Dundalk FC are delighted to welcome experienced defender Conor O’Keeffe to Oriel Park, after he ended his four-year stay at Galway United.
The 31-year-old was part of the Tribesmen’s SSE Airtricity Men’s First Division-winning team in 2023, but saw playing time limited on their return to the top flight last season, making 16 league appearances, and says he felt now was the right time to face a fresh challenge.
Able to play at right-back or centre-half, the Mullingar native has experience in Ireland and abroad, having spent four seasons at Southern United in New Zealand.
While in New Zealand, he was Football South Development Officer and captain of Dunedin-based Southern, where he played alongside Blackrock native and one of Dundalk’s youngest ever debutants Conor ‘Chippy’ McDonald.
‘The Chief’, O’Keeffe previously played with Wexford Youths in the Premier Division, while he had spells more locally as a youngster with Drogheda United and more recently Newry City, in the second half of 2020, spending a brief time in the North before joining Galway.
At Galway, he was part of a squad that finished second and third in the First Division in his first two seasons before making it third time lucky with a runaway success last year, finishing 25 points clear of second-placed Waterford.
Now, he is looking forward to the opportunity to bring Dundalk back to the top flight, as he arrives hot on the heels of Harry Groome and Dean Ebbe who were announced as Ciarán Kilduff’s first new signings for the club on Saturday.
“I’m really excited. Just coming here this morning, you can see how big the club is and how much history is there,” Conor told DFCTV.
“I played against Dundalk last season and over the years at different clubs; over the past ten years, you can just see how big the club is. It’s a huge fan base and a really good football town, so I’m really excited to be here.”
Dundalk FC first-team manager Ciarán Kilduff with his new signing, defender Conor O’Keeffe. Photos by Gerry Scully.
He added: “I had a couple of conversations, like a lot of players in the League of Ireland do at the end of the season, and the time for me was probably right to move on from Galway. I had four good seasons there.
“I was looking for a new challenge and the opportunity came up to talk to the new manager here. Once we had that conversation, you could tell it was a really exciting project, and something that would meet what I’m looking for at this stage of my career.
“You can see the potential that is there within the club now to kick on in 2025, and look to get the club back into the Premier Division again.
“It feels really good, it’s exciting. For me personally, it’s a fresh start and something I’m really looking forward to. Meeting the lads this morning, it’s your first taste of that new start again. From conversations with the manager and meeting some of your new teammates, you can start to feel it and get excited about the new season.”
Welcome to Oriel, Conor!
Reporting by Eoin Carpenter, video by Chris Clarke, photo by Gerry Scully.
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