Conor O'Brien (born 30 May 1985) is an Irish hurler who played as a corner back for the Tipperary senior team from 2007 until 2016. O'Brien made his first appearance for the team during the 2007 National League and has become a regular player over the last few seasons. During his playing career he has won one

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) is a term used to describe organisations and events whose interests extend over the entire island of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Irelan ...

winners' medals, three

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

winners' medals, one

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...

winners' medal, one

Munster Under-21 Hurling Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Munster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-c ...

medal, two

Munster Minor Hurling Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Minor Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Electric Ireland Munster GAA Hurling Minor Championship) is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster GAA, Munster Council of ...

medals and two

Fitzgibbon Cup The Fitzgibbon Cup () is the trophy for the premier hurling championship among higher education institutions (universities, colleges and institutes of technology) in Ireland. The Fitzgibbon Cup competition is administered by Comhairle Ard Oideac ...

medals. At club level O'Brien is a one-time county intermediate championship medalist with Éire Óg Anacarty.

Playing career

Club

O’Brien plays his club

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

with his local Éire Óg Anacarty club and in 2006 captured a county intermediate championship with the club.

Minor, under-21 and intermediate

O'Brien first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Tipperary minor hurling team in 2002. He won a

medal that year following a defeat of

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

in the provincial decider. By 2006 O'Brien had joined the Tipperary under-21 team. A 3-11 to 0-13 defeat of Cork gave him a

medal in that grade. He later played in the All-Ireland showdown with

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

. An exciting game resulted in a 2-14 apiece draw. Kilkenny narrowly won the replay by 1-11 to 0-11. O'Brien also enjoyed an unsuccessful four seasons with the Tipperary intermediate hurling team.

Senior

O'Brien made his senior competitive debut for Tipperary in a National Hurling League game against

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 ...

in 2007, however, he remained on the periphery of the team for the remainder of the campaign. In 2008 O'Brien became a regular member of the starting fifteen as Tipp remained undefeated in the National League before meeting Galway in the final. In an exciting game Tipp emerged victorious by 3-18 to 3-16 and O'Brien collected his first National League winners' medal. Tipperary later reached the Munster final where they defeated a resurgent

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 ...

team by 2-21 to 0-19. It was O'Brien's first

winners' medal. Tipperary were subsequently defeated in a tense All-Ireland semi-final by Waterford on a scoreline of 1-20 to 1-18. In spite of falling short in the championship, McGrath later collected his first

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

award. O'Brien won his second Munster medal in 2009 as Tipp defeated Waterford by 4-14 to 2-16. He played no further part in Tipperary's championship campaign. After surrendering their Munster title to Cork at the first hurdle in 2010, Tipperray regrouped in the qualifiers and reached a second successive All-Ireland decider. Kilkenny, a team chasing a fifth successive championship, provided the opposition and a great game was expected. Tipperary got off to a great start which was bolstered by an early Lar Corbett goal. He subsequently completed a hat-trick of goals and Tipperary had a fourth by Noel McGrath to deny Kilkenny's drive-for-five and secure a remarkable and convincing 4-17 to 1-18 victory. It was O'Brien's first

medal. After missing the 2011 championship, O'Brien returned to the starting fifteen again in 2012. In spite of an indifferent National League campaign, Tipperary were regarded as potential All-Ireland champions once again. A 2-17 to 0-16 defeat of Waterford in the provincial decider gave O'Brien a third Munster medal. Tipperary later faced a humiliating 4-24 to 1-15 defeat by eventual champions Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final. On 25 October 2016, O'Brien announced his retirement from inter-county hurling. In a statement he said "Since I first joined the Tipperary senior hurling panel in 2007, I have always felt it a great privilege and honour to represent my county at senior level. Having enjoyed it immensely, I have decided that now is the time to announce my retirement".

Inter-provincial

O'Brien has also been a regular on the

team during various inter-provincial campaigns.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Conor 1985 births Living people Éire Óg Annacarty hurlers Tipperary inter-county hurlers Munster inter-provincial hurlers All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners 21st-century Irish sportsmen