Michael G. O'Brien (1933 – 14 November 2014) was an Irish

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

who was also a noted

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 ...

coach and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. Born in

Innishannon Innishannon or Inishannon () is a large village on the main Cork (city), Cork–Bandon, County Cork, Bandon road (N71 road (Ireland), N71) in County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on the River Bandon, the village has grown d ...

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

, O'Brien was ordained into the priesthood in 1958. Over the next forty-five years he ministered in both Ireland and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, while also serving as a teacher at St Finbarr's College and

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

to the

Irish Navy The Naval Service () is the maritime component of the Defence Forces of Ireland and is one of the three branches of the Irish Defence Forces. Its base is in Haulbowline, County Cork. Though preceded by earlier maritime defence organisations ...

. O'Brien retired from active ministry in 2003. Concurrently with his duties as a priest, O'Brien was heavily involved as a hurling coach at colleges, university, club and inter-county levels. His biggest success came with

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 * ...

, whom he steered to two All-Ireland SHC titles, four Munster SHC titles and 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 ...

title.

Biography

O'Brien was born in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

Knockavilla, County Cork Knockavilla () is a small village in County Cork, Ireland, a few of kilometres from Crossbarry and Innishannon. The local Roman Catholic church is dedicated to Saint Patrick. There is also a school, a pub, a graveyard, and a community hall (situ ...

. He entered

St Patrick's College, Maynooth St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth (), is a pontifical Catholic university in the town of Maynooth near Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mou ...

, and was ordained for the Diocese of Cork and Ross in the seminary chapel on 22 June 1958. He then ministered in the Irish-emigrant areas of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

until 1961, when he returned to his home diocese and a

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are ass ...

in the parish of

Blackrock, Cork Blackrock is a suburb, with a village core, in the southeast of Cork City, Ireland. Originally a small fishing village about five kilometres from Cork City, the growth of the city over time has meant that the village has become incorporated into ...

, where he helped to rebuild St Michael's Church which had burnt to the ground. For 12 years, from 1964 to 1976, O'Brien taught at St Finbarr's Seminary,

Farranferris Farranferris, also known as St Finbarr's College, was a secondary school in Cork City, Ireland. It opened in 1887, closed in 2006, and was an important institution in the twentieth century history of the city. History Saint Finbarr’s Seminary ...

, where he was also the hurling trainer for the school team. He was "at the helm as Farranferris won

Dr Harty Cup The Dr. Harty Cup is an annual inter-schools hurling competition organised by the Munster GAA, Munster PPS GAA division of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It has been contested every year, except on three occasions, since 1918. As the pin ...

s in 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974, adding All-Ireland titles in 1972 and 1974". A 12-year stint as

at the Naval Base of

Haulbowline Haulbowline (; ) is an island in Cork Harbour off the coast of Ireland. The world's first yacht club was founded on Haulbowline in 1720. The western side of the island is the main naval base and headquarters for the Irish Naval Service, with t ...

followed before O'Brien returned to parish ministry, again in Blackrock. In 1985, he started a lengthy stay in Carrigaline where he served as

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

, administrator and finally

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

Carrigaline Carrigaline (; ) is a town and civil parish in County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, situated on the River Owenabue. Located about south of Cork (city), Cork city, and with a population of 18,239 people, it is one of the largest commuter ...

, before retiring from active ministry in 2003. O'Brien was later resident in Nazareth Home in

Dromahane Dromahane () is a village located south west of the town of Mallow, County Cork, Ireland on the R619 road. Centred on a main crossroads, the village overlooks the Blackwater Valley. As of the 2022 census, Dromahane had a population of 947 ...

. He died on 14 November 2014 after a long illness. O'Brien served as the coach of 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 ...

on several occasions, guiding the team to All-Ireland SHC titles in 1984 and 1990. At colleges' level he also managed

UCC The initialism UCC may stand for: Law * Uniform civil code of India, referring to proposed Civil code in the legal system of India, which would apply equally to all irrespective of their religion * Uniform Commercial Code, a 1952 uniform act to ...

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 ...

titles, and later managed

Blackrock GAA Blackrock National Hurling Club is a Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) club located on the southside of Cork (city), Cork City, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The club was founded in 1883 and is primarily concerned with the game of hurling. No o ...

. He also helped coaching

Coláiste Chríost Rí Coláiste Chríost Rí () is a Catholic secondary school for boys based on Capwell Road in Turners Cross, Cork, Ireland. The school, which is under the trusteeship of the Presentation Brothers Schools Trust, had an enrollment of 513 students as ...

. He is not to be confused with Canon Michael O'Brien of the neighbouring

Roman Catholic Diocese of Cloyne The Diocese of Cloyne () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Ireland. It is one of six suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cashel (also known as Munster). History The diocese has its beginnings in the monastic settlem ...

Honours

Team

;St Finbarr's College *

Dr Croke Cup The All-Ireland Post-Primary Schools Croke Cup, is an annual inter-schools hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. It is the highest inter-schools hurling competition in Ireland, and has been contested every year, excep ...

(3): 1969, 1972, 1974 *

(5): 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 ;University College Cork *

(10): 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991 ;Argideen Rangers *

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

(1): 1996 ;Ballinhassig *

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 ...

(2): 1975, 1977 ;Blackrock *

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 ...

(2): 1985, 1999 ;Tracton *

(1): 1991 *

(1): 1979 ;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, inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest-tier competition for ...

(2):

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

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 ...

(5):

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

(1): 1992–93 *

All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship The All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship was a hurling competition organized by the Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland. The competition was originally contested by the second teams of the strong counties, and the first teams of the weaker ...

(1): 1983 *

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

(6):

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

Philips Sports Manager of the Year The Philips Sports Manager of the Year is an award for the person considered the most outstanding Irish sports manager or coach of a particular year. The award is contested by the twelve winners of the year's Philips Sports Manager of the Month ...

(1): 1990

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OBrien, Michael 1933 births 2014 deaths Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Gaelic games players from County Cork Hurling coaches Hurling managers Irish Naval Service personnel Roman Catholic clergy in England 20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests 21st-century Irish Roman Catholic priests