Carlow senior jersey collection

c.1992

This is the classic modern interpretation of the Carlow jersey. Tri-colour in design, and using a combination of colours unlike anything worn by other counties, this early 90s version kept things simple with the yellow chevron design on the sleeves offering the only flourish of additional design. In the first half of the decade, it was fairly normal to see Carlow play in a number of different sets of jerseys across a season. Sometimes it might be minor change in trim or a logo, but it was also not uncommon to see a whole new design worn in a game before a team reverted back to an older design. For example, I believe this jersey was first worn in the final of the 1992 All Ireland B hurling championship against London. In their run of games in the ‘Home’ section, Carlow had worn a different set which had no chevron and a tight yellow cuff. As a result of that B win, the first ‘senior’ All Ireland title to arrive on Barrowside, Carlow qualified for the quarter final of that year’s All Ireland ‘proper’ against Galway. In that game, Carlow reverted to the previous set of jerseys from in the B ‘Home’ section though with the addition of ‘Avonmore’ in white lettering on the front. Carlow were also promoted for the 1993 Leinster senior championship, losing to Kilkenny in the semi final. It was the first time in thirty-seven years that Carlow had lined out in the Leinster senior championship and two players actually wore this ‘B final’ version of the jersey in that match, while the rest of the team returned to the original set worn in the 1992 Home section games.

In the Leinster championship game itself, it was a loss but Carlow still put up sixteen points against a Kilkenny team who went on to retain their All Ireland crown that September.

c.1991-1993

A change away from the banded jersey, this was worn in the period between 1991 and 1993. Newspaper photos of the time seem to show the hurlers continued with bands in their championship games at least, so this solid red body may have been worn exclusively by the footballers. As you can see in the Historic Gallery section, Carlow did actually wear jerseys of solid colours from the late 1950s up to the mid 1980s so it is not too surprising that this mainly red version would be worn. However, this one was introduced six years after the tri-colour jersey had been re-established as the primary choice. A rare video of a 1991 Division 3 (South) League game against Tipperary – part of a longer Sunday Game segment on Alan Larkin as manager – shows the team wearing this version in Dr. Cullen Park that year.

It was still being worn by the senior footballers against Offaly two years later in the 1993 Leinster football championship. It was also used in that year’s Leinster junior football championship, which featured a Carlow team packed with big names. A video of Carlow’s loss to Laois in that competition’s final can be seen here.

1994

Moving back exclusively to the tri-colour design in 1994, the new GAA corporate logo now made its way onto the chest, forcing O’Neills to move their own logo to the centre. It is worth noting that there has been essentially no change to the positioning of crests, the GAA logo or manufacturer’s logos on gaelic jerseys since then. Shown above is the All Ireland ‘B’ football championship winning team of 1994. Interestingly, three different jersey styles are mixed amongst the starting fifteen. A video of that great win can be seen below.

c1994-1996

As mentioned above, in some cases, the gear-bag was literally a mixed one, even during the championship. This can again be seen in the infamous clash with Laois in 1995. In this image, two versions of the jersey (both now with a green collar, but one with a yellow ‘v’ neck) can be seen being worn. One of them is an older style where the GAA logo takes the place of the absent county crest, which was something that was seen more-so at club level when the GAA mandated their jersey logo as the vast majority of clubs didn’t actually have crests at that point. In some other cases, the differences seen between Carlow jerseys were due to players wearing long or short sleeve sets. As there was no real chronological order or logic to when these jerseys were worn during this time, the known jerseys from this era are shown above in one graphic.

A full 15 minute video explaining just what made that Laois game infamous can be seen on our Video Vault page.

1996-2003

Next up was a very familiar jersey for all Carlow supporters, and one that ushered in a new era of consistency in what jerseys were worn on the pitch (well, more or less). Coming as it did in the mid-90s, when replica jerseys began to catch on around the country, this is one that every Carlow fan who has ever worn a jersey has probably owned at some stage. This jersey lasted seven years – an age in modern terms – and indeed looked its age by the time it was retired.

Despite looking a bit old-fashioned by the end, this is a design remained true to the essence of the Carlow jersey, with little in the way of embellishment and with a subtle local sponsor. Variants included an E.P.T. sponsor worn when first launched for the 1996, as well as two long sleeved versions – one with a full red arm, which can be seen being worn by the late, great, Andrew Cordon in this image as he lifted the 2002 O’Byrne Cup, and the other with a banded sleeve as can be seen in the video below. Another minor detail is that black, white and green numbers were used on the back during the lifetime of the jersey.

1997 Hurling

Connolly made jersey, worn by seniors

1998 (O’Byrne Cup)

For the O’Byrne Cup in January of 1998 (at least), a Connolly-made jersey was worn by the footballers. We’re unsure of how many times this was worn, or by how many teams, as pictorial evidence isn’t too plentiful from that era. As far as we’re aware, this jersey was never sold to the public. However, a red jersey was also produced by Connolly, which used the same county crest and Stone Developments logo. There had been some debate over the years whether this red jersey was intended as a supporter jersey, or potentially a new county jersey design that was not approved, but upon research for this website a small article from the The Nationalist at the time confirmed it was intended as a supporter jersey.

2000 – IHC ‘B’ v Kildare

Perhaps the strangest of tales for the Carlow jersey is the night it wasn’t a Carlow jersey at all. On June 6th, 2000, The hurlers set off for the short trip to Nowlan Park in Kilkenny for a Friday evening game against Kildare in the All Ireland Intermediate ‘B’ Championship. Carlow were favourites having lost the previous year’s final, but in a sign of things to come, when the team arrived in Kilkenny their jerseys were still back in Carlow. In a stroke of good luck, coach George Leahy was a James Stephens club-man, so the call went out across the city and a set of jerseys arrived a little while later. But the ‘Village’ tops brought little luck, as Carlow lost to a lively Kildare team. Interestingly, the design of the James Stephens jersey was actually very close to what Carlow wore between the late 50s to mid 80s, so at least in that sense there was some consistency to the overall look.

The image above shows a sadly grainy black and white picture from the Carlow game, with an inset of a screengrab from a Youtube video which shows a colour version of the club jersey.

2002

Carlow were still wearing this old style heavy jersey in the summer of 2002 when many others had moved to the modern moisture-wicking fabric on offer from O’Neills. The only real modern touch in its final year was the application of ‘Ceatharlach’ in felt lettering over the number, following the trend of sublimated the county name on the back of those jerseys made from the new material. With the heavy material of the jersey, stitched numbers and felt letters, it really was the time for a new era for the Carlow jersey.

2003-2006 (-2008 with updates)

The first real foray into the modern age of jerseys on Barrowside was one that is often still seen on the terraces in near perfect condition almost 20 years later – credit where it is due to O’Neills’ quality. On this jersey, all design details and logos are sublimated, a way of printing ink onto the fabric at high heat that allows for more intricate designs than woven fabrics. Two popular GAA jersey design features of the time are present here, with part of the crest reproduced on the sleeve and ‘Ceatharlach’ was now sublimated on the back. Interestingly, the collar didn’t actually change at this point and was still the same knit material collar as had been in use since 1996.

Given the length of time this jersey was used, it is hard to narrow down games to highlight it. One of the great games that it was worn for was the 2005 football qualifier against Offaly in Dr. Cullen Park. Best remembered for Mark Carpenter’s late, late point from distance, which saw Carlow earn an unlikely one-point victory. Offaly were a strong outfit at the time, and went on to contest the following year’s Leinster final. Footage of that game is hard to find but the nature of the win did earn Carlow a prime-time spot on RTE for their second-round clash with Limerick, which Carlow sadly lost.tr

A year earlier, in 2004, having beaten Longford in the first round of the championship after a dramatic few weeks in which Luke Dempsey was a late draft as replacement manager, Carlow faced their near-neighbours Laois in the quarter-final. Though it was a defeat on the day, the atmosphere was electric in a packed Dr. Cullen Park with Carlow football on a high.

2006 update – change of collar

In mid 2006, a slight variation emerged on player version of jerseys. The material of the collar was changed, and the position of the red and yellow stripes on the collar moved from the edge to the centre. The stripes disappeared completely from the ‘v’ of the neck.

The older version of the jersey was retained too and the senior footballers wore the older one throughout the championship that year, only wearing the updated design at the semi final stage of the Tommy Murphy Cup. To get very specific, two versions of the newer collar actually exist – this one with the simple v-neck and another one with a ‘fold over’ neck – but we’re not that nerdy…

2007 – second change of collar

… Or maybe we are. During 2007 that newer style ‘folder over’ neck, mentioned in the previous section, appeared on senior teams.

2008 update – Front number added

In the spring of 2008, there was one more update for this jersey, this time a more prominent change to the front. In the previous autumn, the GAA had introduced a new rule which stated jerseys must have a number on the front to aid identification for referees. Carlow joined a few other counties in adding a heat-pressed number (in a different font to the back) on to the front of existing jerseys rather than a new set being made with the number sublimated. Where a long sleeve was called for, it was actually the 2003-2004 ‘old collar’ version that was worn. The reason for not opting for a new set of jerseys from O’Neills became clear in the summer…

2008

As noted above, the spring of 2008 came and the previous year’s jersey was again retained for the pre-season competitions and National Leagues, though they now had numbers on the front for the first time.

In the summer however, Carlow were unexpectedly wearing new jerseys when they ran on to the field in Croke Park to take on Meath in the Leinster football championship. In a move that is unlikely to happen now, there appears to be no evidence of any public launch reporting of the jersey before the game. The hurlers followed suit for their successful Christy Ring Cup campaign. This new design was full of angled lines and trim, but still maintained the traditional look overall while the yellow collar was a throw-back to jerseys of the early 90s. This design also brought with it one of the most colourful goalkeeper jerseys likely to have been seen in the GAA (and one I would love to add to the collection).

This particular version was worn for only one year, and was never sold to the public with this crest and sponsor so I am very glad to have this jersey from the 2008 u21 ‘Special’ hurling championship final as an example in the collection.

Undoubtedly one of the great moments for a Carlow team in this jersey was the 2008 Christy Ring Cup final over Westmeath, which was played in O’Moore Park, Tullamore. Initially fixed by the GAA for a Friday night stand-alone fixture in Croke Park, both counties objected to the game being played in what would be near-empty stadium, on a night when many fans would find it hard to attend after work or school. As of 2023, it remains the only Ring final to be played outside of ‘HQ’. It was a game for the ages, going to extra time before Carlow secured their first title in the Ring Cup, one that could be seen as the natural successor to their 1992 All Ireland ‘B’ title.

Carlow unveiled a new crest in 2009, so the jersey design was updated to include the new (some might say bland and devoid of any “Carlow-ness”) logo. The year also marked the 125th anniversary of the GAA’s foundation, which meant the Association logo was also reconfigured on player-issued jerseys for that season to include the text “Celebrating 125 years of the GAA” underneath.

2009 saw Carlow retain their Christy Ring Cup title, with a win over Down back in Croke Park. This win meant Carlow gained promotion to the top tier for the 2010 season, a status they would retain until 2015. Regarding the jersey, that game was notable for the players changing to a new set for the second half, likely due to the wet weather. Though new for that second half, the jerseys were actually an old set from the previous year, meaning in the celebration pictures, players are seen in jerseys featuring the old GAA, Carlow and sponsor logos, including Mark Brennan as he lifted the cup.

2010-2011

In 2010, a small change to the jersey as the GAA’s 125th anniversary logo was removed, though some rogue jerseys bearing the ‘125’ logo could still be seen in some games later in that year, such as Mark Carpenter in the All Ireland Qualifier versus Derry. This was the final design change, and the jersey was worn for 2010 and 2011.

The footballers only won one championship game over the lifetime of this design (with either crest), a one-point win over Louth in 2011 which put Carlow into a semi-final appearance against Wexford. While hopes were high of a potential upset of the near neighbours, the Yellowbellies proved too strong. In

A long sleeve version of this design was available, with the unusual use of white cuffs. I believe this is the last time a long sleeved set would be available in either code.

2012

As well as a new sponsor, 2012 brought with it a new jersey, which came in two variants that year. There is the version shown above, which was worn by the footballers during the league and championship. But in their O’Byrne first round game, when Dublin beat them in Dr. Cullen Park, as well as the subsequent O’Byrne Shield loss to Laois also on home soil, another version was worn. While the footballers wore the updated version after the O’Byrne Cup, the original version was worn by the hurlers for the entire season. The most noticeable was the back where O’Neills used a green panel at the top rather than a red one as well as removing the red and yellow trim at the bottom, which gave it the appearance of a Kerry jerseys with red sleeves when viewed from behind. At the front, the jersey was also showing more green than the “football” version. Firstly, O’Neills tried an embroidered crest which did away with the white background and instead just had a narrow yellow outline. It was not a great experiment, leaving the crest hard to see at all from any real distance. In addition, the ‘v’ of the neck was also green rather than yellow and the yellow/red stripe from the lower back was absent.

The “hurling” version was never sold to the public and the hurlers also adopted the updated version from 2013 onwards.

2013-2015

There was a very important tweak to the jersey in 2013 by way of an addition. Taking advantage of a change of rules which now allowed commercial advertisements on the back of jerseys, Carlow instead added the slogan “Suicide Aware: Living is Winning” above the number as a supportive message to people who might be struggling with their mental health. In particular, this focus was on young men who may be involved with the GAA. This initiative was announced in May of that year, ahead of the hurling and football championships. In 2014, Carlow’s own Murtagh Ware spoke about his own mental health struggles. The message would remain on senior jerseys until this jersey design was replaced in 2015. To allow for this added text, the crest element on the upper back was removed and the ‘Ceatharlach’ text moved up into its place. This allowed for a less cluttered look.

On the field, it was an inconsistent time in for the footballers during the span of this jersey. A heavy defeat to Meath in the 2014 championship was a low point, possibly one of the lowest in decades, but was followed by a morale boosting win over Waterford in the qualifiers. Clare knocked Carlow out in the next round, but that Waterford win showed there was still fight in the team.

The hurlers enjoyed a Division 2A title in 2012, and with it promotion to Division 1 for the 2013 season. Though relegation back to Division 2 followed the following year, the county hurled exclusively at Tier 1 level of the championship through while wearing this design.

2015 (one game)

A new sponsor, Tickets.ie, and with it a new design launched just in time for the start of the 2015 National Leagues. And as designs go, it was one that brought to mind the early ’90s when red was the predominant colour, with green and yellow reduced to mere trim. The jersey had a round neck with no collar, which was a first for Carlow since potentially as far back as the 1930s. In addition, Carlow took full commercial advantage of the loosened rules on jersey sponsorship with the addition of the Mount Wolseley Hotel logo on the back replacing the ‘Suicide Aware’ text from the previous two years.

Interestingly, the jersey that was shown at the launch on January 30th featured a much neater sponsor on the front, and that version was worn two days later by footballers in their League opener at home to Antrim. However, as far as I’m aware that was the only time it was worn before being replaced with the ‘black box’ version of the sponsor logo (see below). A picture of the O’Neill’s illustration of the final version appears to have been produced on “02.02.15”, the day after the Antrim game. By the following Sunday, Carlow took the field with the new sponsor on the front. Perhaps the sponsor wasn’t happy with the prominence?

2015-2016

With an even newer new logo on the front, this was the final design of the jersey and it was worn for the next two years.

On the field, with just a Qualifier win against Wicklow in two summers for the footballers, and one win for the hurlers over Antrim in 2015 before a win-less relegation to the Christy Ring in 2016, this jersey is unlikely to be remembered too fondly by players or supporters.

2015 – Walsh Cup

Another variant of this jersey was worn by the hurlers in their 2015 Walsh Cup campaign, perhaps to give better distinction against the maroon of NUIG and Galway in the first round and semi-finals respectively. The jerseys worn by the seniors would appear to be a set borrowed from an underage team as it still carried the Dan Morrissey sponsor. The jersey carries the ‘Ceatharlach Og’ branding on the back, which the underage set-up was known as before the launch of the ‘Colts’ system. It would not be the last time an underage set was worn by a Carlow senior team as we will see later. Though not a typical Carlow jersey, the colour scheme used here is very easy on the eye and with the cleaner sponsor, it was surely a better attempt then the home one. Notably, this jersey also had a collar.

2016 – Alternative

With a red home jersey, a change jersey was now required to play Louth in the 2016 football league and championship, which was a new development as past meetings were never deemed a clash due to Carlow’s additional yellow and green. The footballers didn’t wear a ‘Ceatharlach Og’ jersey like the hurlers in 2015, but instead an official alternative jersey was produced. This appears to use a slightly different shade of green, and reverses the red and yellow trim to the bottom of the torso. These alternative jerseys were not released to the public. Both games ended in a loss for Carlow. Carlow minors also wore this jersey against Louth in their championship game. Interestingly, this set reappeared in 2018 for the hurlers who wore it against both Wicklow and Wexford in the Walsh Cup

2017

After a diversion of two years to an almost fully red jersey, Carlow once again returned to the tri-colour bands in 2017. While the addition of red under the arm perhaps gave the shirt a “busy” look, the cleaner version of the Tickets.ie logo on the front looked much better than on the previous design. Alas, it was to be the last year of that particular sponsorship, so this version of the jersey was only worn for one year. But what a year.

The footballers beat Wexford in the Leinster championship before losing, without shame, to Dublin. In the qualifiers, Carlow won their first two games before again losing in a close game with a strong Monaghan team. Three wins in one summer was something not experienced in decades, and it would prove to be the foundation for a few very strong years ahead.

In hurling, 2017 was notable for Carlow’s season-long dual with Antrim. In the League, a draw was played out in the group section of Division 2A (which Carlow topped) before the Barrowsiders lost to the Saffrons in the final, and with it a chance at promotion. Moving into the summer, Carlow claimed a third Christy Ring Cup by beating Antrim in the final, having lost to them in the first round after extra time. Carlow came back in through the “back door” to get their revenge in a high scoring final (the full game can be seen below). With both teams being moved into the following season’s newly created Joe McDonagh Cup (rather than Carlow being moved to the Liam McCarthy as champions) it might be said that Carlow would have benefited more by winning the League final instead of the Ring final.

In 2018 there was a switch of sponsor between the pre-season competitions and the National Leagues, though the jersey design stayed the same. Out went Tickets.ie, to be replaced by IT Carlow as part of a broader link between the County Board and the local third level college. It became one of the great years for Carlow GAA with continued success for both the senior footballers and hurlers. Two of the best days are captured in the video below. With League promotions in both codes secured in the springtime, both sides would also enjoy long championship summers. After beating Louth in the first round, the footballers traveled to O’Connor Park for a Leinster quarter-final against favourites Kildare, where they couldn’t have expected that not only would they win but would do do in impressive style, playing a “perfect game” scoring 2-14 from 16 shots and no wides. A 100% kicking rate. The hurlers brought home more silverware in July, winning the inaugural Joe McDonagh Cup and with it promotion to the Leinster senior hurling championship for 2019.

Despite being ‘retired’ after the 2020 pre-season competitions, the hurlers wore it again against Antrim in their opening game of the Joe McDonagh Cup on October 31st of that year. It then made another surprise reappearance on some players in the 2022 O’Byrne cup versus Kildare, and even later in 2024 (with red shorts) in the u20 football championship against Laois.

2018 – 2020 Alternative

Although a change may not have been strictly necessary now that the red had been reduced on the Carlow jersey, it seemed a new trend to wear an alternative jersey against Louth had taken hold and so another green jersey was called upon in 2018. This time, the alternative jersey was sold to the public, and in fairness, it wasn’t a bad looking jersey apart from the decision to not put a border on the crest. As a nod to the successful #CarlowRising Twitter trend, a red/yellow/green fist was added to the hem. Strangely, O’Neill’s used a graphic for that hand that didn’t use the correct order of colours.

If the need for the jersey against Louth in the Leinster first round was debatable, it is even stranger that the jersey was used in two homes games against Westmeath and Kildare in the 2019 O’Byrne Cup (both games were actually played in December 2018), as well as against Dublin in the 2020 Walsh Cup hurling competition.

2020-2022

2020 saw the introduction of a new jersey in time for the National Leagues, with a design feature which had not been worn before by a Carlow team. The fade effect had been big in the GAA in the early 2000s, and it returned here to good effect, all things considered. The jersey had more yellow on it the usual as a result of the fade. Due to COVID-19, there was a limited amount of games in which it was worn in 2021, particularly for the footballers who had only four league outings and one championship game. It is fair to say it was a a jersey that saw some “almost” moments. In that shortened season, the footballers won their two League group games before stumbling in the semi final in a year where making the final would have secured promotion to Division 3 for 2022. When again will three wins ever secure promotion?

In hurling, it was sadly the jersey worn as the team were relegated from Division 1. Though they won no games in the 2020 League, it was the one-point loss to Laois that did the real damage. As a head-to-head tie breaker was in operation, a win in that game would have secured their top flight status. Again, “almost”.

2021 – Alternative v Louth

A “new normal”, Carlow once more reached for an alternative jersey when Louth visited Dr. Cullen Park in the summer of 2021 for a Division 4 semi-final. Although the 2018 alternate jersey was still on sale to the public, Carlow took the field in this game in a set borrowed from the underage Carlow Colts set up. This harks back to the 2015 Walsh Cup games in which the hurlers wore the then Ceatharlach Og underage jerseys.

Noteworthy too is that in the following year, 2022, Carlow played Louth in the Leinster Championship and did so in their first choice jersey, which would also have been available for the 2021 Division 4 clash.

A massive thank you to Rob and the Carlow GAA coaching team for donating this jersey to the collection.

2022

For reasons unknown, Carlow only launched a new jersey in May of 2022, well into the intercounty calendar. This meant it was not worn by the footballers until after they were already knocked out of the Leinster championship, while the hurlers were already more than half way through their Joe McDonagh campaign when they first togged out in it. For the first time, Carlow had yellow sleeves. This jersey also saw an evolution for the main sponsor. As part of a change of third level education nationally, IT Carlow was now the South East Technological University – Carlow Campus, which meant the ‘SETU’ logo replaced the old IT Carlow logo on the front. Red shoirts

For the hurlers, there is little of note to mention as they wore it only twice on their way to finishing third in the Joe McDonagh on the head-to-head rule, ending their season. For the footballers though, the jersey was worn as they made positive progress in the new Tailteann Cup. For a competition that faced an uphill battle to be seen in a better light that the previous Tommy Murphy Cup, the jubilant scenes at the end of Carlow’s win over Tipperary suggested that it had a future if shown respect by the GAA decision-makers.

2023

2023 saw Carlow take on a sleeve sponsor for the first time. The jersey design remained the same, with the logo of private healthcare company UPMC added to each sleeve in time for the first round of the respective National Leagues (sleeves were sponsor-free in the pre-season competitions). While sleeve sponsors might be another step in the wrong direction aesthetically, it certainly didn’t do the teams on the pitch any harm.

The hurlers won the Joe McDonagh Cup, and with it a return to the Liam McCarthy, after edging past Offaly by a point after extra time in a Croke Park final that will long be remembered by those who saw it. In the football, three wins in five matches in the Tailteann Cup built on the previous campaign, and was again seen as a good year. The Tailteann run included the novel and historic hosting of New York in the preliminary knock-out round. To add further intrigue to that particular game, New York’s corner back was Shane Bolger, son of the then Carlow County Board Chairman, Jim.

2024

A new jersey, but a sense of déjà vu. In late 2023, O’Neills removed the Carlow home jersey off their website and replaced it with a “Coming Soon” graphic. In hindsight, that particular choice of wording was hopeful. Carlow teams continued to wear the 2022/23 jersey for the entirety of the respective 2024 preseason competitions and National Leagues, before a soft launch of a new jersey on April 2nd. On that date, the County Board announced a new back-of-jersey sponsor, which included images of the new jersey but made no actual reference to it. A week later, the senior footballers wore it in their defeat by Wexford with still no official announcement, nor was the jersey available for purchase from O’Neills. The jersey was eventually officially launched on April 11th.

2025

A third new jersey in three years was unexpected, but with MW Hire becoming main sponsor as well as back-of-jersey sponsor, it would appear a new design was called for. The knitted collar remained the same, but a new cut to the torso was introduced where the front and back panels were stitched at a diagonal rather than simply vertically down from the arm-pit to the hem. A much more visible change to the overall look was the return of white shorts, giving the jersey itself a more prominent look.

2025 – Alternate

2025 also saw the return of the ‘alternate’ jersey. Though it was launched and subsequently sold as a goalkeeper jersey, it was nevertheless worn as an outfield jersey worn at home against Limerick (NFL) and Westmeath (NHL) with white shorts, and away Fermanagh (TC) where it was paired with the red shorts of the previous few seasons. White is an unexpected “away” colour for Carlow, but this (LINK) jersey from the 1950s has still to be confirmed if it was white. In a strange move, the numbers used the blue and red of the MW Hire logo.

The red, yellow and green of the Carlow fifteen