Paul Kelly (born 14 December 1979) is an Irish hurler who plays for his local club

Mullinahone Mullinahone () is a village located in the barony of Slievardagh, County Tipperary in Ireland. It is also a parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. , the village population was 499. Location and access Mullinahone is situat ...

and at senior level for the Tipperary county team. Recently he has transferred clubs to O'Loughlin Gaels club in

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 ...

but since 2010 he has returned to play for Mullinahone. He is noted for his versatility, playing in the backline, midfield and more recently in the forward line.

Early life

Paul Kelly was born in

on the Tipperary-

border in 1979. He is the older brother of Eoin Kelly. He was educated locally and attended Scoil Riain Killenaule Vocational School which has produced many Tipperary Hurlers.

Playing career

Club

Kelly played his club

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 native

with whom he has won one County Senior Hurling medal in 2002. On 17 March 2008, it was announced that Kelly would join O'Loughlin Gaels (a Kilkenny club) for the upcoming club season. He later returned to

. He won a Tipperary Intermediate Football Championship with them in 2011.

Inter-county

Kelly was quickly selected for inter-county duty with Tipperary. He joined the Tipp minors at a relatively young age and went on to win an All-Ireland minor medal in 1996 and a Munster minor medal in 1997. He won a Munster Under-21 medal in 1999. Having joined the Tipperary senior hurling panel in 1998 he was a key member of the panel when the team won the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

, the Munster Championship and the All-Ireland Championship in 2001. Kelly also won a

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship () or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster GAA teams are co ...

medal with

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

in 2001. Although not having much success with Tipperary in 2002 he received his first

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

award. Although losing out to

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 Final in 2005, Kelly scored 7 points from his midfield position and was named

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

's 'man of the match.' He claimed a further All-Star award in 2005, together with his brother

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, ...

. Kelly has also won 2 Under-21 caps for Ireland in the

Shinty Shinty () is a team sport played with sticks and a ball. It is played mainly in the Scottish Highlands and among Highland migrants to the major cities of Scotland. The sport was formerly more widespread in Scotland and even played in Northern ...

Internationals against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. In April 2010, Kelly broke his ankle in a club match, jeopardising his participation in the 2010 All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.

Coaching career

Kelly has been a hurling coach, managed the Mullinahone ladies' footballers and was appointed as Dublin

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 ...

manager on a three-year term in October 2022.

Honours

Team

;Mullinahone *

Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship The Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the FBD Insurance Tipperary County Senior Hurling Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Tipperary GAA, Tipperary County Board of the Gaelic Ath ...

(1): 2002 ;Tipperary *

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 ...

(1):

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

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 ...

(2):

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

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 ...

(2):

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

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 ...

(1):

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

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

(1):

Individual

;Awards * All-Star Awards (2): 2002, 2005

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Paul 1979 births Living people All Stars Awards winners (hurling) Camogie managers Dual players Dublin county camogie team Hurling coaches Ladies' Gaelic football managers Mullinahone Gaelic footballers Mullinahone hurlers O'Loughlin Gaels hurlers Tipperary inter-county hurlers