D. J. Carey
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| D.J. Carey | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sport | Hurling | |
| Irish Name | D.S. Ó Ciardha | |
| Full name | Denis Joseph Carey | |
| Date of birth | November 11, 1970 | |
| Place of birth | Gowran , County Kilkenny | |
| Nickname(s) | D.J | |
| Club information | ||
| Club | Young Irelands | |
| Position | Forward | |
| Club(s)* | ||
| Club | Years | Apps (scores) |
| Young Irelands | 1988-2007 | |
| Inter-County | ||
| County | Kilkenny | |
| Position | Half-forward | |
| Inter-County(ies)** | ||
| County | Years | Apps (scores) |
| Kilkenny | 1990-2005 | 57 (34-195) |
| Senior Inter-County Titles | ||
| Leinster Titles | 10 | |
| All-Ireland | 5 | |
| All Stars | 9 | |
|
* club appearances and scores |
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Denis Joseph Carey (born 11 November 1970), better known as D.J. Carey, is an Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local Young Irelands club from 1988 until 2007 and was a member of the Kilkenny senior team from 1990 until 2005. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest hurlers in the history of the game.[citation needed]
Carey’s status as one of the all-time greats is self-evident. In a senior inter-county career that lasted for fifteen years he won five All-Ireland titles, ten Leinster titles, four National Hurling League titles and two Railway Cup titles. His tally of 34 goals and 195 points from 57 championship games mark him out as one of the top five scorers of all-time. Carey has made more appearances for Kilkenny than any other player and is the county’s third highest scorer.
Carey has also been the recipient of many awards and honours off the field. In 1993 his hurling prowess earned him the prestigious Texaco Hurler of the Year award. Seven years later in 2000 he received this honour for the second time as well as being presented with the Eircell Hurler of the Year award. There was some mild surprise when Carey was omitted from the GAA Hurling Team of the Millennium in 2000.
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[edit] Early & private life
D.J. Carey was born in Gowran, a small village situated in mid-Kilkenny on the main Dublin to Waterford road, in 1970. He was born into a large farming family, with three brothers and three sisters. One of his sisters, Catriona, is a star player on the Irish field hockey team, as well as being part of the Kilkenny senior camogie team. His brother, Martin Carey, was also a member of the Kilkenny hurling panel as a substitute goalkeeper for a number of years. Carey was always destined to be a hurler as many of his relatives had already shown great skill at the game. His aunt, Peggy Carey, won four All-Ireland camogie titles with Kilkenny and his granduncle, Paddy Phelan, was an iconic hurler of the 1930s and was selected on the Gaelic Athletic Association Team of the Century and the Team of The Millennium.
Carey was educated at the local national school where his hurling skills were first developed. Ironically, when he had the choice of playing either hurling or football at under-12 level with Kilkenny, Carey chose football. When it became apparent to him that football wasn’t too popular in Kilkenny, Carey soon made the switch to hurling. The 1970s and 1980s were great years for Kilkenny hurling, and stars of that period like Eddie Keher, Frank Cummins and Billy Fitzpatrick were a big influence on the young hurler. Carey later studied at St. Kieran's College in Kilkenny, a famed hurling nursery. It was here that his hurling skills were developed further and he won back-to-back All-Ireland Colleges titles in 1988 and 1989.
Carey’s big achievement outside sport is his successful business venture “D.J. Carey Enterprises.” Based in his home village of Gowran, this is a wholesale company that sells hygiene products to other businesses. Carey’s private life has long been the subject of intense media scrutiny and rumour. He is separated from his wife and has two children. Carey has also been lauded for his tireless charity work.
[edit] Hurling career
[edit] Club
Carey plays his club hurling with the Young Irelands Club in Gowran. He has enjoyed much success with the club at under-age level, where he played in goal for much of the time. He joined the senior team in the early 1990s. Since then he has won two Kilkenny SHC titles in 1996 and 2002. As a result of these wins Carey was awarded with the captaincy of the Kilkenny senior team for the following year. Carey played his last match for Young Irelands in 2007.
[edit] Inter-county
Carey first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Kilkenny minor team. He narrowly missed out on a place on the team in 1987, however, he became a full member of the team in 1988. That year he won a Leinster medal at minor grade before later colleting an All-Ireland medal following a victory over Cork in the final. Carey subsequently joined the county under-21 panel with whom he won a Leinster title in 1990. This was later converted into an All-Ireland title following a victory over Tipperary in the championship decider.
By this stage Carey was also a member of the Kilkenny senior team. He made his debut in the 1989/90 National Hurling League, a campaign which resulted in Carey collecting his first national title as Kilkenny became league champions. Sveral weeks after this win he made his championship debut, however, Offaly emerged victorious on that occasion. In 1991 Carey won his first senior Leinster title following a narrow victory over Dublin in the provincial decider. Kilkenny later qualified for the All-Ireland final where Tipperary provided the opposition. It was the first meeting of these two sides in the championship in twenty years and Tipp were the favourites on the day. The match was a close one, however, it was the Munstermen who sealed a 1-16 to 0-15 victory. In spite of this loss Carey was presented with his very first All-Star award. In 1992 Kilkenny bounced back from the All-Ireland defeat and Carey collected a second Leinster medal following a comprehensive defeat of Wexford. The subsequent All-Ireland saw ‘the Cats’ take on Cork for the first time in nearly a decade. The game was well balanced for the first-half, however, Carey scored a goal four minutes befre the break. This seemed to give Kilkenny the impetus to go on and win the game. Two more goals in the second-half secured a win for Kilkenny and a first senior All-Ireland medal for Carey. A second All-Star award soon followed. In 1992 Kilkenny were still on top of the hurling world and Carey captured a third consecutive Leinster title after a replay with Wexford. He later lined out in his third successive All-Ireland final appearance as ‘the Cats’ faced Galway for the first time since 1987. Galway won on that occasion, however, in 1993 they were lagging behind Kilkenny for much of the game. They went a point ahead coming into the last quarter, however, Kilkenny won the match by five points, giving Carey a second All-Ireland medal. A third All-Star award quickly followed as well as the honour of being named Texaco Hurler of the Year. At 22 he was one of the youngest-ever recipients of the accolade.
In 1994 Kilkenny were aiming for a third All-Ireland in-a-row, however, the team fell at the first hurdle in the provincial championship. In spite of this defeat Carey’s prowess earned him a fourth consecutive All-Star award. Similarly, 1995 proved to be an unhappy year for Carey as Kilkenny were trounced by Offaly in the Leinster final. This was particularly disappointing as Kilkenny had earlier won the National League title. In spite of this championship defeat he later collected a fifth consecutive All-Star award, drawing level with [[John Fenton’s record of five-in-a-row. Kilkenny failed to make the provincial final in 1996, while in 1997, with Carey as captain, the team were defeated by Wexford. As defeated provincial finalists Carey’s side were able to have another shot at the All-Ireland title via the newly-introduced ‘back-door’ system, however, his side were defeated by eventual winners Clare in the All-Ireland semi-final. A sixth All-Star award quickly followed. In April 1998 Carey shocked the hurling world by retiring from inter-county activity. The pressure of being a high-profile inter-county star in the spotlight was the reason he gave for his decision. At the age of 27 it looked as if the hurling world had lost one of its greatest platers. Carey’s retirement was short-lived. Six weeks after the announcement he had received 25,000 letters from all over the country encouraging him not to retire. Carey reversed his decision and Kilkenny, under the new management of Kevin Fennelly, defeated Offaly in the provincial final. It was Carey’s fourth Leinster medal. Kilkenny later cruised to an All-Ireland final appearance where Offaly provided the opposition. The defeated Leinster finalists had certainly learned from their mistakes and defeated Kilkenny by six points. It was the first time that a defeated team had won the All-Ireland title via the ‘back-door’ system. Carey was also completely subdued in the final, a possible reason for his omission from the All-Stars team.
In 1999 Brian Cody took over as manager and Kilkenny began their domination of the championship. That year Carey won his fifth Leinster title as Offaly, the All-Ireland champions, fell heavily in the provincial final. The score of 5-14 to 1-16 tells its own story. The subsequent All-Ireland final saw Kilkenny take on their age-old rivals for the first time since 1992. On that occasion Carey won his first All-Ireland medal, however, there was to be no success for him in 1999. A poor game on a wet day gave Cork the All-Ireland title. In spite of the loss Carey was presented with a seventh All-Star award. In 2000 Carey captured a sixth Leinster medal as Kilkenny tounced Offaly once again. An appearance in his sixth All-Ireland soon followed as ‘the Cats’ lined out against Offaly for the second time that season. After just six minutes Carey scored the first of five goals as Kilkenny exposed the Offaly full-back line. He scored 2-4 that day and shared his second goal with a young Henry Shefflin. Kilkenny won on a score line of 5-15 to 1-14 and Carey captured his third All-Ireland medal. He later collected his eighth All-Star award, as well as being named Texaco Hurler of the Year and Eircell Hurler of the Year. In 2001 Carey added a seventh Leinster medal to his collection following another demolition of Wexford in the provincial final. Surprisingly, Kilkenny were later caught on the hop by Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final. In 2002 ‘the Cats’ bounced back with Carey winning an eighth Leinster title. The score line was much closer than in previous encounters with Wexford. Kilkenny subsequently had an easy passge into the All-Ireland final where Clare provided the opposition. Once again Carey was on form, scoring a goal after just three minutes of play. Together with Henry Shefflin they scored 2-13 of Kilkenny’s total of 2-20. Clare fought back in the second-half, however, it was Kilkenny’s day. Carey had captured a fourth All-Ireland medal and a record-equalling ninth All-Star award quickly followed.
In 2003 Carey captured a third National League title before later winning a sixth consecutive Leinster medal as captain of the team. It was his ninth provincial title overall. Kilkenny later faced Cork in an exciting and close All-Ireland final. The Leinstermen never lead by more than four-points and only secured victory with a late Martin Comerford goal. Carey won his fifth All-Ireland medal that day, however, he was omitted from the All-Star selection once again. In 2004 Kilkenny were aiming for an unprecedented third All-Ireland victory in-a-row, however, the team was now under severe pressure from all quarters. For the first time in seven years Kilkenny failed in their bid to become Leinster champions as a last-gasp Wexford goal ended an almost unprecedented run of success. Kilkenny took the scenic route via the qualifiers system, however, after a scare against Clare they still reached the All-Ireland final. Once again Cork provided the opposition on a gloomy and overcast day. The sides were level for much of the game, however, in the final twenty minutes Cork scored nine points without reply and secured the victory. Kilkenny ended the year with no silverware. The team bounced back in 2005 with Carey adding a fourth National League medal to his ever-growing collection. He later won a tenth Leinster title as ‘the Cats’ had a narrow win over reigning provincial champions Wexford. While a third successive All-Ireland showdown with Cork seemed extremely likely, Galway defeated Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final in one of the game’s of the decade. This was Carey's last appearance for Kilkenny as he retired from inter-county hurling in June 2006.
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Brian Corcoran (Cork) |
Texaco Hurler of the Year 1993 |
Succeeded by Brian Whelahan (Offaly) |
| Preceded by Brian Corcoran (Cork) |
Eircell Hurler of the Year 2000 |
Succeeded by Tommy Dunne (Tipperary) |
| Preceded by Brian Corcoran (Cork) |
Texaco Hurler of the Year 2000 |
Succeeded by Tommy Dunne (Tipperary) |
| Achievements | ||
| Preceded by Andy Comerford (Kilkenny) |
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final winning captain 2003 |
Succeeded by Ben O'Connor (Cork) |
| Sporting positions | ||
| Preceded by Tom Hickey |
Kilkenny Senior Hurling Captain 1997 |
Succeeded by Michael Phelan |
| Preceded by Charlie Carter |
Kilkenny Senior Hurling Captain 2003 |
Succeeded by Martin Comerford |
[edit] Honours
| Competition | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championships | 5 | 1992, 1993, 2000, 2002, 2003 |
| Leinster Senior Hurling Championships | 10 | 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005 |
| National Hurling Leagues | 4 | 1990, 1995, 2003, 2005 |
| All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship | 1 | 1990 |
| All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championships | 1 | 1988 |
| Kilkenny Senior Hurling Championship | 2 | 1996, 2000 |
| All-Star Awards | 9 | 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002 |
[edit] Teams
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