Billy Sheehan (born 18 December 1981) is a

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and former player. He lined out with two county teams: Kerry and

Laois County Laois ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medieval kingdom. Hist ...

. He was manager of the Laois county team from 2021 until 2023.

Schools

During his secondary school days in Tralee CBS he won a Frewen Cup title.

Club

He began his career with the

Austin Stacks Austin Stacks is a hurling and Gaelic football club based in Tralee in County Kerry, Ireland. Founded in 1917, the club has more All-Ireland Senior Football Championship medals and GAA All-Stars than any other Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA ...

club in

Tralee Tralee ( ; , ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the River Lee') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in ...

. He lined out in the 2001

Kerry Senior Football Championship The Kerry Senior Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as Garvey’s SuperValu Senior Football Championship) is an annual Gaelic football competition organised by the Kerry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 18 ...

loss to An Ghaeltacht. He would go on to win a

Kerry Club Football Championship The Kerry Club Football Championship is a Gaelic football championship played between senior clubs in County Kerry, in the south-west of Ireland. In the event of the Kerry Senior Football Championship being won by a divisional team, the winner ...

in 2003 with the

side. While a UCD student, Billy transferred to the

Emo Emo () is a genre of rock music characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and from the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands ...

club in

in 2004. He helped them to a

Laois All-County Football League The Laois All-County Football League (ACFL) is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by Laois GAA The Laois County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) () or Laois GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, ...

Division 1 title in 2005 before adding a Laois Intermediate Football Championship in 2012. In 2015 he joined

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

side St Jude's. He was part of the St Jude's team that reached the

2018 Dublin Senior Football Championship The 2018 Dublin Senior Football Championship was the 132nd edition of Dublin GAA's premier Gaelic football tournament for senior clubs in County Dublin, Ireland. 31 teams participate (16 in Senior 1 and 15 in Senior 2), with the winner of Senior ...

final but lost out to

Kilmacud Crokes Kilmacud Crokes () is a large Gaelic Athletic Association club located in Stillorgan, Dublin, Ireland. Background Kilmacud GAA club was formed in 1959 following a public meeting in Saint Laurence's Hall, where Stillorgan shopping centre no ...

. In 2020 he was again on the move this time linking up with

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

side

Cratloe Cratloe () is a village in County Clare, Ireland, situated between Limerick and Shannon in the mid-west region. It is possible that the name derives from ''Croit-shliabh'' meaning "hump-backed hill", referring to Woodcock Hill. The present-day ...

. He played again in the Clare county final in Cratloes loss to Kilmurry. This was his 7th county final in 5 different counties with 6 different teams. He also had success at club level while in college. First with

UCC The initialism UCC may stand for: Law * Uniform civil code of India, referring to proposed Civil code in the legal system of India, which would apply equally to all irrespective of their religion * Uniform Commercial Code, a 1952 uniform act to ...

. He won a

Cork Senior Football Championship The Cork Premier Senior Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the McCarthy Insurance Group Cork Premier Senior Football Championship and abbreviated to the Cork PSFC) is an annual club Gaelic football competition organised by t ...

title with the Students as they overcame

Nemo Rangers Nemo Rangers Hurling and Football Club is a Gaelic Athletic Association club in Ballinlough, Cork, Ireland. The club is affiliated to the Seandún Board and fields teams in Gaelic football, hurling and camogie. History Nemo Rangers Hurling & ...

in the final after a re-play. He later added a

Munster Senior Club Football Championship The Munster Senior Club Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Munster GAA Football Senior Club Championship) is an annual Gaelic football competition for the champion clubs of each county. It has been organised by the ...

as the college beat holders and

champions

Doonbeg Doonbeg () is a village in west County Clare, Ireland on the Atlantic coast. The surrounding natural environment has supported its development as a tourist resort. The area was officially classified as part of the West Clare Gaeltacht, an Irish- ...

in the final. They would later lose out to

Crossmaglen Rangers Crossmaglen Rangers Gaelic Athletic Club () is a GAA club in Crossmaglen, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. They cater for Gaelic football and camogie. Their home football ground is St. Oliver Plunkett Park, which was opened in 1959. In 1971 the ...

in the

All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament which began in season 1970–71. It is the top-tier competition for the senior football clubs of Ireland and London. The current champions are Cuala of D ...

semi-final. He continued his studies in

and lined out with UCD. He won a

Dublin Senior Football Championship The Dublin Senior Football Championship (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the '' Go-Ahead'' Dublin Senior Football Championship) is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition between the top Dublin GAA clubs. The winners of t ...

with the college when they got the better of St Vincents in the final.

Inter-county

He first played with the Kerry under-21 team in 1999 he in appeared as a sub during the All-Ireland semi-final win over

Roscommon Roscommon (; ; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60 road (Ireland), N60, N61 road (Ireland), N61 and N63 road (Irelan ...

. He played no part in the final. He was underage again in 2000. He scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

against Tipperary in the Munster quarter-final before a surprise loss to

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

in the semi-final. Billy went on to play two seasons of National League in years 2001 and 2003 under manager Páidí Ó Sé. In late 2004 he transferred his allegiance to Laois who were being managed by Mick O'Dwyer. In his opening season(2005) he lined out at wing forward in the Leinster final in a narrow one point defeat to Dublin. They beat Derry before Armagh beat them in an All-Ireland quarter final. He also won a Railway Cup medal in 2005 defeating Connaught and Ulster in the final under Paul "Pillar" Caffery. In 2006 Laois beat All-Ireland champions Tyrone in the qualifier series before being beaten by Mayo in a replay in the All-Ireland quarter final.

Liam Kearns Liam Kearns (1962 – 12 March 2023) was an Irish Gaelic football Manager (Gaelic games), manager and player. He last managed Offaly county football team, Offaly from 2022, until his death in 2023. Kearns previously managed the Limerick county ...

took over in 2007 and again Laois lost out in the Leinster final in Dublin with Billy again playing a role. He played also under

Seán Dempsey Seán Dempsey is an Irish Gaelic football manager, coach, selector and former player. He played at minor, under-21 and senior level for the Laois county team. Dempsey later managed Laois at minor, under-21 and senior level and has been involv ...

in years 2009/2010. Billy would again line out for Leinster in a defeat to Ulster in Crossmaglen.

Justin McNulty Justin McNulty MLA (born 15 November 1974) is an Irish politician, a Gaelic football manager, and a former player at senior level for the Armagh county team. He has served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Newry and Armagh si ...

brought Laois to a division 2 final(loss to Donegal) but promotion to division 1 again. Billy lined out at full forward throughout this season. In 2012 Laois had a great run in the qualifiers, defeating Carlow, Monaghan, Leitrim, Meath before coming unstuck by a goal against the current champions Dublin in the All-Ireland quarter final. In 2013 Laois again lost out to the previous years champions Donegal in Carrick-on-Shannon in the last 12 of the competition. In 2014 and 2015 he played under

Tomás Ó Flatharta Tomás Ó Flatharta is a Gaelic football Manager (Gaelic games), manager who is originally from County Kerry. He has managed three county teams: Westmeath county football team, Westmeath, Galway county football team, Galway and Laois county foo ...

and his last game would be a qualifier loss to Antrim. He has played over 40 championship games for Laois and has made well over 100 appearances in both league and championship for both counties. He was ratified as Laois senior manager in October 2021 and resigned from the position in July 2023.

Honours

;Emo *1

2005 *1 Laois Intermediate Football Championship 2012 ;UCC *1

1999 *1

1999 ;UCD *1

2006 ;Leinster *1

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship () or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster GAA teams are co ...

2005

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheehan, Billy 1983 births Living people Austin Stacks Gaelic footballers Emo Gaelic footballers Gaelic football managers Kerry inter-county Gaelic footballers Laois county football team non-playing personnel Laois inter-county Gaelic footballers UCC Gaelic footballers UCD Gaelic footballers