Mike O'Brien (born 1978) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays

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 club

Glenroe ''Glenroe'' is an Irish television soap opera broadcast on RTÉ One for 18 years between September 1983 and May 2001. ''Glenroe was'' centred on the lives of the people living in the fictional rural village of the same name in County Wicklow. ...

and with the

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 ...

senior inter-county team.

Early & private life

Mike O'Brien was born in

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

in 1978. He was educated locally at Glenroe NS and went on to complete a law degree at Trinity College in the 1990s, playing both Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cup. He returned home to the land following the completion of his degree and is now a farmer by profession.

Playing career

Club

O'Brien plays his club

with his local

club and has enjoyed some success. Although not a senior club O'Brien has won a junior county title.

Inter-county

O'Brien first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the

intermediate hurling team. He won both Munster and

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 ...

medals at this level in 1998. As a result of this O'Brien joined the county senior team and made his debut in an Oireachtas game against

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 ...

in October 1998. Most of the next decade proved to be disappointing for Limerick and for O'Brien. A victory over

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 Munster Championship in 2001 was Limerick's last provincial win until a defeat of Tipperary following a three-game saga in 2007. O'Brien played in that year's Munster final, however, victory went to

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 ...

on that occasion. He and eleven other teammates were cut in October 2009, ending a twelve-year career with the team.

References

Teams

1978 births Living people Limerick inter-county hurlers Glenroe hurlers {{Limerick-hurling-bio-stub