The Gaelic Athletic Association-Gaelic Players' Association All Stars Awards (often known simply as the All Stars) are awarded annually to the best player in each of the 15 playing positions in

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Additionally, one player in each code is selected as Player of the Year. The awards were instituted in 1971. Since 2011 they have been presented jointly by the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

and the representative body for

inter-county Inter-county, is Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) List of Gaelic games terminology, terminology which refers to competitions or matches between County (Gaelic games), counties, as used in Gaelic games (differently from legal counties). The term c ...

players, the

Gaelic Players Association The Gaelic Players Association (), or GPA, is the officially recognised player representative body for inter county Gaelic footballers and Hurling, hurlers in Ireland. The GPA's aim is to promote and protect all aspects of player welfare and to ...

. Each player who receives a nomination is given a medallion marking the milestone. It is considered "the most coveted sporting award scheme in the country". Equivalent awards exist for ladies' football,

rounders Rounders is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams. Rounders is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a wooden, plastic, or metal bat that has a cylindrical end. The players score b ...

and

camogie Camogie ( ; ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game "hurling" (which is played by men only), it is organised ...

History and procedure

Since the 1960s there had been a tradition of annually selecting the best player in each position, in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

, to create a special team of the year. Between 1963 and 1967 these players received what was known as the

Cú Chulainn Cú Chulainn ( ), is an Irish warrior hero and demigod in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore. He is believed to be an incarnation of the Irish god Lugh, who is also his father. His mother is the ...

award. In 1971 these awards were formalised into the annual GAA All Star Awards. In 2006 the Gaelic Players Association launched a parallel award scheme entitled the GPA Gaelic Team of the Year (often referred to as the GPA Awards). An annual award was also given by the GPA to the Footballer of the Year and the Hurler of the Year. In 2011 it was announced that the GAA All Stars Awards, which had been sponsored in recent years by

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...

, and the GPA Awards would merge under the sponsorship of car manufacturer

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Gr ...

. The move announced by Christy Cooney saw the achievements of players recognised jointly for the first time in October 2011. The All Stars team comprises the best player in each position, regardless of club or county affiliation. The composition of the All Star teams are decided on the basis of a shortlist compiled by a selection committee of sports journalists from the national media, while the overall winners are chosen by inter-county players themselves. The award is regarded by players as the highest accolade available to them, due to it being picked by their peers. The awards are presented at a gala banquet in November following the end of the Championship season. Both men's teams are honoured with a special holiday where they play an exhibition game. Since 1971 over 1,000 players have been honoured with All Stars Awards. Damien Martin of the Offaly hurling team was the first ever recipient of the award, while in 2004 Paul Galvin of the Kerry football team became the 1,000th winner of the award.

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had a population of 27,351, the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland, ...

and Longford are the only counties in Ireland not to receive an award in either sport. In September 2017

PwC PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a Multinational corporation, multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Fo ...

became the new sponsors of the All Star Awards on a four-year deal, with the awards being renamed ''The PwC All-Stars''.

Winners

For a complete listing of all winners see the following articles: * All Stars Footballer of the Year * All Stars Hurler of the Year * List of All Stars Awards winners (football) *

List of All Stars Awards winners (hurling) This is a list of all the past winners of the official GAA GPA All Stars Awards in hurling since the first awards in 1971. As an insight to the prominent players of the 1960s, it also includes the unofficial "Cuchulainn" awards presented from 1963 ...

* All-Time All Star Award (football) * All-Time All Star Award (hurling) * Ladies' Gaelic football All Stars Awards (

Winners Winners Merchants International L.P. is a chain of off-price Canadian department stores owned by TJX Companies. Its market niche is similar to the American chain TJ Maxx, and it is a partnered retailer to department stores HomeSense and Marshall ...

) *

Camogie All Stars Awards The Camogie All Star Awards are awarded every year to players of the Irish stick and ball team sport of camogie, picked in the 15 traditional positions on the field of play: that is, goalkeeper, three full-backs, three half-backs, two midfields, ...

(

) *

Rounders All Stars Awards This page lists GAA Rounders All Star Awards winners from 2002 onwards. These awards are presented annually to that year's "most consistent" senior GAA rounders players. Men 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2022 2023 Wom ...

(Winners:

Men A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fa ...

Women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...

)

Records

Brothers

Twenty three sets of brothers have won All Star Awards in

. They are: *

Colm Colm (; ) is a masculine given name of Irish origin. It is not an Irish version of ''Colin'', but like '' Callum'' and ''Malcolm'' derives from a Gaelic variation on ''columba'', the Latin word for " dove". The reason for the name's use for o ...

, Conal and Cormac Bonnar of Tipperary * Tom and Jim Cashman 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 * ...

* Andy and Martin Comerford of

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 ...

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

and Joe Connolly of

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

Jimmy Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

and Joe Cooney of Galway *

Ollie Ollie is a given name and a nickname, often as a shortened form of Oliver (given name), Oliver, Olive (given name), Olive, Olympia, Olga (name), Olga or Olivia (given name), Olivia. Variants include Olie, Oli, Oly (disambiguation), Oly and Olly (di ...

and Joe Canning of Galway *

Johnny Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John (given name), John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly ...

Billy Billy may refer to: * Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name) * Billy (surname), a surname (and list of people with the surname) Animals * Billy (dog), a dog breed * Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945 * Billy ( ...

and

Joe Dooley Joseph Dooley may refer to: *Joseph Brannon Dooley (1889–1967), United States federal judge *Joe Dooley (basketball) (born 1966), basketball player *Joe Dooley (Seir Kieran hurler) (born 1963), Irish hurling manager and former player *Joe Doo ...

Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in honour of Philip II of Spain ...

and Tony Doran 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 ...

Liam Liam is a short form of the Germanic name William, or its Irish variant Uilliam. Etymology The original name was a merging of two Old German elements: ''willa'' ("will" or "resolution"); and ''helma'' ("helmet"). The juxtaposition of these ...

and Ger Fennelly of Kilkenny * Pat, Ger and John Henderson of Kilkenny *

Eoin Eoin () is a masculine Irish-language given name. The Scottish Gaelic equivalent is Eòin () and both are closely related to the Welsh language, Welsh . It is also cognate with the Irish and English John (given name), John. In the Irish language, ...

and Paul Kelly of Tipperary *

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan (given name), Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish language, Irish and Breton language, Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan language, Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. ...

and Frank Lohan of Clare *

Willie Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Allen (basketball) (born 1949), American basketball player and ...

and Eddie O'Connor of Kilkenny * Seán Óg and

Setanta Ó hAilpín Setanta Ó hAilpín (born 18 March 1983) is a Fijian-Irish sportsman. He played hurling at senior level for the Cork county team before becoming a professional Australian rules footballer. Ó hAilpín is of mixed Irish and Rotuman backgroun ...

of Cork * Aidan and Bobby Ryan of Tipperary *

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

and John Quigley of Wexford *

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

and Colin Fennelly of Kilkenny * Dan Shanahan and Maurice Shanahan of Waterford * Pádraic Maher and Ronan Maher of Tipperary * Noel McGrath and John McGrath of Tipperary * Tommy Walsh and Pádraig Walsh of Kilkenny * Cathal Mannion and

Pádraic Mannion Pádraic Mannion (born 6 March 1993) is an Irish Hurling, hurler, he also plays as a right wing-back for club side Ahascragh-Fohenagh GAA, Ahascragh-Fohenagh and at inter-county level with the Galway senior hurling team. His brother, Cathal Mann ...

of Galway * Tom Morrissey and Dan Morrissey of Limerick * Eoin Downey and Robert Downey of Cork One set of twins have won All Star Awards in hurling: * Jerry and Ben O'Connor of

Thirteen sets of brothers have won All Star Awards in

. They are: *Matt and Richie Connor of

*Tomás and Liam Connor of Offaly *

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

and

Dermot Earley Snr Lieutenant-General Dermot Earley DSM (24 February 1948 – 23 June 2010) was a high-ranking military official in Ireland and with the United Nations. He was the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces from 2007 to 2010. Early life and education ...

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 ...

*Seán and Brendan Lowry of Offaly *James and Martin McHugh of Donegal *Mark and Ryan McHugh of Donegal *Anthony and John McGurk of

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

* Tom, Mick and Pat Spillane of Kerry * Tomás, Darragh and

Marc Ó Sé Marc Ó Sé (born 25 April 1980) is an Irish sportsman. A teacher by profession, he works in the CBS in Tralee County Kerry, he played Gaelic football for the Kerry county team from 2002 until 2016 and played with his local club team An Ghael ...

of Kerry *Kenneth and Conor Mortimer of Mayo *

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Kurdish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name ** List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' * ...

and Bernard Brogan Jnr of

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 ...

Seán Cavanagh Seán Cavanagh (born 16 February 1983) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for the Moy Tír Na nÓg club and for the Tyrone county team. He is a five-time All Star winner. He won All-Ireland Championships for Tyrone at minor lev ...

and Colm Cavanagh of Tyrone * David Clifford and Paudie Clifford of Kerry One set of brothers has won All Star Awards in hurling and football (with two different counties): *Declan Carr won his hurling award while playing with Tipperary and Tommy Carr won his football award while playing with Dublin.

Father and son

Seventeen father and son pairings have won All Star Awards. Thirteen of these have been in football. Of the thirteen, two fathers have each been followed by two sons, therefore a total of four father and son pairings: * Bernard Brogan Snr, plus Alan Brogan and Bernard Brogan Jnr of Dublin. * Martin McHugh, plus

Mark McHugh Mark McHugh (born 22 August 1990) is an Irish Gaelic footballer and coach who plays for Cill Chartha and, formerly, for the Donegal county team. He is the brother of Ryan and the son of Martin. He won one All-Ireland Senior Football Champio ...

and Ryan McHugh of Donegal. The other nine father and son pairings are: * Pat Reynolds and Paddy Reynolds of

Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

. *

and Dermot Earley Jnr of

and

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 10,302, making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. It is home to Kildare Cathedral, historically the site of an important abbey said to have been founded by Saint ...

. * Liam O'Neill of

and Kevin O'Neill of Mayo. * Frank McGuigan and Brian McGuigan of Tyrone. * Tim Kennelly and Tadhg Kennelly of Kerry. * Denis 'Ógie' Moran and David Moran of Kerry. * Noel McCaffrey and Jack McCaffrey of Dublin. *

Barney Rock Barney Rock (born 10 January 1961) is a former Gaelic footballer and manager at club and inter-county level (he managed Westmeath in the mid-1990s). Biography Born in Ballymun, but growing up in Glasnevin, Dublin, Rock attended St Kevins Colle ...

and Dean Rock of Dublin. * Val Daly and John Daly of Galway. There have been four hurling father and son pairings: * Fan Larkin and Philly Larkin of

. * Richie Power Snr and Richie Power Jnr of Kilkenny. * Ken Hogan and Brian Hogan of Tipperary. * Tommy Quaid and Nickie Quaid of Limerick

Dual All Stars

One player,

Ray Cummins Maurice Raymond "Ray" Cummins (born 9 November 1948) is an Irish former hurler and Gaelic footballer whose dual league and championship career with the Cork senior teams spanned fifteen years from 1967 to 1982. Born in Ballinlough on the so ...

, holds the unique record of winning a

and a

All Star in the same year (1971). Three other players share the distinction of winning All Star awards in both hurling and football, but they did not win the accolades in the same year. These players are: * Jimmy Barry-Murphy of

* Brian Murphy of Cork * Liam Currams of

Players with most wins

Unique achievements

Tommy Walsh of Kilkenny won nine consecutive hurling All Star Awards in a record five different positions. These were for playing at left corner back (1), at right half back (5), at left half back (1), at midfield (1) and at left half forward (1). Henry Shefflin of Kilkenny holds the record for most All Star Awards in the one position with seven at centre-forward. Brian Fenton and Brian Howard, both from

Raheny Raheny () is a northern suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, halfway from the city centre to Howth. It is centred on a historic settlement, first documented in 570 AD (Mervyn Archdall (Irish antiquary), Mervyn Archdall). The district ...

and

were the first midfield to be selected from one club. Shortly after his 90th birthday, Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh was awarded the only All Star of 2020. No further All Stars could be awarded as competition was suspended due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and only completed that December.

References

External links

All Stars
at the

2007
at ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

''
2007
at the ''

Sunday Tribune The ''Sunday Tribune'' was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to ta ...

''
50 years of the GAA All-Stars - 'You were given the five-star glitz and glamour of an Oscar night'
{{Gaelic games awards 1971 establishments in Ireland Annual sporting events in Ireland Awards established in 1971