Eoghan O'Connell joins the contingent of Rebel Army alumni at Rochdale

Rochdale have added to their contingent of former Cork City players with the capture of defender Eoghan Stokes from Bury.

The Cork native, whose father Damien and brother Andy also played for City, has been a free agent since the end of the season as Bury’s financial problems mounted in spite of sealing promotion.

He joins former City teammates Stephen Dooley, Ryan Delaney and Jimmy Keohane at Spotland, while manager Brian Barry-Murphy also began his career at Turner’s Cross.

23-year-old O’Connell has signed a two-year deal with the Dale after featuring in 35 of the Shakers’ 46 league games last season, helping them to a second-place finish behind champions Luton Town.

The former Ireland under-21 international joined Bury at the beginning of the 2017-18 season from Celtic, with whom he appeared in a Champions League group game against Barcelona.

O’Connell had spells on loan with Oldham Athletic, Cork City and Walsall before making the move to Lancashire, where he suffered relegation in his first season before bouncing straight back up.

However, with the club in danger of administration ahead of their return to the third tier, O’Connell has joined Jay O’Shea at the exit door after the winger joined Australia’s Brisbane Roar.

“I’m looking forward to working under Brian Barry-Murphy and I’m delighted to get the deal done," O’Connell told the club’s website.

“I’ve known Brian for a while and it’s very exciting what he’s trying to do here. He was a huge factor in the move, to be honest, and I just couldn’t wait to get the deal done.

“I think we’ve got some very good players here as well, so once we get through pre-season and get started, hopefully it will be a good season.

“Everyone I’ve spoken to has said how good a coach he is, and I’ve seen how good a job he did when he took over as manager last season.

“It just shows the ability he has, and obviously the lads did brilliantly as well.”

Barry-Murphy added: “I’m ecstatic to have been able to secure the services of Eoghan. It’s a position [right-sided centre-half] that we’ve been very conscious that we needed to recruit in.

“That was the number one priority, really, and Eoghan was the number one target. If I’m being honest, for a lot of the summer I didn’t think we would be able to acquire him, but the fact that it has come to fruition is testament to his commitment towards us.

“There were a lot of opportunities for him to go elsewhere and no doubt there were better financial options, but he’s shown a hunger to come and join our club.

“He also has an admiration for a lot of our players, which is very exciting.”