gaelic-football-bio-stub