Ben O'Connor

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Ben O'Connor

Personal information
Sport	Hurling
Irish Name	Beircheart Ó Conchubhair
Date of Birth	1979
Place of birth	Newtownshandrum, County Cork,
Height	5' 10"
Club information
Club	Newtownshandrum
Position	Forward
Club(s)*
Club	Years	Apps (scores)
Inter County
County	Cork
Position	Forward
Inter County(ies)**
County	Years	Apps (scores)
Cork	1999-	31 (5-103)
Inter County Titles
Munster Titles	5
All-Ireland	3
All-Stars	1
* club appearances and scores correct as of . **Inter County team apps and scores correct as of December 8, 2006.

Ben O'Connor (born 1979) is an Irish sportsman. He plays in the forward line on the Cork senior hurling team.

Ben O'Connor was born in Newtownshandrum, County Cork in 1979. He and his twin brother Jerry were born into a large family and were both educated locally. Ben currently works as a hurley maker with his father Bernie in Newtownshandrum village. From an early age both the O'Connor twins showed skill at hurling and they quickly became members of their local club, Newtownshandrum. In the mid-1990s the club joined the senior ranks of the County Championship and O'Connor had much success subsequently. He won three County Under-21 medals in-a-row from 1998 to 2000. By this stage he had made his way onto the Cork minor hurling team where he won Munster and All-Ireland titles in 1998. In 1999 he made his senior inter-county debut for Cork, winning Munster and All-Ireland titles in his first season. In 2000 O'Connor collected a second Munster medal before losing the All-Ireland semi-final to Offaly. The year finished on a high for O'Connor, as Newtownshandrum claimed their first Cork County Championship title.

As a result of this win O'Connor was appointed Cork senior hurling captain for 2001, however, the next few years were lean ones for the hurling side. They bounced back in 2003 with O'Connor claiming his third Munster medal, however, Cork were beaten by Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final. Once again O'Connor finished off the year with another Cork County Championship title, before winning the Munster Club Championship just before Christmas of that year. On St. Patrick's Day 2004 Newtownshandrum and O'Connor won their very first All-Ireland Club Championship. O'Connor went on to captain the Cork senior team in 2004 for a second time, leading them to an All-Ireland title for the first time in five years. In 2005 Cork's dominance continued and O'Connor won a third Munster title and a third All-Ireland medal following a victory over Galway. For his excellent performance during the championship O'Connor received his first All-Star Award together with his twin brother Jerry, thus becoming the first set of twins to clim the award. O'Connor once again rounded off the year with Newtownshandrum by winning a third Cork County title and a second Munster club hurling title. In the All-Ireland club final Newtown's luck ran out and they were beaten by Portumna. Later in 2006 O'Connor was a key member of the Cork team that was bidding to win its third consecutive All-Ireland title. On the way O'Connor collected his fifth Munster medal, however, Cork lost to Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final.

Preceded by: Fergal Ryan	Cork Senior Hurling Captain 2001	Succeeded by: Wayne Sherlock
Preceded by: Alan Browne	Cork Senior Hurling Captain 2004	Succeeded by: Seán Óg Ó hAilpín
Preceded by: D.J. Carey (Kilkenny)	All-Ireland Hurling Final winning captain 2004	Succeeded by: Seán Óg Ó hAilpín (Cork)

	Cork - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1999
1 D. Óg Cusack | 2 F. Ryan | 3 D. O'Sullivan | 4 J. Browne | 5 W. Sherlock | 6 B. Corcoran | 7 S. Óg Ó hAilpín | 8 M. O'Connell | 9 M. Landers | 10 T. McCarthy | 11 F. McCormack | 12 N. Ronan | 13 B. O'Connor | 14 J. Deane | 15 S. McGrath | Subs: A. Browne | K. Murray | Manager: J. Barry-Murphy

	Cork - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 2004
1 D. Óg Cusack | 2 W. Sherlock | 3 D. O'Sullivan | 4 B. Murphy | 5 J. Gardiner | 6 R. Curran | 7 S. Óg Ó hAilpín | 8 J. O'Connor | 9 T. Kenny | 10 B. O'Connor | 11 N. McCarthy | 12 T. McCarthy | 13 K. Murphy | 14 B. Corcoran | 15 J. Deane | Subs: J. Browne | Manager: Donal O'Grady

	Cork - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 2005
1 D. Óg Cusack | 2 P. Mulcahy | 3 D. O'Sullivan | 4 B. Murphy | 5 J. Gardiner | 6 R. Curran | 7 S. Óg Ó hAilpín (Capt.) | 8 T. Kenny | 9 J. O'Connor | 10 B. O'Connor | 11 N. McCarthy | 12 T. McCarthy | 13 K. Murphy | 14 B. Corcoran | 15 J. Deane | Subs: N. Ronan | K. Murphy | Manager: J. Allen

	Cork Senior Hurling Team 2006
1 D. Óg Cusack | 2 B. Murphy | 3 D. O'Sullivan | 4 P. Mulcahy (Capt.) | 5 J. Gardiner | 6 R. Curran | 7 S. Óg Ó hAilpín | 8 T. Kenny | 9 J. O'Connor | 10 T. McCarthy | 11 N. McCarthy | 12 N. Ronan | 13 B. O'Connor | 14 B. Corcoran | 15 J. Deane | 16 M. Coleman | 17 W. Sherlock | 18 C. O'Connor | 19 P. Kelly | 20 K. Hartnett | 21 K. Murphy | 22 C. Naughton | 23 C. Cusack | 24 P. Cronin | 25 A. Nash | 26 K. Murphy | 27 S. O'Neill | 28 C. McGann | 29 K. Cronin | Manager: J. Allen