Michael Walsh (Kilkenny hurler)

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Michael Walsh

Personal information
Sport	Hurling
Irish Name	Mícheál Breathnach
Full name	Michael Walsh
Date of Birth	13 October 1961
Place of birth	Kilkenny, Ireland
Height	5'8"
Nickname(s)	Mickey
Club information
Club	Dicksboro
Position	Goalkeeper
Club(s)*
Club	Years	Apps (scores)
Inter County
County	Kilkenny
Position	Goalkeeper
Inter County(ies)**
County	Years	Apps (scores)
Kilkenny	1991-1996
Inter County Titles
Leinster Titles	3
All-Ireland	2
All-Stars	2
* club appearances and scores correct as of . **Inter County team apps and scores correct as of .

Michael Walsh (born 13 October 1961) is a former Irish sportsperson. He was the goalkeeper on the Kilkenny senior hurling team from 1991 until 1996.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Playing career 2.1 Club 2.2 Inter-county 2.3 Post-playing career 3 Teams 4 References

[edit] Early life

Michael Walsh was born in the Dicksboro area of Kilkenny in 1961. The son of the legendary Kilkenny goalkeeper Ollie Walsh, he would also go on to have much success as a sportsperson in his own right. Walsh naturally played hurling, however, he was also noted as an excellent soccer player. In the early 1980s he was approached by both Waterford United and St. Patrick’s Athletic and was asked to play in the League of Ireland. Walsh never played in the Irish league, however, he did play Junior soccer and captained Ireland at international level.

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Club

Walsh played his club hurling with his local Dicksboro club. He had much success at underage level and won a Kilkenny Intermediate county title in 1991. The club subsequently joined the senior ranks and Walsh won a senior county title in 1993.

[edit] Inter-county

Walsh had no All-Ireland success at either minor or under-21 levels with Kilkenny and he first came to prominence in 1984 when he played as a wing-forward in an Oireachtas game. Two years later in 1986 he moved to the position of goalkeeper when he won an All-Ireland medal with the Kilkenny junior hurling team. In 1987 he played in goal for the senior team in the opening three rounds of the National Hurling League. A mistake in the third game lead to Clare scoring a goal and Walsh was dropped from the panel. In spite of this he won another All-Ireland junior title in 1990.

In the autumn of 1990 Walsh’s father, Ollie Walsh, was appointed manager of the Kilkenny senior hurling team. He gave his son a chance to play in that year’s National Hurling League, and Walsh Jr. later became the first-choice goalkeeper on the senior team. Some have said that the only reason that Walsh was on the team was because his father was the manager. He was nearly thirty years-old at the time and there were other younger contenders for the position. In spite of this criticism Walsh went on to have a very successful career as a goalkeeper with Kilkenny. Later in 1991 Walsh won his first senior Leinster title with Kilkenny, however, his side were beaten by Tipperary in the All-Ireland final. In spite of this he was still presented with an All-Star award for his great display in the championship.

In 1992 Walsh won his second Leinster title before later claiming his first senior All-Ireland medal following a win over Cork. The following year he captured his third consecutive Leinster title before making his third consecutive appearance in an All-Ireland final. In the final Kilkenny beat Galway by 2-17 to 1-15 and Walsh collected his second All-Ireland medal. He finished off the year by also winning a second All-Star. Over the next few year Offaly emerged as the dominant team in Leinster as Kilkenny began to slide. Walsh did win a National Hurling League medal in 1995, however, there was no more championship success.

In March 1996 Walsh’s father died. This was a major blow for Walsh as his father had been a huge influence on his career. He continued to play but he retired following Kilkenny’s defeat to Wexford in the Leinster quarter-final.

[edit] Post-playing career

In retirement from playing Walsh has maintained a keen interest in the game. In 2001 he became manager of the Carlow senior hurling team, however, he had little success there.

Preceded by Eddie O'Connor

Kilkenny Senior Hurling Captain 1994

Succeeded by Bill Hennessy

[edit] Teams

	KIlkenny - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1992 (24th title)
1 M. Walsh | 2 E. O'Connor | 3 P. Dwyer | 4 L. Simspon | 5 L. Walsh | 6 P. O'Neill | 7 W. O'Connor | 8 M. Phelan | 9 B. Hennessy | 10 L. McCarthy | 11 J. Power | 12 D.J. Carey | 13 E. Morrissey | 14 L. Fennelly (Capt.) | 15 J. Brennan | Subs: C. Heffernan | A. Ronan | Manager: O. Walsh

	KIlkenny - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1993 (25th title)
1 M. Walsh | 2 E. O'Connor (Capt.) | 3 P. Dwyer | 4 L. Simspon | 5 L. Keoghan | 6 P. O'Neill | 7 W. O'Connor | 8 B. Hennessy | 9 M. Phelan | 10 L. McCarthy | 11 J. Power | 12 D.J. Carey | 13 E. Morrissey | 14 P.J. Delaney | 15 A. Ronan | Subs: C. Heffernan | J. Brennan | T. Murphy | Manager: O. Walsh

[edit] References

• Christy O'Connor, Last Man Standing: Hurling Goalkeepers, (O'Brien Press, 2005)