Steven Clynch (born 1984) is an Irish

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 ...

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 ...

, selector and player. At club level he plays with Kilmessa, while he is a former player and manager of the Meath senior hurling team. Clynch is Meath's most decorated player and is regarded as one of their all-time greatest ever players.

Playing career

Clynch first played

at juvenile and underage levels with

Kilmessan Kilmessan () is a village in County Meath, Ireland. It is situated 10/15 minutes away from Dunshaughlin, Trim and Navan, 6 km from the M3 motorway. The village has a primary school, shop, post office and several pubs. The Station House Hote ...

, before progressing to the club's senior team in 2001. His first few seasons saw Kilmessan win three successive Meath SHC titles between 2002 and 2004. Clynch has won five SHC titles in all, with further victories over

Kildalkey Kildalkey or Kildalky () is a village in County Meath, Ireland. It is in the townland and civil parish of Kildalkey, in the barony of Lune. The village is in the Catholic parish of Ballivor Kildalkey in the Diocese of Meath. Population The popu ...

in 2008 and Longwood in 2013. He also claimed a Leinster Club IHC title in 2009. Clynch first played for

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 ...

with the minor team in 2002. His last game in the grade was an All-Ireland MBHC final defeat by

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, ...

in October 2002. Clynch progressed to the under-21 team and claimed an All-Ireland U21BHC medal following a 1–17 to 0–16 victory over Kerry in the 2005 All-Ireland U21BHC final. By that stage, Clynch had already made his senior team debut. He claimed his first silverware in 2004 when he won the first of five

Kehoe Cup The Kehoe Cup ( ; ) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Leinster GAA, Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (Gaelic Athletic Association, GAA) since 1977 for second- and third-tier inter county, inter-county teams in ...

medals. Clynch was part of Meath's

Nicky Rackard Cup The Nicky Rackard Cup (; often referred to as the Rackard Cup) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The cup forms the fourth-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Champi ...

-winning team in 2009, but missed the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

win over

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 ...

after being sent off in the

semi-final A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

. He added a

Christy Ring Cup The Christy Ring Cup () is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The cup forms the third-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is the first-tier trophy). It is ...

medal to his collection in 2016 after scoring the winning point in the 4–21 to 5–17 defeat of Antrim in the

. Clynch was selected for the

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 ...

inter-provincial team on two occasions and 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 in 2009 after a defeat of

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 ...

in the

. He was also selected for the

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

team for the

Shinty–Hurling International Series The Shinty/Hurling International is a sports competition played annually between the Ireland national hurling team (selected by the Gaelic Athletic Association) and Scotland national shinty team (selected by the Camanachd Association). The seri ...

on a number of occasions, ending up on the winning side on four occasions. Clynch won a National Hurling League Division 2B title after a defeat of

Wicklow Wicklow ( ; , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; ) is the county town of County Wicklow in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the east of Ireland, south of Dublin. According to the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had ...

in 2017. He announced his retirement from inter-county hurling in November 2017.

Managerial career

Clynch joined Gavin Weir's management team as a selector with the Meath senior team in January 2021. He retained that role when

Seoirse Bulfin Seoirse Bulfin (born 1979) is an Irish hurling manager and former player. He has had a close association as a coach with Davy Fitzgerald with a number of inter-county teams. Playing career Bulfin first played hurling at juvenile and underage l ...

took over as manager in August 2022. Clynch was part of the management team when Meath claimed National Hurling League Division 2B and

titles in 2023. Clynch was appointed

interim manager Interim management is the temporary provision of management resources and skills. Interim management can be seen as the short-term assignment of a proven heavyweight interim executive manager to manage a period of transition, crisis or change wi ...

following Bulfin's departure in 2024.

Honours

Player

;Kilmessan *

Leinster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship ''For the senior hurling equivalent see: Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship'' The Leinster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Leinster GAA Hurling Intermediate Club Championship) is an annual h ...

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 ...

Meath Senior Hurling Championship The Meath Senior Hurling Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition organised by Meath GAA among the top hurling clubs in County Meath, Ireland. The winner qualifies to represent the county in the Leinster Intermediate Cl ...

: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2013 ;Meath *

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

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 Division 2B:

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 ...

: 2004, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2015 *

All-Ireland Under-21 B Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Under-20 (previously Under-21) B Championship, the second tier competition in hurling is an annual series of games for male players under the age of 20 and is organized by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). The 201 ...

: 2005 ;Leinster *

;Ireland *

: 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012

Management

;Meath *

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

* National Hurling League Division 2B:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clynch, Steven 1984 births Living people Champion 15 Awards winners Kilmessan hurlers Meath county hurling team Meath inter-county hurlers Leinster inter-provincial hurlers Ireland international hurlers Hurling goalkeepers Hurling managers Hurling selectors 21st-century Irish sportsmen