Dean Rock

Early life Born in Ballymadun, Garristown, Rock was born into a family with a strong association with Gaelic football. His great-grandfather, grandfather and granduncle all worked as groundsmen at Croke Park, while his father, Barney Rock, is an All-Ireland medal winner with Dublin.

Playing career Secondary school Rock attended the Catholic University School where he played rugby union in the absence of a Gaelic football team.

Club He simultaneously came to prominence at juvenile and underage levels with the Ballymun Kickhams club before making his debut with the senior team in 2008. Since then he has won one Leinster medal and two county senior championship medals.

Inter-county Minor and under-21 Rock made his debut on the inter-county scene when he was selected for the Dublin minor team. After an unsuccessful tenure with the minor team, he later won an All-Ireland medal as part of the Dublin under-21 team.

Junior Dean Rock represented Dublin at Junior level in the 2009 Leinster Junior Football Championship. Dublin were knocked out in the semi-final by Louth. Dean Rock scored a total of 14 points for Dublin in his two appearances for Dublin Juniors.

Senior Rock made his senior debut during the 2012 league when he was introduced as a substitute against Donegal in March. He made his championship debut the following year against Westmeath. Since then he has won six All-Ireland medals, beginning with his first title in 2013 and followed by five successive championships from 2015 to 2019. Rock has also won six Leinster medals and five National League medals. Rock has been awarded two All Star awards for Dublin in 2017 and 2016, when he finished the season as top scorer of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.

Rock only started his first league match for Dublin in 2015, after which he participated in 63 consecutive league and championship games. Unusually, Rock has done this mostly through points; he has the lowest goal-scoring record among the top ten (with only Charlie Redmond's 15 goals within reach) and achieved the feat while making fewer appearances than those around him in the all-time list.

On 16 January 2024, Rock announced his retirement from inter-county football.

Post-playing career After retiring from inter-county football, Rock contributed to the GAAGO podcast

In September 2025, it was announced that Rock would be joining the backroom team of the recently appointed Dublin senior manager Ger Brennan.

Career statistics

Personal life Rock is married to Niamh McEvoy, the Dublin senior ladies' footballer. They have a daughter called Sadie Rose Rock and live in McEvoy's home town, the affluent Dublin suburb Malahide.

Following the completion of the five-in-row in 2019, Rock spent a week in New York with Ciarán Kilkenny and Paddy Andrews.

He debuted the "Dean Rock Free Taking Project" in mid-2020.

Honours Dublin City University Sigerson Cup (1): 2012

Ballymun Kickhams Leinster Senior Club Football Championship (1): 2012 Dublin Senior Football Championship (2): 2012, 2020

Dublin All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (8): 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023 Leinster Senior Football Championship (10): 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 National Football League (5): 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship (1): 2010 Leinster Under-21 Football Championship (2): 2009, 2010

Individual GAA-GPA All Stars Awards (3): 2016, 2017, 2020