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Fr. Con Cottrell (1917-1982) was an Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club Ballinhassig and with the Cork senior hurling team throughout the 1940s.
[edit] Early life
Con Cottrell was born in Ballinhassig in 1917. He was educated locally and later trained as a priest.
[edit] Playing career
Cottrell played his club hurling with his local Ballihassig club. He also played football with Cooley Kickhams with whom he won a Louth county title.
[edit] Inter-county
Cottrell first tasted hurling success in 1941. Outside factors severely hampered the Munster and All-Ireland championships as an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the midlands meant that Tipperary and Kilkenny were not allowed to participate in the championship. As a result of this Cork were declared the Munster champions after defeating Limerick and automatically qualified to play Dublin in the All-Ireland final. The game turned into a rout as Cork beat ‘the Dubs’ by twenty points and Cottrell collected his first All-Ireland medal. In the delayed Munster final, however, Tipperary defeated Cork. Cottrell began 1942 by winning his first Munster title following Cork’s defeat of Tipperary in the provincial final. He later missed Cork’s All-Ireland final victory over Dublin. In 1943 Cottrell won a second Munster title. He later added a second All-Ireland medal to his collection following a huge win over Antrim in the championship decider. 1944 was an historic year for Cork hurling. Cottrell began the year by winning a third Munster title following a victory in a replay over Limerick. Cork later went on to defeat Dublin in the championship decider giving the county their fourth consecutive All-Ireland victory. With that Cottrell won his third All-Ireland medal. Two years later in 1946 Cottrell won a fourth Munster medal as Cork reclaimed their provincial crown. Cork later defeated Kilkenny in the championship decider, giving Cottrell his fourth All-Ireland medal. In 1947 he added a fifth and final Munster medal to his collection. The subsequent All-Ireland final against Kilkenny is regarded as one of the greatest games of all-time, however, Cottrell ended up on the losing side that day. He retired from inter-county hurling shortly afterwards.
Con Cottrell died on 3 March 1982.
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Cork - All-Ireland Senior Hurling Champions 1941 (12th title) |
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Cork - All-Ireland Senior Hurling Champions 1943 (14th title) |
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Cork - All-Ireland Senior Hurling Champions 1944 (15th title) |
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Cork - All-Ireland Senior Hurling Champions 1946 (16th title) |
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