Cornelius Cottrell (2 May 1917 – 3 March 1982) was an Irish hurler. His career included stints with club sides

Valley Rovers Valley Rovers GAA Club is a Gaelic Athletic Association club in the parish of Innishannon in County Cork, Ireland. The club was formed in 1919 when two teams in the parish, Innishannon and Knockavilla, came together. The club fields teams in hu ...

Ballinhassig Ballinhassig () is a village in County Cork, Ireland, situated south of Cork City just off the N71 Bandon road and near the source of the River Owenabue (''Abhainn Bui'', meaning "Yellow River"). Traditionally an agricultural area, Ballinha ...

and

Cooley Kickhams Cooley Kickhams Gaelic Football Club is a Gaelic football and ladies' Gaelic football club based on the Cooley Peninsula, County Louth, Ireland. History The club was founded in 1887 and is named after the Cooley Peninsula on which it stands. It ...

, while he was also a five-time All-Ireland Championship winner with the

Cork senior hurling team The Cork county hurling team represents Cork in hurling and is governed by Cork GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Senior Hurling C ...

. After playing at junior club level, Cottrell was drafted onto the Cork senior team for the 1941 senior championship. From his debut, he developed a midfield partnership with

Jack Lynch John Mary Lynch (15 August 1917 – 20 October 1999) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1966 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1966 to 1979, Leader of the Opposition from 1973 to 1977, Ministe ...

and made 19 championship appearances in a career that ended with his last game in the 1947 All-Ireland final. During that time Cottrell was part of five All-Ireland Championship-winning teams, including Cork's record-breaking four titles in-a-row between 1941 and

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in No ...

. He also secured five

Munster Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship, known simply as the Munster Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hurlin ...

medals.

Playing career

Cooley Kickhams

During his studies with the

Rosminian Order The Rosminians, officially named the Institute of Charity ( la, Institutum Caritatis), abbreviated I.C., are a Roman Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men founded by Antonio Rosmini and first organised in 1828. The ...

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is hal ...

, Cottrell joined the

club. In

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by ki ...

, he won a county senior championship medal with the club in 1939 after lining out at right wing-forward in the 3–13 to 1–06 defeat of Newtown Blues.

Valley Rovers

On returning to

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, Cottrell joined the

Innishannon Innishannon or Inishannon () is a large village on the main Cork– Bandon road ( N71) in County Cork, Ireland. Situated on the River Bandon, the village has grown due to its proximity to Cork city, and is now a dormitory town for city wo ...

-based

club. He had his greatest club success when the club claimed the 1941 South East Junior Championship, with Cottrell being described as a "shining light" in the 5–07 to 5–03 victory over Tracton. Cottrell also briefly lined out with the

club.

Cork

Cottrell was added to the Cork senior hurling panel in advance of the 1941 Munster Championship and was described in the ''

Irish Press ''The Irish Press'' ( Irish: ''Scéala Éireann'') was an Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995. Foundation The paper's first issue was published on the eve of the 1931 All-Ireland ...

'' as being "the best young hurler Cork has produced for many a day". He made his debut on 14 September 1941 when he lined out at centre-back in Cork's 8–10 to 3–02 defeat of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

and was described as having "lived up to expectations". Cottrell retained his position at centre-back for the 1941 All-Ireland final against

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

. He ended the game with his first All-Ireland medal after the 5–11 to 0–06 victory. Cottrell ended the season by lining out in Cork's 5–04 to 2–05 defeat by

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

in the delayed Munster final. Cottrell lined out in his second Munster final in 1942, with Cork claiming the Munster title after a 4–15 to 4–01 defeat of Tipperary. He was dropped from the starting fifteen in favour of Alan Lotty for the subsequent 1942 All-Ireland final against

but was eventually listed amongst the reserves when it had looked like he would miss the game altogether. Cottrell remained as an unused substitute throughout the game, but collected his second successive winners' medal after a 2–14 to 3–04 victory. Restored to the starting fifteen for the 1943 Munster Championship, Cottrell won his second provincial winners' medal after a 2–13 to 3–08 victory over

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

in that years final. He was later included as midfield partner to

for the 1943 All-Ireland final against Antrim and scored two points on the way to his third successive All-Ireland winners' medal after the 5–16 to 0–04 victory. Cottrell claimed a third successive Munster Championship winners' medal after a 4–06 to 3–06 victory over Limerick in the 1944 Munster final replay. On 3 September 1944, he again partnered Jack Lynch at midfield in a second successive All-Ireland final and Cork's fourth successive appearance in the decider overall. Cottrell scored a point from play and ended the 2–13 to 1–02 victory over Dublin by becoming one of a select group of players to have won four successive All-Ireland medals. After failing to secure a fifth successive title in 1945, Cottrell won a fourth provincial championship winners' medal after lining out at midfield in the 3–08 to 1–03 defeat of Limerick in the 1946 Munster final. For the fifth time in six seasons, he lined out in the subsequent All-Ireland final with Kilkenny providing the opposition. Cottrell claimed a fifth All-Ireland winners' medal after playing at midfield in the 7–05 to 3–08 victory. Cottrell missed Cork's first two games of the 1947 Munster Championship but claimed a fifth winners' medal after being restored to midfield for the 2–06 to 2–03 defeat of Limerick in the 1947 final. He was again at midfield for his sixth All-Ireland final in September 1947, but ended the game on the losing side after the 0–14 to 2–07 defeat by Kilkenny. This was Cottrell's final championship appearance for Cork as his ordination to the priesthood rule him out of any further inter-county activity.

Munster

Cottrell was first selected for the

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following th ...

team during the 1944 Railway Cup. He claimed his first

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship ( ga, An Corn Idir-Chúigeach) 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 ...

medal that year after lining out at left wing-back in Munster's 4–10 to 4–04 defeat of Connacht in the final. Cottrell claimed a second successive Railway Cup medal the following year after playing at midfield in Munster's 6–08 to 2–00 victory over

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label=Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

in the 1945 final.

Personal life

Cottrell entered the

at the age of 18 in 1935 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1947. He worked for a number of years at St. Patrick's Industrial School in Upton and later became Superior at

St. Joseph's Industrial School St. Joseph's Industrial School is a historic former Black Catholic school and historic district in Clayton, Kent County, Delaware. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. Building It encompasses three contributing ...

near

Clonmel Clonmel () is the county town and largest settlement of County Tipperary, Ireland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian army which sacked the towns of Drogheda and Wexford. With the exception of the townland ...

. As superior of St. Joseph's School for the Blind in Drumcondra, he was involved in developing services for the welfare of the blind and partially sighted and in setting up workshops for the blind. After an illness, Cottrell returned to St. Patrick's in Upton in the early 1970s and established a residential centre for adults with special needs. He returned to Dublin for a short period to continue his work for the blind but remained in poor health. On 3 March 1982, Cottrell died aged 64 at the

Regional Hospital A regional hospital or district hospital is a hospital that serves a geographic region larger area than a single local or rural area. Some countries also define specific services that required in regional hospitals. The word ''regional'' or ''dis ...

. He was survived by his two brothers and a sister.

Honours

;Cooley Kickhams * Louth Senior Football Championship (1): 1939 ;Valley Rovers *

South East Junior A Hurling Championship The South East Cork Junior A Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition organised by the Carrigdhoun Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1928 for junior hurling teams in the southeastern region of County Cork, Ireland. T ...

(1): 1941 ;Cork *

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hurling competition i ...

(5):

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January– August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar E ...

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

, 1946 *

Munster Senior Hurling Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship, known simply as the Munster Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hurlin ...

(5):

, 1946,

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January– February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the count ...

;Munster *

(2):

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cottrell, Con 1917 births 1982 deaths Ballinhassig hurlers Valley Rovers hurlers Cooley Kickhams Gaelic footballers Cork inter-county hurlers Munster inter-provincial hurlers All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners