Over 60 Irish men have been recruited to the AFL since Kerry man Seán Wight made the trip Down Under in 1982. There have been varying degrees of success for Irish men switching codes. Jim Stynes and Zach Tuohy stand out as the major success stories.

Dubliner Jim Stynes switched codes in 1984. He made a then record 264 appearances for Melbourne. Stynes won the coveted Brownlow Medal in 1991 before being inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2003.

Tuohy made the move in 2009 before making an Irish record 288 AFL appearances for Geelong, and became the second Irish player to win an AFL Grand Final in 2022.

Overall, Irish players have made a solid impact on the AFL, but we’ve compiled a list of players who have made a big impact in the GAA world on their return home from the professional game.

Conor Glass

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The standout name on this list, Conor Glass joined Hawthorn in 2016, becoming the first Irish player to line out for them. Glass made 21 appearances over the course of 4 years before retiring from AFL in 2020 and returning home to Ireland. He made his Derry senior debut in October 2020 against Longford in the National League. He has featured prominently ever since winning two Ulster medals in 2022 and 2023 along with a Division 1 League title in 2024. His performances for Glen inspired them to their first three Derry titles, along with two Ulster titles and an All-Ireland win.

Tadhg Kennelly

Tadhg Kennelly’s senior career with Kerry was short-lived but he made a big impact. Kennelly played 197 games for the Sydney Swans between 2001 and 2011. In 2009 he returned home to win an All-Ireland medal, emulating his father Tim who passed away in 2005. Kennelly featured prominently in Kerry’s run to the final and scored two points from play against Cork in the final. Kennelly then returned to Australia for the 2010 AFL season before retiring again in September 2011 before taking up a coaching role with Sydney Swans.

Conor McKenna

Conor Mckenna signed for Essendon in 2014 and maintained a successful career with the club until 2020. Following a positive Covid test in June 2020, McKenna drew a lot of media criticism on the aftermath of this and eventually announced his retirement in October of that year. He returned to his native Tyrone to feature in their Division 1 campaign before playing a big part in their 2021 All-Ireland title win. McKenna scored two goals in their semi-final win over Kerry and set up Darragh Canavan for a crucial goal in the final against Mayo. He returned to Australia to 2023 to play for the Brisbane Lions where he has remained under contract to this day.

Martin Clarke

Martin Clarke was a tremendously silky footballer who headed to Australia in 2007 to play for Collingwood. Having had a quick rise to first team football for Collingwood Clarke retired from AFL and moved home in 2009 to play for Down. Clarke initially struggled for form before playing a big part in Down’s run to the 2010 All-Ireland football final, eventually losing to Cork by a point, Clarke scored three points in the final and won an All-Star award. Clarke returned to the AFL in 2011with Collingwood  before being delisted in 2014.

Mark O’Connor

Mark O’Connor was a Kerry prodigy from a young age, a Minor All-Ireland winner in 2014 and in 2015, with the latter coming as captain and winner of the man-of-the-match in the final. The hope was O’Connor would become the next great Kerry midfielder before he was picked up by Geelong in October 2016. In 2022 he became only the third Irish player to win the AFL Grand Final. He has made 147 appearances for Geelong but last October he returned home to help inspire Dingle to their first Kerry title since 1948, their first Munster title and now are looking forward to their first All-Ireland final against Roscommon’s St Brigid’s.

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