Colm Bonnar

Colm Bonnar (born 9 July 1964 in Cashel, County Tipperary, Ireland) is an Irish former hurling manager and retired player.

A midfielder at all levels, Bonnar enjoyed a successful playing career at club level with Cashel King Cormac's in Tipperary and Dunhill in Waterford and at inter-county level with Tipperary. He was a key member of the latter team during the 'golden age' from 1987 until 1993 and collected two All-Ireland titles, five Munster titles, a National Hurling League title and an All-Star award.

Immediately after retiring from inter-county activity Bonnar became involved in coaching. He was a selector and team trainer on the Waterford senior hurling team under both Gerald and Justin McCarthy from 1999 until 2003, a period which saw Waterford claim their first provincial title in nearly forty years. Bonnar later served as a selector with the Tipperary senior hurling team under Ken Hogan, but it was an unsuccessful period for his native county. As coach of the senior hurlers at Waterford Institute of Technology he guided the team to a remarkable four Fitzgibbon Cup titles in six years. Bonnar's tenure as manager of the Wexford senior team last from 2008 until 2011 and ended without any success.

Biography

Colm Bonnar was born in Cashel, County Tipperary in 1964. The eighth of thirteen children born to a coulpe who had strong links to Donegal, he was educated at the local national school and later attended Cashel CBS. Here Bonnar's skills at both hurling and Gaelic football came to the fore. He won Croke, Fitzgerald and McGabhann Cup winners' medals in both codes. In 1980 and 1982 Bonnar captured two All-Ireland 'B' Colleges' hurling medals with the school.^[1]

Playing career

Club

Bonnar played his club hurling with his local club called Cashel King Cormac's and enjoyed some success. In 1990 he lined out in his first senior final of the county championship, however, the team eventually lost by one point. The following year Bonnar won his sole county championship winners' medal before claiming the Munster club title at the end of the year. Bonnar's side almost reached the All-Ireland club final, however, they were beaten by eventual winners Kiltormer of Galway at the semi-final stage after playing two replays to decide the winner. In the late 1990s Bonnar joined the Dunhill club in Waterford.

Minor, under-21 and junior

Bonnar's talent as a hurler was quickly spotted by the Tipperary inter-county selectors and he joined the minor panel in the early 1980s. In 1982 he enjoyed his first major success when he captured a Munster title in that grade. He later lined out in the minor championship decider with Wexford providing the opposition. Tipp had a relatively comfortable 2–7 to 0–4 win, giving Bonnar a coveted All-Ireland medal.^[2]

Bonnar later joined the Tipperary under-21 panel, winning a Munster title at this level in 1983. He later lined out in the All-Ireland final, with Galway providing the opposition. A final score of 0–12 to 1–9 in Galway's favour meant that Bonnar ended up on the losing side.^[3] In 1984 he added a second consecutive Munster under-21 title to his collection before later lining out in a second consecutive All-Ireland medal. Kilkenny were the opponents on that occasion, however, Tipp were defeated again by 1–12 to 0–11.^[3] In 1985 Bonnar made it three Munster titles in-a-row before lining out in a third consecutive All-Ireland decider. Kilkenny provided the opposition once again. At the third time of asking Bonnar collected a coveted All-Ireland medal after a narrow 1–10 to 2–6 victory.^[3]

That same year Bonnar also won a Munster junior hurling medal as a substitute, however, Wexford accounted for Tipperary in the subsequent All-Ireland final.^[4]

Senior

In 1986 Bonnar made his debut with the Tipperary senior hurling team.^[5] It was an unsuccessful year as Tipp were eliminated from the provincial championship at the first hurdle.

1987 saw Bonnar retain his place on the team. t was a successful year for Tipp as the county won its first Munster title in sixteen years following a dramatic draw and a replay with Cork in FitzGerald Stadium, Killarney .^[6] In the subsequent All-Ireland semi-final Galway put an end to Tipp's dream season with a 3–20 to 2–17 defeat.

1988 began well for Bonnar as he added a National Hurling League medal to his collection. He later captured his second Munster medal following another victory over Cork. A subsequent defeat of Antrim allowed Tipp to advance to the All-Ireland final where Galway provided the opposition. With an extra year's experience it was expected that Tipp might shade the victory. Galway, however, used this to motivate themselves. Noel Lane scored the crucial goal for Galway while Nicky English sent a late penalty over the bar for a point. A 1–15 to 0–14 score line resulted in victory for Galway and defeat for Bonnar.^[7]

In 1989 Tipperary were still the best team in Munster and Bonnar won his third provincial title in-a-row after a 0–26 to 2–8 trouncing of Waterford. For the third time in as many years Tipp faced Galway in the All-Ireland series, however, on this occasion the men from the West were without their star player Tony Keady. The game turned out to be a tense and unsavory affair as Tipp finally triumphed over Galway. Antrim, the surprise winners of the other semi-final, provided the opposition in the subsequent All-Ireland final. It was an historic occasion as it was only the second appearance of an Ulster team in the championship decider. Antrim's relative inexperience robbed the final of any real element of contest and Tipp romped home to a 4–24 to 3–9 win.^[8] Because of this Tipp preserved their record of being the only team to win an All-Ireland title in every decade in GAA history. It was Bonnar's first senior All-Ireland medal.

In 1990 Tipperary surrendered their Munster crown to Cork for the first time in four years. This defeat followed Babs Keating's infamous remark about Cork that 'donkeys don't win derbies'.^[9]

Tipp returned in 1991 and defeated Cork in a thrilling Munster final replay giving Bonnar his fourth provincial medal. The subsequent All-Ireland final saw Tipp take on Kilkenny for the first time in twenty years. A freak goal by Michael Cleary in the first-half gave Tipp a lead which they never surrendered. A 1–16 to 0–15 victory allowed Bonnar to capture his second All-Ireland medal in three years.^[8]

1992 saw Tipp exit the championship at an early stage, however, the team bounced back for one last hurrah in 1993. That year Bonnar added a fifth Munster medal to his collection as Tipp trounced Clare by 3–27 to 2–12. The subsequent All-Ireland semi-final saw Tipp renew their rivalry with Galway; however, on this occasion Galway took the spoils. This defeat brought the curtain down on Tipp's great revival.

After defeat after a draw and a replay in the Munster final of 1996, Bonnar lined out in a second consecutive provincial decider in 1997. Clare provided the opposition on that occasion, however, it was an occasion to foregt for Bonnar as Tipp lost a close and exciting game by 1–18 to 0–18.^[10] The introduction of the new 'back-door' system resulted in both Clare and Tipperary meeting for the second time in the first all-Munster All-Ireland final. The game itself was one of the best of the decade. Clare were well on top for much of the game, however, Liam Cahill and Eugene O'Neill scored twice for Tipp in the last ten minutes. John Leahy missed a goal chance in the last minute while another Tipp point was controversially ruled wide. At the full-time whistle Clare won by a single point – 0–20 to 2–13.^[11]

Following defeat in the 1998 provincial championship Bonnar decided to retire from inter-county hurling.^[12]

Managerial career

In retirement from playing Bonnar became involved in team management and coaching. Just a year after he hung up his hurley Bonnar became part of Gerald McCarthy's five-man management team with the Waterford senior hurlers.^[13] He was initially brought in as a selector before serving as trainer of the team under McCarthy and his successor Justin McCarthy. It was a successful period for Waterford as the team captured their first Munster title in thirty-nine years in 2002. Bonnar remained with the Waterford management team until the end of the 2003 season. He then accepted an offer to serve as a selector with the Tipperary senior hurling team under Ken Hogan. Apart from a Munster final appearance in 2004 it was an unsuccessful stint with his native-county.

Bonnar has also enjoyed much success as manager of the Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) hurling team. Between 2002 and 2008 he guided the institute to four Fitzgibbon Cup titles, making WIT one of the most successful team college or university teams in recent years.

Wexford

Bonnar was confirmed as manager of the Wexford senior hurling team, in succession to John Meyler, on 11 November 2008.^[14] His team was knocked out of the Leinster Championship at the semi-final stage by Dublin, and lost to Limerick in the qualifiers, leaving them in a situation where they had to play a relegation play-off against Antrim. Bonnar was unhappy about the possibility that his team could potentially play in Christy Ring Cup rather than the All Ireland Series in 2010.^[15] He and the managers of the other teams involved in the play-offs appealed to the GAA's Disputes Resolution Authority,^[16] who took the decision to postpone the relegation final until a future date.^[17] The Director General of the GAA has suggested that the relegation final will be played, but that no team would end up being relegated and that a decision would be made on the issue in early October 2009.^[18]

In July 2011 he resigned as manager of Wexford after the defeat to Limerick.^[19]

Honours

Cashel King Cormac's

• Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship:
  • Winner (1): 1991
• Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship:
  • Winner (1): 1991
  • Runner-up (2): 1990, 1994

Tipperary

• All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship:
  • Winner (2): 1989, 1991
  • Runner-up (1): 1988, 1997
• Munster Senior Hurling Championship:
  • Winner (5): 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993
  • Runner-up (3): 1990, 1996, 1997
• National Hurling League:
  • Winner (1): 1987–1988
  • Runner-up (3): 1988–1989, 1991–1992, 1995–1996
• All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship:
  • Winner (1): 1985
  • Runner-up (2): 1983, 1984
• Munster Under-21 Hurling Championship:
  • Winner (3): 1983, 1984, 1985
• All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship:
  • Winner (1): 1982
• Munster Minor Hurling Championship:
  • Winner (1): 1982

Munster

• Railway Cup:
  • Winner (3): 1995, 1996, 1997
  • Runner-up (1): 1989

References