Ger Fennelly

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Ger Fennelly is a former Irish sportsperson who played hurling with Kilkenny in the 1970s and 1980s.

Ger Fennelly was born in Piltown, County Kilkenny in the mid 1950s. He was the second oldest in a family of seven boys who would all play at some grade at county level for Kilkenny. When Fennelly was seven years old his family moved to a farm in Ballyhale, a place that was to become one of the great areas for hurling in Kilkenny, and it was at the local national school that he developed his hurling skills. He soon became a member of the newly-formed Ballyhale Shamrocks GAA club, a club which his father helped to found, and had much success there. His hurling ability was quickly noted by the Kilkenny minor selectors and he soon became a member of the team, winning an All-Ireland minor medal in 1972. In 1974 Fennelly was captain of the under-21 team that claimed an All-Ireland title, this time at the expense of Waterford. Two weeks before that he won his first senior All-Ireland medal when he was a substitute on the Kilkenny senior panel.

By 1979 Fennelly was captain of the Kilkenny senior hurlers that defeated Galway in the All-Ireland Hurling Final. Two years later in 1981 he won an All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship title with Ballyhale-Shamrocks. He was back in Croke Park in 1982 and 1983 winning back-to-back All-Ireland medals over Cork, as well as back-to-back National Hurling League titles in those two years. His performance in the 1983 campaign, together with his brother Liam, earned both of them All-Star Awards. Fennelly claimed another All-Ireland club title in 1984, before winning a third National League medal in 1986. The All-Ireland final of 1987, which Kilkenny lost to Galway, represented a swansong for the Fennelly as Ger, Liam, Seán and Liam all played in the game. It was to be Ger Fennelly's last game at inter-county level. He continued to play club hurling, however, winning a third All-Ireland club title with Ballyhale-Shamrocks in 1990.