Ger Cunningham

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Ger Cunningham

Personal information
Sport	Hurling
Irish Name	Gearóid Mac Cuinneagain
Date of Birth	1961
Place of birth	Cork, Ireland
Club information
Club	St. Finbarr's
Position	Goalkeeper
Club(s)*
Club	Years	Apps (scores)
Inter County
County	Cork
Position	Goalkeeper
Inter County(ies)**
County	Years	Apps (scores)
Cork	1981-1999	50 (0-0)
Inter County Titles
Munster Titles	7
All-Ireland	3
All-Stars	4
* club appearances and scores correct as of . **Inter County team apps and scores correct as of .

Ger Cunningham (born 1961) is a former Irish sportsman. He served as goalkeeper on the Cork senior hurling team in the 1980s and 1990s and is a selector with the current senior team.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Senior hurling career 3 Retirement 4 Major Honours

[edit] Early life

Ger Cunningham was born in Cork in 1961. He was educated locally at Sullivan’s Quay National School and later at Colaiste Íognaid Rís and currently works with Bord Gáis. Cunningham was born into a family that had a strong link with the St. Finbarr's GAA club in Cork and he joined the team in his youth. His skills at both hurling and Gaelic football became apparent at an early age and he was soon spotted by the inter-county selectors. In 1978 Cunningham first tasted hurling success when he won an All-Ireland Minor medal with Cork. He won a second consecutive All-Ireland minor medal in 1979 before going on to capture an All-Ireland Under-21 Football title in 1981. In 1982 Cunningham won an All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling medal with his county.

[edit] Senior hurling career

Although a member of the Cork senior panel since 1979 Cunningham made his senior hurling debut in May of 1980, lining out against Kilkenny in a challenge match. He made his championship debut the following season and remained an ever-present fixture as Cork goalkeeper for the best part of twenty years. In 1981 he won a National Hurling League medal and in 1982 he won his first Munster Championship but lost out to Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final. He claimed a second Munster title in 1983 but his side were defeated once again by Kilkenny. These two defeats only made Cunningham and Cork more determined to bounce back in 1984. That year he claimed a third Munster title in-a-row and once again Cork qualified for the All-Ireland final, however, at the third time of asking they were victorious with an emphatic defeat over Offaly. He finished off the year by winning a Railway Cup medal with Munster.

In 1985 Cunningham, who was now captain of the team, guided Cork to a fourth Munster Championship victory, however, on this occasion the side was defeated in the All-Ireland semi-final. He did however claim a second Railway Cup title. Cork continued their dominance in Munster in 1986 with Cunningham capturing a fifth Munster medal in-a-row. Cork advanced through the All-Ireland series culminating in a victory over Galway in the final. Cunningham had claimed his second All-Ireland winners medal as well as ending off the year with Texaco Hurler of the Year award. Over the next few years Tipperary re-emerged as the kingpins of Munster hurling. One of the lowest points in Cunningham's career during this drought for Cork hurling. Playing against Waterford in 1989 Cunningham received a heavy knock to the head and spent the remainder of the game in a daze, conceding three goals. Cork were back in 1990 and, against all the odds, they claimed the Munster title and the All-Ireland title with a huge victory over Galway. The game was effectively decided on an incident which occurred midway through the second half when Cunningham blocked a point-blank shot from Martin Naughton with his nose. It was a sixth provincial title for Cunningham and a third All-Ireland medal.

Cunningham claimed his seventh Munster medal in 1992, however, Cork faced the old enemy Kilkenny in another All-Ireland final and were duly beaten on the day. There was some consolation at the end of the year when he won a third Railway Cup medal with Munster and in 1993 when Cunningham won a second National Hurling League medal with Cork. Although he would remain as Cork goalkeeper for another few seasons Cunningham would never win another Munster or All-Ireland title. His final medal came in 1998 when he claimed a third National League medal. Follwoing Cork's defeat in the 1998 championship Cunningham decided to retire from inter-county hurling. At the age of 37 he had donned the famed red and white hooped jersey for almost 20 years, during which he made 50 consecutive championship appearances while also playing in 111 National League games. During his career he also claimed four All-Star Awards and seven consecutive Poc Fada titles.

[edit] Retirement

In retirement from play Cunningham remained involved in coaching at St. Finbarr's. He served as a selector and goalkeeping coach on the Cork team under John Allen in 2005 and 2006 and was the favourite to succeed Allen as manager when he stepped down. The position went to Gerald McCarthy instead, without Cunningham even being approached about his intentions.

[edit] Major Honours

Competition	No.	Years
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championships	3	1984, 1986, 1990
Munster Senior Hurling Championships	7	1982, 1983, 1984, 1985 (Capt.), 1986, 1990, 1992
National Hurling Leagues	3	1981, 1993, 1998

Preceded by: John Fenton	Cork Senior Hurling Captain 1985	Succeeded by: Tom Cashman
Preceded by: Eugene Coughlan (Offaly)	Texaco Hurler of the Year 1986	Succeeded by: Joe Cooney (Galway)
Preceded by: Brian Corcoran	Cork Senior Hurling Captain 1994	Succeeded by: Pat Kenneally

	Cork - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1990
1 G. Cunningham | 2 J. Considine | 3 D. Walsh | 4 S. O'Gorman | 5 S. McCarthy | 6 J. Cashman | 7 K. McGuckian | 8 B. O'Sullivan | 9 T. McCarthy | 10 G. FitzGerald | 11 M. Foley | 12 T. O'Sullivan | 13 T. Mulcahy (Capt.) | 14 K. Hennessy | 15 J. Fitzgibbon | Subs: D. Quirke | C. Casey | Manager: M. O'Brien

	Cork Hurling Team of the Millennium
1 Ger Cunningham | 2 Brian Corcoran | 3 Seán Óg Murphy | 4 John Horgan | 5 Paddy Fitzgerald | 6 Jim O'Regan | 7 Jim Young | 8 Gerald McCarthy | 9 Jack Lynch | 10 Seán Condon | 11 Christy Ring | 12 Eudie Coughlan | 13 Johnny Quirke | 14 Ray Cummins | 15 Paddy Barry |