[citation needed] He attended University College Dublin where he completed a Bachelor of Commerce Degree and began his representative career.

[5] On 13 November 1993, Conor O'Shea earned his first international cap, playing at fullback against Romania at Lansdowne Road in a 25–3 victory.

In 1995 he was selected for the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa, where he played in two of Ireland's group matches (vs Japan and Wales) and started at fullback against France in the quarter-finals, losing 36–12.

O'Shea wasn't selected in 1996 following his move to London Irish, but returned to the squad in 1997 ahead of the 1997 Five Nations Championship.

He and Venter guided London Irish to fourth in the 2001–02 Aviva Premiership season but the team was knocked out in the quarter-finals by Northampton Saints 38–14.

In the 2002–03 season the Exiles dropped back down the table, finishing in 9th place, while also failing to progress out of the pool stages of their first Heineken Cup.

In 2005 O'Shea left London Irish to take up an appointment with the Rugby Football Union as Director of Regional Academies.

In 2008 he left his position with the RFU to take up a role with the English Institute of Sport as National Director, with a view on the 2012 Summer Olympics.

[6] In 2007 O'Shea was called upon by the RFU to give a talk to the England squad before playing Ireland for the first time at Croke Park to acquaint the players with the sporting and political history of the ground.

In 2012, Quins topped the 2011–12 Aviva Premiership table at the end of the regular season with 75 points (17 wins, 1 draw, 4 losses).

Quins did, however, make it all the way to the final of the 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup, but were defeated by Montpellier 26–19, which was O'Shea's last match in charge of the team.

[8] Harlequins London Irish On 25 March 2016, after months of speculation, O'Shea was named the new head coach of the Italian national team, bringing with him Englishman Mike Catt.

During the 2016 end of year tests, having heavily lost to New Zealand 68–10, O'Shea on 19 November, helped Italy to their first-ever victory against South Africa winning 20–18.

The other matches, saw Italy not only fail to gain a victory, but were also denied a losers and try bonus point, losing 46–15 to England, 56–19 to Ireland, 34–17 to France and 38–14 to Wales.

They lost all games during the 2019 Six Nations Championship, finishing bottom of the table for the fourth year in a row, three times under O'Shea.