Eddie O'Connor (hurler)

Eddie O’Connor

Personal information
Irish name	Éamonn Ó Conchúir
Sport	Hurling
Position	Corner-back
Born	Glenmore, County Kilkenny
Club(s)
Years	Club
	Glenmore
Club titles
Kilkenny titles	5
Leinster titles	1
All-Ireland Titles	1
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County
1991-1997	Kilkenny
Inter-county titles
Leinster titles	3
All-Irelands	2
NHL	1
All Stars	1

Eddie O’Connor (born 1964 in Glenmore, County Kilkenny) is retired Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club Glenmore and with the Kilkenny senior inter-county team in the 1980s and 1990s.^[1]

Early life

Eddie O’Connor was born in Glenmore on the Kilkenny-Wexford border in 1964. He was educated locally and showed great skill as a youngster at the game of hurling. In time he would become a key player on the Kilkenny senior hurling team of the 1990s.

Playing career

O'connor club

O’Connor people played a club of hurling with his local Glenmore club. The club had just been promoted to senior grade when O’Connor, and his brother Willie, came to prominence. They both had much success with their club, winning five county titles in 1987, 1990, 1992, 1995 and 1999. O’Connor’s second county title was subsequently converted into both Leinster and All-Ireland club titles.

Inter-county

O’Connor first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Kilkenny minor hurling team. He had little success at this grade and he later moved onto the county under-21 team. At this level he won a Leinster title in 1984 before collecting an All-Ireland medal following a defeat of Tipperary. O’Connor won a second Leinster medal with the under-21 hurlers in 1985, however, Tipp gained revenge for the previous year by defeating Kilkenny in the final.

O’Connor later joined the Kilkenny senior team, however, success was slow in coming. He won his first Leinster title in 1991 and subsequently played in his first senior All-Ireland final. Unfortunately for O’Connor, Kilkenny were defeated by Tipperary on that occasion. The following year he won a second provincial medal. In a second consecutive All-Ireland final appearance Kilkenny were victorious over Cork and O’Connor captured his first senior All-Ireland medal. In 1993 O’Connor was appointed captain of the county senior side. That year he led his men to a third consecutive Leinster title before leading the team out in Croke Park for a third All-Ireland final appearance. Galway provided the opposition on that occasion, however, O’Connor’s side were victorious by five points and he collected his second All-Ireland medal. He was later presented with an All-Star award. Kilkenny lost their provincial crown in 1994, however, in 1995 O’Connor won a National Hurling League medal.

His Life Now

He has trained several teams since his Kilkenny hurling days including De La Salle and most recently Carrigeen. He now lives in Mullinavat, Kilkenny along with his wife Mary and children Claire,James and Patrick.

References

Teams