Niall Burke (born 21 May 1991) is an Irish hurler who, as of 2012, played as a centre-forward at senior level for the Galway county team. Burke made his first appearance for the team during the 2012 National League and immediately became a regular member of the team. An All-Ireland medalist at

minor Minor may refer to: Common meanings * Minor (law), a person not under the age of certain legal activities. * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Mathematics * Minor (graph theory), a relation of one graph to an ...

and under-21 levels, Burke has also won a

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

medal in the senior grade. At club level Burke plays with the Oranmore-Maree club. He has also played for

NUI Galway The University of Galway () is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Galway" (UCG) () from 1908 to 1997 and as ...

Playing career

Club

Burke plays in the county intermediate championship with the Oranmore-Maree club.

Inter-county

Burke first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Galway minor hurling team in 2009. That year he lined out in his first All-Ireland decider, with

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 ...

providing the opposition. A 2-15 to 2-11 score line gave Galway the victory and gave Burke an

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 ...

medal. By 2010 Burke had joined the Galway under-21 team and lined out in another All-Ireland final. Tipperary were the opponents on that occasion and, on a day to forget for Burke, handed out a 5-22 to 0-12 thrashing. Galway's under-21 team qualified for the All-Ireland decider again in 2011. Burke was still a key member of the forwards as

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 ...

provided the opposition. A 3-14 to 1-10 score line secured the victory for Galway and gave Burke an

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 ...

medal in that grade. Burke made his debut for the Galway senior team during the

2012 National Hurling League The 2012 National Hurling League commenced in February 2012. 34 GAA county hurling teams: 32 from Ireland (including Fingal but not Cavan), London and Warwickshire, contested it. On 6 May Kilkenny defeated Cork in the final to win their 15th NHL ...

. It was a campaign to forget for 'the Tribesmen', however, Burke emerged as Galway's chief scorer due to the absence of

Joe Canning Joseph Canning (born 11 October 1988) is an Irish hurler who plays for club side Portumna and previously at inter-county level with the Galway senior hurling team. Regarded as one of the greatest hurlers in the history of the sport, Canning en ...

. After making his championship debut later that year, Burke went on to win his first

medal following a 2-21 to 2-11 trouncing of reigning All-Ireland champions and hot favourites Kilkenny. Both sides subsequently met in the All-Ireland decider and Galway nearly pulled off a victory courtesy of goals from Canning and Burke. A 2-13 to 0-19 draw was the result, a first drawn All-Ireland final in over half a century. On 3 September 2017, Burke came on as a substitute for Galway in the second half and scored two points as they won their first

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 ...

in 29 years against

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 ...

Inter-provincial

Burke has also lined out with the

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

team in the inter-provincial series of games.

Honours

;Galway *

(1):

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 ...

* National Hurling League Division 1 (2):

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

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

(2):

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Niall 1991 births Living people All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners Alumni of the University of Galway Connacht inter-provincial hurlers Galway inter-county hurlers University of Galway hurlers Oranmore-Maree hurlers 21st-century Irish sportsmen