 At inter-county level, O'Connell was part of the successful Cork minor team that won the All-Ireland Championship in 1995 before later winning back-to-back All-Ireland Championships with the under-21 team in 1997 and 1998.He joined the Cork senior team in 1998.From his debut, O'Connell was a regular at midfield and made a combined total of 43 National League and Championship appearances in a career that ended with his last appearance in 2007.