Pat Hegarty

Pat Hegarty (born 1947) is an Irish retired hurler who played as a left corner-back for the Cork senior team.

Hegarty joined the team during the 1968-69 National League and was a regular member of the starting fifteen until his retirement after the 1975 championship. During that time he won one All-Ireland medal, four Munster medals and four National League medals. Hegarty was an All-Ireland runner-up on two occasions.

At club level Hegarty was a one-time intermediate championship medalist with Youghal.

Playing career

Club

Hegarty played his club hurling with Youghal and enjoyed some success during a lengthy career.

In 1969 he was a key member of the team that reached the final of the intermediate championship. Cobh provided the opposition on that occasion, however, Youghal's ability to score goals proved the deciding factor. A 3-9 to 0-13 win gave Hegarty an intermediate championship medal.

Inter-county

Hegarty first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Cork under-21 hurling tea in 1966. He made his debut as a substitute in a Munster semi-final defeat of Galway in 1966, however, he played no part in Cork's subsequent Munster and All-Ireland victories.

Two years later Hegarty was captain of the under-21 team. He won a Munster medal that year following a 4-10 to 1-13 defeat of Tipperary. Cork later faced Kilkenny in the All-Ireland decider and Hegarty was moved from centre-back to the half-forward line. A 2-18 to 3-9 victory gave Hegarty a coveted All-Ireland medal.

Hegarty made his senior debut during the successful 1968-69 National League campaign for Cork. A 3-12 to 1-14 defeat of Wexford in the decider gave him his first National Hurling League medal. The subsequent provincial decider pitted Cork against reigning champions Tipperary. A 4-6 to 0-9 victory gave Cork a first defeat of Tipp since 1957 while it also gave Hegarty a first Munster medal. This victory paved the way for an All-Ireland showdown with Kilkenny, however, the team suffered a setback before the game when midfielder Justin McCarthy broke his leg in a motorcycle accident. In spite of this Cork led at the interval and looked a good bet for the victory, particularly after Kilkenny forward Pat Delaney left the field on a stretcher. The Rebels were still to the good coming into the last quarter, however, Kilkenny scored five unanswered points in the last seven minutes to win by 2-15 to 2-9.

In spite of the All-Ireland defeat, Cork regrouped during the 1969-70 National League. It was a successful campaign for the Rebels as an aggregate 5-21 to 6-16 defeat of New York gave Hegarty his second National Hurling League medal. The subsequent championship campaign saw him win his third Munster medal as Tipperary were accounted for by 3-10 to 3-8. Cork later qualified for the All-Ireland final with Wexford providing the opposition in the very first eighty-minute championship decider. The game saw a record 64-point score line for both teams as Cork's Eddie O'Brien scored a hat-trick of goals to give Cork a considerable lead. At the full-time whistle Cork were the winners by 6-21 to 5-10, giving Hegarty his first All-Ireland medal.^[1]

After collecting a third National League medal following a victory over Limerick in 1972, Hegarty later won a third Munster medal following a 6-18 to 2-8 thrashing of Clare. The subsequent All-Ireland decider saw Cork face Kilkenny. The Rebels dominated the early exchanges and went eight points clear after a long-range score from wing-back Con Roche in the 17th minute of the second half. Remarkably they didn’t score again. Kilkenny took control with Pat Henderson a key figure at centre-back and Eddie Keher cutting loose up front. They were level after a Frank Cummins goal and went onto win by eight points.^[2]

Hegarty won his fourth and final National League medal as Cork defeated Limerick on a huge score line of 6-15 to 1-12.

The following year Hegarty won his fourth Munster medal following a 3-14 to 0-12 defeat of reigning provincial champions Limerick. Cork were later defeated by Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Inter-provincial

Hegarty also had the honour of being selected for Munster in the inter-provincial series of games. He made his debut with the province in 1971 and was a regular for just two seasons.^[3] He enjoyed little success as Munster were defeated by Leinster on both occasions.

Honours

Team

Youghal

• Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship (1): 1969

Cork

• All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (1): 1970
• Munster Senior Hurling Championship (4): 1969, 1970, 1972, 1975
• National Hurling League (4): 1968-69, 1969-70, 1971-72, 1973-74
• All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship (1): 1968 (c)
• Munster Under-21 Hurling Championship (1): 1968 (c)

References