Declan Dalton (born 6 November 1997) is an Irish hurler who plays as a forward for club side Fr. O'Neill's, divisional side

Imokilly Imokilly () is one of the baronies of Ireland, an historical geographical unit of land. Its chief town is Youghal. It is one of 24 baronies in the county of Cork. Other neighbouring baronies include Barrymore to the west (whose chief town is ...

and at inter-county level 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 Cha ...

Playing career

Fr. O'Neill's

Dalton joined the Fr. O'Neill's club at a young age and played in all grades at juvenile and underage levels. On 16 September 2013, he was at right wing-forward when Fr. O'Neill's defeated

Newcestown Newcestown () is a small village located 35 km from the city of Cork in the western part of County Cork, Ireland. It is a village with a church, a school, a pub and GAA club. Newcestown is part of the Dáil constituency of Cork North-West ...

by 4-14 to 5-10 to win the Cork Premier 2 MHC title. Dalton subsequently progressed onto the Fr. O'Neill's under-21 team. On 8 December 2018, he gave the "performance of a lifetime" for Fr. O'Neill's when he scored 0-15, including twelve from frees, in 3-24 to 4-18 defeat of

Midleton Midleton (; , meaning "monastery at the weir") is a town in south-eastern County Cork, Ireland. It lies approximately 16 km east of Cork City on the Owenacurra River and the N25 road, which connects Cork to the port of Rosslare. A satelli ...

to win the Cork Premier Under-21 Championship title. Dalton made his first appearance for the Fr. O'Neill's top adult team during the 2014 Cork Intermediate Championship. On 22 October 2016, Dalton scored six points from full-forward when Fr. O'Neill's drew with

Kildorrery Kildorrery () is a village in north County Cork, Ireland. It lies at the crossroads of the N73 road from Mallow to Mitchelstown and the R512 from Kilmallock to Fermoy. The village is in a townland and civil parish of the same name. Kildorrer ...

in the Cork Intermediate Championship final. The replay a week later also saw Dalton top score for the team with 1-08 in a 1-18 to 1-14 victory. On 12 October 2019, Dalton lined out at full-forward when Fr. O'Neill's faced

Kilworth Kilworth () is a village in north County Cork, Ireland, located about north of Fermoy near the River Funshion. The M8 Cork–Dublin motorway passes nearby. Kilworth has an army camp, located on the R639 regional road between Mitchelstown an ...

in the Cork Premier Intermediate Championship final. He ended the game with a winners' medal following the 3-23 to 1-20 victory. Dalton was also the championship's top scorer with 3-45. On 24 November 2019, he scored 1-07 when Fr. O'Neill's defeated Ballysaggart by 2-15 to 0-17 to win the Munster Club Championship.

Imokilly

Dalton's performances at club level lead to him being selected for the

divisional team during the 2015 Cork Senior Championship. On 22 October 2017, Dalton was in goal when Imokilly defeated

Blackrock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational investment company. Founded in 1988, initially as an enterprise risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager ...

by 3-13 to 0-18 to win the Cork Senior Championship final. It was the division's first title since

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. Dalton was replaced in goal by

Watergrasshill Watergrasshill () is a village in north-east County Cork in Ireland to the north of Cork city. It is within the Cork North-Central Dáil constituency. Bypassed in 2003, the village is situated on the R639 road and accessible via junction 17 o ...

's Dara O'Callaghan for the 2018 Cork Senior Championship, however, he remained on the panel as a forward. On 14 October, he was introduced as a 52nd-minute substitute for Barry Lawton when Imokilly retained the title after a 4-19 to 1-18 defeat of

in the final. On 20 October 2019, Dalton played in a third successive county final. Lining out at full-forward, he top scored for the team with 1-07 and collected a third successive winners' medal after the 2-17 to 1-16 defeat of

Glen Rovers Glen Rovers is a Cork-based Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Blackpool, Cork, Ireland. The club was founded in 1916 and is primarily concerned with the game of hurling. They have been historically part of the ''Big Three'' of Cork hurl ...

. Dalton was also the championship's top scorer with 3-55.

Cork

Minor and under-21

Dalton first played for Cork at minor level on 8 April 2015 in a 2-20 to 1-13 Munster Championship defeat of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

. An anomaly in the championship format saw Cork face the same opposition in the semi-final, with Limerick reversing the result and knocking Dalton's team out of the championship. On 13 July 2017, Dalton made his first appearance for the Cork under-21 hurling team, scoring 1-12, including a late penalty, in Cork's one-point defeat of

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 ...

. Dalton won a Munster Championship medal on 4 July 2018, after scoring seven points in Cork's 2-23 to 1-13 defeat of Tipperary in the final. A knee injury in the subsequent All-Ireland semi-final defeat of

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

threatened to end his championship campaign. On 26 August 2018, Dalton scored five points from frees in a 3-13 to 1-16 All-Ireland final defeat by Tipperary in what was his last game in the grade. Dalton was later nominated for the Team of the Year.

Senior

Dalton was added to the extended training panel of the Cork senior team in late 2016. He made his first competitive appearance as goalkeeper on 25 January 2017 and scored two long-range points from frees in Cork's 0-19 to 0-15 Munster League defeat of

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 ...

. On 27 January 2019, Dalton made his first

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 ...

appearance at centre-forward in a 2-18 to 0-17 defeat by

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 ...

Nowlan Park Nowlan Park (; ), known for sponsorship reasons as UPMC Nowlan Park, is the principal Gaelic Athletic Association stadium in Kilkenny, Ireland. Named after James Nowlan, the longest serving President of the GAA, the stadium hosts major hurling ...

. On 13 February, it was announced that he faced a period on the sidelines following a knee operation.

Career statistics

Club

Division

Inter-county

Honours

;Fr. O'Neill's *

Cork Senior A Hurling Championship The Cork Senior A Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Co-Op Superstores Cork Senior A Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Cork SAHC) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Cork GAA, Cork County Board of ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Munster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship The Munster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Munster GAA Hurling Intermediate Club Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Munster GAA, Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Cork Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship The Cork Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Co-Op Superstores Cork Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Cork PIHC) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Cork GA ...

Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship The Cork Intermediate A Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Co-Op Superstores Cork Intermediate A Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Cork IAHC) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Cork County Board ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Cork Premier Under-21 A Hurling Championship Cork Premier Under-21 A Hurling Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the ''Evening Echo'' Cork County Premier Under-21 A Hurling Championship, is an annual hurling competition organised by the Cork County Board of the Gaelic Athletic ...

: 2018 *Rebel Óg Premier 2 Minor Hurling Championship: 2013 ;Imokilly *

Cork Senior Hurling Championship The Cork Premier Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Co-Op Superstores Cork Premier Senior Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Cork PSHC) is an annual club hurling competition organised by the Cork County B ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

;Cork *

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

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalton, Declan 1997 births Living people Fr. O'Neill's hurlers Imokilly hurlers Cork inter-county hurlers Hurling goalkeepers 21st-century Irish sportsmen