Eric Elwood and John Muldoon
The two names Connacht supporters know best both belong to Galway men. Eric Elwood, from the city, played the Jes team that won the Connacht Schools Senior Cup in 1985 and went on to 35 Ireland caps; John Muldoon, from Portumna, won an All-Ireland minor hurling medal with Galway in 2000 before he ever signed for the province he would captain for a decade.
Checked against the source on 2026-09-19.
Pierre-Selim, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Connacht Rugby Gym, Coláiste Iognáid on the 3D model; tap a pin for its page and directions.
Elwood
He made his Connacht debut at inside centre against Scottish North and Midlands on 18 September 1989 and scored his first try a month later against Munster at the Sportsground, when a try was still worth four points. He split his club career between Galwegians and Lansdowne, won 35 caps for Ireland with 296 points, was the first Connacht player to pass 1,000 points and 100 appearances, and his 1,152 points stood as the record until Jack Carty passed it in 2023. After retiring he coached the Ireland under-20s to the Six Nations grand slam of 2007 and took over from Michael Bradley as Connacht's director of coaching in 2010.
Muldoon
Born in Portiuncula Hospital and schooled at Gortanumera and Portumna Community School, Muldoon hurled for Portumna and for Galway's minors before rugby with Nenagh Ormond and the Irish under-19s; at GMIT there were not enough players for a college team, and Connacht gave him a summer contract in 2001 and a full one in 2003, the year the IRFU nearly closed the province. Michael Bradley made him captain for 2008 to 2009; he played in Connacht's first Heineken Cup season of 2011 to 2012 under Gavin Duffy's captaincy, was reappointed captain in August 2014 after Craig Clarke's retirement, and holds the province's appearance record. He played for the Barbarians against Tonga at Thomond Park in 2017, left in 2018 to coach defence under Pat Lam at Bristol and is now Connacht's lineout and maul coach. The model on this page pins the Sportsground and Crowley Park.
Questions people ask
How many caps did Eric Elwood win?
Did John Muldoon play hurling?
Who holds Connacht's appearance record?
Written from Wikipedia, "Eric Elwood" (CC BY-SA 4.0), read on 2026-09-19, and from the OpenStreetMap places on the model. Nothing has been added from memory; follow the source for its footnotes.