Paul Jeremiah O'Connell (born 20 October 1979) is an Irish rugby union coach and former player.

[9] O'Connell made his debut for Ireland against Wales in the 2002 Six Nations Championship, starting alongside Mick Galwey and scoring a try.

"[11] O'Connell was part of the Munster squad that won the 2003 Celtic League, beating Neath 37–17 in the final.

[19] In Ireland's opening game of the 2004 Six Nations Championship, O'Connell captained the side in the absence of Brian O'Driscoll.

[21] O'Connell also gained silverware on the club front when Munster won the last final of the Celtic Cup, defeating Llanelli Scarlets 27–16 in Lansdowne Road on May 14, 2005.

[24] He scored the last International try at the Old Lansdowne Road before it was demolished and rebuilt as the Aviva Stadium, in a 61-17 victory over the Pacific Islanders.

[28][29] O'Connell was shortlisted for the International Rugby Board player of the year in 2006 and was the only Northern Hemisphere nominee.

[33] O'Connell was awarded the Man of the match accolade following Ireland's historic 43–13 win over England at Croke Park a week later.

"[37] O'Connell lined out for another disappointing Irish performance six days later when Georgia came embarrassingly close to beating Ireland, eventually only losing 14-10.

[48] On 21 April 2009, O'Connell was named as the British & Irish Lions captain for the 2009 tour to South Africa.

[51] O'Connell started in the last test of the series where the Lions managed a consolation victory to avoid the first whitewash by South Africa in 118 years.

[52] O'Connell missed Ireland's first two matches of the 2010 Six Nations Championship due to a hip injury but returned to play England, Wales and Scotland.

[57] O'Connell was selected in Ireland's 2011 Six Nations Championship squad,[58] playing against Italy,[59] France,[60] Scotland,[61] Wales[62] and England.

[68] Ireland won their opening pool game against the USA, with O'Connell being awarded Man of the Match.

[72] It was announced on 30 December 2011 that O'Connell would captain Ireland in the absence of Brian O'Driscoll during the 2012 Six Nations Championship.

[75] He was ruled out for the remainder of the 2012 Six Nations after a knee injury sustained in the game against France, which required a recovery period of 3–6 weeks.

[76] O'Connell injured ligaments in his ankle during a Celtic League match against Leinster on 2 April 2011, and was out for four weeks.

[79] O'Connell signed a new two-year contract on 3 January 2012 that would see him continuing to play his rugby for Munster and Ireland until the end of the 2013–14 season.

[80][81] He made his comeback from the knee injury suffered in the 2012 Six Nations against Ulster in the Heineken Cup quarter-final on 8 April 2012.

[82] O'Connell suffered another knee injury in Munster's Pro12 league game against Ulster, which ruled him out for 4–6 weeks and made him a doubt for Ireland's 3-Test series against New Zealand in June 2012.

He made his comeback on 13 October 2012, in Munster's opening fixture of the 2012–13 Heineken Cup away to Racing Métro 92.

O'Connell suffered a recurrence of his back injury in October 2012 and had to undergo surgery on New Year's Eve, which ruled him out of rugby until early April 2013.

[86] However, O'Connell returned early from the injury, having made a quicker-than-expected recovery, and played 40 minutes for Munster A on 12 March 2013.

[88] He captained Munster in the absence of Doug Howlett in the 12–18 Heineken Cup quarter-final victory over Harlequins on 7 April 2013, a game in which he won the Man-of-the-Match award.

[91] He captained the side in their opening tour fixture against the Barbarians on 1 June 2013 in the absence of the injured Sam Warburton, scoring a try in the 59–8 win.

[99] O'Connell started for Munster in their 26-27 away win against Sale Sharks in the European Rugby Champions Cup on 18 October 2014.

[135] O'Connell started Ireland's 24-9 win against France on 11 October 2015, but went off with a hamstring injury at the end of the first-half.

[136] The injury required surgery, ruling O'Connell out of the remainder of the World Cup and ending his international career.

[141] O'Connell left his role as an advisor with the Munster Academy to become an assistant coach with the Ireland Under-20s team in December 2017.

In September 2016, O'Connell gave a speech to the European players preparing to compete against America in the 2016 Ryder Cup, having been invited to do so by Darren Clarke, Europe's captain.