Stephen Farrelly (born 28 January 1978) is an Irish professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Sheamus. He is also the leader of The Brawling Brutes stable. Prior to joining WWE, he wrestled on the European independent circuit. After becoming part of WWE's main roster in 2009, he went on to become a four-time world champion, having held the WWE Championship three times and WWE's World Heavyweight Championship once. He is the first Irish world champion in WWE history, and is also a three-time United States Champion and a five-time tag team champion (four Raw and one SmackDown) with his tag team partner Cesaro. In addition to these championships, he also won the 2010 King of the Ring tournament, the 2012 Royal Rumble match, and the 2015 Money in the Bank ladder match, making him the second wrestler (after Edge) to achieve all three accomplishments. Early life Stephen Farrelly was born in the Cabra suburb of Dublin on 28 January 1978. He was raised on North Great George's Street in Dublin. He speaks fluent Irish, having attended Scoil Caoimhin Primary and the Gaelscoil Coláiste Mhuire Secondary School. During his school years, he sang in the Palestrina Choir until the age of 13; during this time, he appeared on the Irish shows The Late Late Show and Live at 3. He played Gaelic football for the Erin's Isle team, where he was once proclaimed "sports star of the month". He also played rugby union for the National College of Ireland, where he gained a National Diploma. He is a former IT technician and also worked as security for a nightclub, which led to him occasionally working as a bodyguard for Bono and Larry Mullen, Jr. of U2, as well as actress Denise van Outen. Professional wrestling career Training and debut (2002–2004) Farrelly was inspired to become a professional wrestler by watching British wrestling on World of Sport and American wrestling via the WWF. Following advice given to him by Bret Hart, he began training at Larry Sharpe's Monster Factory wrestling school in April 2002, alongside Tank Toland and Cliff Compton. Six weeks later, he officially debuted as a fan favorite against Robert Pigeon under the name Sheamus O'Shaunessy. After hitting an opponent in the groin, he gained the nickname of the "Irish Curse" (a reference to a