Conor O'Brien (born 30 May 1985) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

hurler who played as a corner back for the

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 ...

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) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

winners' medals, three

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 ...

winners' medals, one

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual 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 league system. ...

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 hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Assoc ...

medals and two

Fitzgibbon Cup The Fitzgibbon Cup ( ga, Corn Mhic Giobúin) 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 ...

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 ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of pla ...

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

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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. 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

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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

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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 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 Laurence Corbett (born 16 March 1981) is an Irish former hurler who played for Tipperary Championship club Thurles Sarsfields. He played for the Tipperary senior hurling team for 15 years, during which time he usually lined out as a left cor ...

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