Pat Fleury

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Pat Fleury (born 1956) is a former Irish sportsperson. He played senior hurling with Offaly in the 1970s and 1980s.

Pat Fleury was born in Drumcullen, County Offaly in 1956. From his youth he showed great skill at hurling and made it onto his local team at an early age. Fleury was educated at the Presentation School in Birr where his hurling skills were developed even further. During his tenure there he won an All-Ireland Senior B Colleges title with the school in 1973. Fleury later studied at University College Galway where he captured a Fitzgibbon Cup medal playing on a team that included Joe McDonagh, Joe Connolly and Cyril Farrell. By the time he finished university and graduated as a teacher he had already joined the Offaly inter-county minor and under-21 teams. Fleury made his senior debut for Offaly in a Walsh Cup game against Kilkenny in 1975. At the time Offaly hurling was a major force in the championship as Kilkenny and Wexford were the dominant forces in the Leinster Championship, however, things were about to change. By the end of the 1970s the first part of their ascent was complete when the team was promoted to Division 1A of the National Hurling League.

In 1980 Offaly shocked the country when they defeated Kilkenny to capture their very first Leinster title, with Fleury playing a key role in defence. They lost out to Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final, however, Offaly and Fleury captured a second Leinster title in 1981 and defeated Galway to win their first ever All-Ireland title. Kilkenny regained their Leinster dominance in 1982 and 1983, however, Fleury captured a third Leinster title in 1984 as captain, only to be defeated by Cork in the Centenary All-Ireland final. Fleury was captain of Offaly again in 1985 and led his side to a fourth Leinster title as well as a second All-Ireland title. Following a Leinster final defeat in 1986 Fleury decided to retire from inter-county hurling. By that stage he had helped Offaly capture an unprecedednted two All_ireland titles and four Leinster titles. He also claimed two All-Stars during his career. In retirement Fleury turned his hand to coaching. He guided Limerick CBS to Harty Cup victory in 1993 as well as managing the Offaly senior hurling team in 2000.

Preceded by John Fenton (Cork)

All-Ireland Hurling Final winning captain 1985

Succeeded by Tom Cashman (Cork)