Pat Fleury

Pat Fleury (born 18 May 1956) is an Irish retired hurler who played as a right corner-back for the Offaly senior hurling team.

Fleury made his first appearance for the team during the 1975 Walsh Cup and subsequently became a regular member of the starting fifteen until his retirement after the 1986 championship. During that time he won two All-Ireland medals, four Leinster medals and two All-Star awards. Fleury captained Offaly to the All-Ireland title in 1985.

At club level Fleury enjoyed a lengthy career with Drumcullen.

In retirement from playing Fleury became involved in team management and punditry. He managed the Offaly senior hurling team for one season while he is a regular contributor as a hurling analyst with TG4.

Early life

Born in the parish of Drumcullen, County Offaly, Fleury was educated at the local national school before later attending the Presentation School in Birr. Here Fleury’s hurling skills were first developed as he came under the influence of hurling enthusiasts Brother Denis, Brother Cronin and Michael Queally. Under their tutelage he enjoyed a lot of underage success before winning an All-Ireland 'B' Colleges medal in 1973. Fleury later studied at University College Galway (UCG) where he completed a higher diploma in education and qualified as a secondary school teacher.

Playing career

Club

Fleury played his club hurling with his local club Drumcullen.

University

While studying at University College Galway (UCG) Fleury was also a key fixture on the university's hurling team. In 1977 UCG reached the final of the Fitzgibbon Cup and faced Maynooth. A 1-14 to 1-12 victory gave Fleury a coveted winners' medal in that competition.

Inter-county

Fleury first came to prominence on the inter-county scene for Offaly at both minor and under-21 levels, however, he had little success in either of these grades.

He made his senior debut for his native-county in a Walsh Cup game against Kilkenny in 1975 before later being included at corner-back for Offaly's subsequent championship campaign.

In 1980 Offaly emerged from the doldrums to qualify for only their second provincial decider in fifty years. Reigning All-Ireland champions provided the opposition, however, a remarkable 3-17 to 5-10 victory gave Fleury his first Leinster medal. Offaly's dream season came to an end with a defeat by eventual champions Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Offaly proved that their success was more than a flash in the pan by reaching the provincial final again in 1981. Fleury collected his second Leinster medal that year as Offaly defeated Wexford by 3-12 to 2-13. This win allowed Offaly to advance to a very first All-Ireland final with reigning champions Galway. After fourteen minutes Pat Carroll scored the opening goal of the game for Offaly, however, neither side built up a strong lead. Straight after the interval goalkeeper Damien Martin was doing great work when he batted out an almost certain Galway goal. With just over twenty minutes left in the game Galway led by six points, however, the team failed to score for the rest of the match. Offaly, on the other hand, ate into this lead. Johnny Flaherty’s controversial hand-passed goal with three minutes was the deciding score of the game. At the full-time whistle Offaly were the winners by 2-12 to 0-15. It was a first All-Ireland medal for Fleury.^[1]

After suffering back-to-back Leinster final defeats to Kilkenny, Offaly triumphed once again in 1984. A 1-15 to 2-11 defeat of Wexford gave Fleury a third Leinster medal. Offaly subsequently advanced to the centenary All-Ireland final at Semple Stadium in Thurles. On the day, however, Cork were far too strong for Fleury’s team. Although far from being a classic game Offaly were defeated by 3-16 to 1-12.

Offaly retained their Leinster title in 1985 with Fleury adding a fourth provincial memento to this collection following a 5-15 to 0-17 trouncing of Laois. Galway provided the opposition in the subsequent All-Ireland final and another tense game ensued. Once again it was Offaly’s goal-scoring ability that proved crucial. Pat Cleary scored the first of the day after twenty-five minutes of play and got his second less than half a minute after the restart. Joe Dooley had a goal disallowed halfway through the second-half while a long Joe Cooney effort, which seemed to cross the goal line, was not given. P.J. Molloy was Galway’s goal scorer, however, the day belonged to Offaly. A 2-11 to 1-12 victory gave Fleury his second All-Ireland medal while he also had the honour of collecting the Liam MacCarthy Cup as captain.^[2]

In 1986 Offaly lined out in an impressive seventh Leinster decider in-a-row. Kilkenny were the opponents on that occasion, however, Offaly were now a team in decline. A 4-10 to 1-11 score line gave victory to "the Cats" and knocked Offaly out of the championship. Fleury retired from inter-county hurling following this defeat.

Inter-provincial

Fleury also lined out with Leinster in the inter-provincial hurling competition. He first came to prominence with his province in 1981 as Leinster took on Munster in the Railway Cup final. A ten-point defeat was Fleury’s lot on that occasion. Fleury was picked on the Leinster team again in 1982. Connacht provided the opposition in the final that year and, once again, Fleury ended up on the losing side. Two years later in 1984 he was the left corner-back on the Leinster team that faced Munster in the final again. Unfortunately, Fleury’s side faced a 1-18 to 2-9 defeat once again.

Managerial career

All through his life Fleury has been dedicated to the coaching and training of various hurling teams. His first stint as a coach began when he was in second year in University College Galway. Fleury coached the first-year hurling team to both league and championship successes in the mid-1970s. As a teacher Fleury also took charge of various teams at St. Michael’s CBS in Limerick. He guided the school to the Dr. Harty Cup final in 1984; however, the team was defeated by St. Finbarr’s of Cork in a replay. Success was slow in coming, however, Fleury was persistent. In 1993 his side triumphed and won the Harty Cup title for the first time since 1967 and for the tenth time in all. St. Michael’s were later defeated by Gort in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Offaly

In late 2000 Fleury succeeded Michael Bond as manager of the Offaly senior hurling team. After a solid provincial campaign Offaly later qualified for the Leinster final. Kilkenny provided the opposition on that occasion and something of a rout ensued. ‘The Cats’ won that game by 2-21 to 1-13.^[3] This defeat did not mark the end of Offaly’s campaign as the ‘back-door system’ gave Fleury’s side a second chance to capture the All-Ireland title. A narrow defeat of Derry in the All-Ireland quarter-final set up an All-Ireland semi-final meeting with Cork. ‘The Rebels’ were the red-hot favourites going into the game, however, Fleury’s side pulled off a huge shock and won the game by four points.^[4] This victory set up an All-Ireland final meeting with Kilkenny. The championship decider, however, turned out to be one of the most one-sided finals in decades. A goal-scoring spree by the Kilkenny forwards resulted in a 5-15 to 1-14 defeat for Offaly.^[5] Fleury subsequently resigned as manager.^[6]

Quotes

• "What happened us last year has finally been buried and thanks be to God." - Fleury's speech after accepting the Liam McCarthy Cup in 1985.

References