Over 10,000 rugby fans have Google searched whether former England captain Owen Farrell could potentially swap nations and play for Ireland in the coming years.
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This speculation likely arises from his father, Andy Farrell, coaching in Ireland and Owen’s original surname. To date, there have been thousands of searches asking ‘is Owen Farrell Irish?’ and other similar queries.
Andy Farrell has been married to his wife Colleen O’Loughlin since 1995.
The pair met as teenagers with the high school sweethearts have their first child Owen when Colleen has only just turned 17 years old.
As a result, Owen was not at first registered as a Farrell, but took mum Colleen’s family name of O’Loughlin, which some will know is a famous name in rugby league circles.
The couple married in 1995, changing Owen’s surname to Farrell the following year. They also have three other children, Elleshia, Gracie and Gabriel.
The surname O’Loughlin was first found in County Clare (Irish: An Clár) located on the west coast of Ireland in the province of Munster, where they held a family seat from very ancient times.
However, although Farrell certainly has plenty of Irish DNA, he wouldn’t be able to play for Ireland as his Grandad Kieran O’Loughlin, who was a prominent rugby player in the 70’s and 80’s, was born in Wigan and not Ireland.
Under current rules, a player can change to a new country once, provided they or their (grand)parents were born in the new country. A stand-down period of three years applies and a transfer is subject to approval by the World Rugby Regulations Committee.
So is Owen Farrell Irish? Yes. Can Owen Farrell play for Ireland? Probably not.
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