O'Connor went on to make 79 championship appearances at senior level and was at centre-forward on Newtownshandrum's All-Ireland Club Championship-winning team in 2004.
From his debut, O'Connor was ever-present as a forward and made a combined total of 114 National League and Championship appearances in a career that ended with his last game in 2012.
At inter-provincial level, O'Connor was selected to play in four championship campaigns with Munster, with his sole Railway Cup medal being won in 2005.
On 12 March 1997, O'Connor won a second successive Munster Championship title after he scored 1-06 from left wing-forward in a 1–19 to 1–10 defeat of Roscrea Vocational School in the final.
O'Connor joined the Newtownshandrum club at a young age and played in all grades at juvenile and underage levels.
O'Connor lined out in his last underage game with Newtownshandrum on 17 December 2000 when the club faced Glen Rovers in the Cork Under-21 Championship final.
On 20 October, O'Connor scored 0-04 from left corner-forward in a 2–07 to 1–10 draw with Cloyne in the Cork Intermediate Championship final.
[8] O'Connor made his first appearance at senior level on 28 June 1997 and scored 1–02 in Newtownshandrum's 1–11 to 2–12 defeat by Kilbrittain in the first round of the 1997 Cork Championship.
On 15 September 2002, O'Connor was at full-forward when Newtownshandrum faced reigning champions Blackrock in the Cork Championship final.
[10] Newtownshandrum faced Blackrock in a second successive Cork Championship final on 12 October 2003 with O'Connor lining out at centre-forward.
On 30 November, he won a Munster Club Championship medal after scoring three points in the 2–18 to 2–09 defeat of Patrickswell in the final.
On 16 October 2005, O'Connor won a third Cork Championship medal when he scored six points from centre-forward in a 0–15 to 0–09 defeat of Cloyne in the final.
[14] He scored six points again when Newtownshandrum defeated Ballygunner to win a second Munster Club Championship title on 4 December.
[17] On 11 October 2009, O'Connor scored 1-04 from left corner-forward and won a fourth Cork Championship medal after a 3–22 to 1–12 defeat of reigning champions Sarsfields in the final.
[18] On 29 November 2009, the "ever-reliable" O'Connor scored five points when Newtownshandrum won their third Munster Club Championship after a 2–11 to 2–09 defeat of Ballygunner.
Eligible for the grade again the following year, O'Connor was again at left corner-forward and scored four points when Cork suffered a 2–12 to 0–10 defeat by eventual All-Ireland champions Clare.
O'Connor subsequently progressed onto the Cork under-21 team and made his first appearance at right wing-forward on 24 June 1998 in a 4–18 to 1–11 defeat of Clare.
He was switched to left wing-forward for the next game before being dropped from the starting fifteen for the Munster Championship final on 23 August.
O'Connor played his last underage game for Cork on 23 August 2000 in a 4–18 to 1–06 defeat by Limerick in the Munster Championship final replay.
On 13 June 1999, O'Connor made his first championship appearance at right corner-forward and scored a point in Cork's 0–24 to 1–15 defeat of Waterford.
He started at left corner-forward in the subsequent Munster Championship final on 5 July and scored two points in the 1–15 to 0–14 defeat of reigning champions Clare.
[33] O'Connor won his fourth Munster Championship medal on 26 June 2005 after a 1–21 to 1–16 defeat of Tipperary in the final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
[36] On 25 June 2006, O'Connor won his fifth Munster Championship medal when he scored 1–01 in a 2–14 to 1–14 defeat of Tipperary for the second consecutive year.
[37] Cork subsequently qualified for a fourth successive All-Ireland final, with Kilkenny providing the opposition for the third time.
He lined out in both of Cork's opening National League games in 2012; however, in a shock announcement he decided to call time on his career in March 2012.
On 29 October 2018 he coached the team to a first ever Premier Intermediate Championship title after a 0–15 to 0–14 defeat of Courcey Rovers in a final replay.