Brian Whelahan

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Brian Whelahan

Personal information
Sport	Hurling
Irish Name	Brian Ó Faoileacháin
Date of Birth	August, 1971
Place of birth	Birr, County Offaly
Club information
Club	Birr
Position	Half-back
Club(s)*
Club	Years	Apps (scores)
Birr	1980s-2000s
Inter County
County	Offaly
Position	Wing-back
Inter County(ies)**
County	Years	Apps (scores)
Offaly	1989-2006	55
Inter County Titles
Leinster Titles	3
All-Ireland	2
All-Stars	4
* club appearances and scores correct as of . **Inter County team apps and scores correct as of .

Brian Whelahan (born August, 1971) is a former Irish sportsperson who played hurling for Offaly between 1989 and 2006. He is regarded as the greatest player of his generation and as one of the greatest players of all-time.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Playing career 2.1 Club 2.2 Inter-county 3 Teams

[edit] Early life

Brian Whelahan was born in Birr, County Offaly in 1971. Although not considered one of the traditional hurling counties, Whelehan showed great skill at the game in his youth and was fully encouraged by his father, Pat Joe Whelahan, a huge figure in Offaly hurling. In the 1980s Offaly shhok the world of hurling, thanks in no small part to an excellent under-age system in the county. Naturally, Whelahan was at the centre of this hurling revolution.

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Club

Whelahan plays his club hurling with his local Birr team. The club is one of the most successful in the Offaly SHC. In a long career Whelahan has won ten county titles in all - 1991, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006. Six of these county wins were converted into Leinster club titles in 1991, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2002. In turn, four of these were subsequently converted into four All-Ireland club titles in 1995, 1998, 2002 and 2003. As a result of this Birr is the most successful club in the history of the All-Ireland competeition and Whelahan is just one of a small number of players who have four All-Ireland club medals.

[edit] Inter-county

By the later 1980s Whelahan had joined the Offaly minor hurling team. In 1987 he won his first All-Ireland medal with the minor team. It was Offaly's second-ever minor title. Two years later in 1989 Whelahan captained his native county to a second All-Ireland minor title. He subsequently moved straight onto the senior team, making his debut at right wing-back in the 1989 championship. That year he won his first Leinster Championship medal. He added a second one in 1990, however, an All-Ireland medal still eluded him. In 1991 Whelahan tasted his first major success when Offaly won their first-ever National Hurling League title. His very first All-Star followed in 1992.

It was 1994 before Whelahan won his next provincial title. After a prolonged absence, Offaly were once again a hurling force to be reckoned with. In the subsequent All-Ireland Hurling Final Offaly faced Limerick. With five minutes to go Limerick looked set for victory, however, a Johnny Dooley goal seemed to paralyse the Munster men. Offaly went on to score another 1-5 in the last few minutes and snatch victory. Whelahan had captured his first All-Ireland medal at senior level. 1994 was not without its controversy for Whelahan either, as he was named Texaco Hurler of the Year but, due to irregularities in the voting system, was sensationally omitted from the All-Star team. In 1995 Whelahan captured a second Leinster title, however, his side faced defeat in the All-Ireland final at the hands of an up-and-coming Clare side.

In 1998 Offaly had another controversial year. Whelahan's side reached the Leinster final but lost to Kilkenny. This defeat prompted their manager, Babs Keating, to describe the Offaly hurlers as "sheep in a heap", and he promptly resigned. It looked as if Offaly's championship hopes were in disarray, however, they overcame Antrim in the All-Ireland quarter-final and qualified to meet Clare in the semi-final. The first game against Clare ended in a draw and had to be replayed, however, the replay was ended early because of a time-keeping error by the referee. Following a protest on the pitch of Croke Park by the Offaly supporters it was decided that Clare and Offaly would meet for a third time. Whelahan's side won the third game and qualified to play Kilkenny in the final. On that day Whelahan delivered one of his greatest performances. Despite suffering from flu, he started in defence and was later moved to full-forward where he scored 1-6. Offaly reversed the Leinster final defeat by winning the All-Ireland final by 6 points. Whealahan had captured his second All-Ireland medal and was once again honoured as Texaco Hurler of the Year, the first player to win the title on two occasions.

Whelahan and Offaly reached the All-Ireland final again in 2000 but were defeated by Kilkenny by 5-15 to 1-14. It was the most one-sided All-Ireland final in decades and it marked the end of the great Offaly team of the 1990s. In spite of that disappointment Whelahan was surprisingly named on the Gaelic Athletic Association's Hurling Team of the Millennium, becoming the only hurler chosen who was still playing the game. The announcement caused some surprise as most people, Whealahan included, expected D.J. Carey of Kilkenny to be included on the team. This single honoour marked Whelahan as the single greatets player of his era and as the greatest right wing-back of all-time.

The following six years proved disappointing for Whelehan and for Offaly with no Leinster or All-Ireland titles being won. Follwoing a loss to Clare in the 2006 qualifiers Whelahan decidfed to retire from inter-county hurling.

Preceded by D.J. Carey (Kilkenny)	Texaco Hurler of the Year 1994	Succeeded by Seánie McMahon (Clare)
Preceded by Jamesie O'Connor (Clare)	Texaco Hurler of the Year 1998	Succeeded by Brian Corcoran (Cork)
Preceded by Hubert Rigney	Offaly Senior Hurling Captain 1999	Succeeded by Johnny Dooley

[edit] Teams

	Offaly - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1994 (3rd title)
1 J. Troy | 2 S. McGuckin | 3 K. Kinihan | 4 M. Hanamy (Capt.) | 5 B. Whelahan | 6 H. Rigney | 7 K. Martin | 8 J. Pilkington | 9 D. Regan | 10 J. Dooley | 11 J. Troy | 12 J. Dooley | 13 B. Dooley | 14 B. Kelly | 15 D. Pilkington | Subs: J. Errity | P. O'Connor | Manager: É. Cregan |

	Offaly - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1998 (4th title)
1 S. Byrne | 2 S. Whelahan | 3 K. Kinihan | 4 M. Hanamy | 5 B. Whelahan | 6 H. Rigney (Capt.) | 7 K. Martin | 8 J. Pilkington | 9 J. Dooley | 10 M. Duignan | 11 J. Troy | 12 G. Hanniffy | 13 B. Dooley | 14 J. Errity | 15 J. Dooley | Subs: P. Mulhaire | D. Hanniffy | J. Ryan | Manager: M. Bond |

	GAA Hurling Team of the Millennium (2000)
1 Tony Reddin | 2 John Doyle | 3 Nick O'Donnell | 4 Bobby Rackard | 5 Paddy Phelan | 6 John Keane | 7 Brian Whelahan | 8 Lory Meagher | 9 Jack Lynch | 10 Christy Ring | 11 Mick Mackey | 12 Jim Langton | 13 Eddie Keher | 14 Ray Cummins | 15 Jimmy Doyle |