George O'Connor
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Hurling | ||
| Irish Name | Seoirse Ó Conchur | ||
| Full name | George O'Connor | ||
| Date of Birth | 1959 | ||
| Place of birth | Piercestown, County Wexford | ||
| Club information | |||
| Club | St. Martin's | ||
| Position | Midfield | ||
| Club(s)* | |||
| Club | Years | Apps (scores) | |
| Inter County | |||
| County | Wexford | ||
| Position | Midfield | ||
| Inter County(ies)** | |||
| County | Years | Apps (scores) | |
| Wexford | 1979-1996 | ||
| Inter County Titles | |||
| Leinster Titles | 1 | ||
| All-Ireland | 1 | ||
| All-Stars | 2 | ||
|
* club appearances and scores |
|||
George O’Connor (born 1959) is a former Irish sportsperson. He played senior hurling with Wexford from 1979 until 1996.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
George O’Connor was born in Piercestown, County Wexford in 1959. He grew up on the family farm and from an early age he showed a great aptitude for Gaelic Games. He was educated locally and later worked as a farmer.
[edit] Playing career
[edit] Club
O’Connor played his club hurling and football with his local St. Martin's club. Throughout the 1980s he won a number of junior and intermediate county titles in both codes, before finally winning a senior county hurling championship medal in 1999.
[edit] Inter-county
O’Connor quickly came to the attention of the Wexford inter-county selectors, and he played minor and under-21 hurling for a number of years without success. In 1979 he made his senior debut in the Oireachtas final against Offaly. O’Connor ended up on the winning side that day and, in 1981, his performance in the championship earned him his first All-Star award. By this stage O’Connor was also playing senior inter-county football with Wexford, however, he gave this up in 1984 in order to concentrate on his hurling career. Another All-Star award followed in 1988, however, he had yet to claim even a Leinster title.
Between 1981 and 1994 O’Connor played in and lost six Leinster finals and five National Hurling League finals. As his career was drawing to a close it looked as if he might never make the big breakthrough. All this changed in 1996 when Liam Griffin entered his second year as manager of the Wexford hurlers. That year O’Connor won his very first Leinster medal before later claiming his first All-Ireland medal following a win over Limerick. Just weeks away from his 37th birthday, O’Connor had finally achieved his career ambition. His huge contribution in the 1996 championship earned him the title of Player of the Year also. Immediately after the final O'Connor announced his retirement from inter-county hurling.
[edit] Post-playing career
In 2006 O’Connor was appointed to the newly-created position of Director of Hurling in Wexford.
| Preceded by Seán McMahon (Clare) |
Texaco Hurler of the Year 1996 |
Succeeded by Jamesie O'Connor (Clare) |
| Preceded by Brian Lohan (Clare) |
Powerscreen Hurler of the Year 1996 |
[edit] Teams
| Wexford - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1996 | ||
|---|---|---|
|
1 D. Fitzhenry | 2 C. Kehoe | 3 G. Cushe | 4 J. O'Connor | 5 R. Guiney | 6 L. Dunne | 7 L. O'Gorman | 8 A. Fenlon | 9 G. O'Connor | 10 R. McCarthy | 11 M. Storey (Capt.) | 12 L. Murphy | 13 T. Dempsey | 14 G. Laffan | 15 É. Scallan | Subs: B. Byrne | P. Finn | P. Codd | Manager: L. Griffin |
||
[edit] References
- Martin Breheny & Colm Keys, The Chosen Ones: Celebrating 1000 All-Stars, (Blackwater Press, 2004)
