Jerry O'Connor

Jerry O'Connor

Personal information
Irish name	Gearóid Ó Conchubhair
Sport	Hurling
Position	Midfield
Born	25 January 1979 (1979-01-25) (age 32) Newtownshandrum, County Cork
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Occupation	Garda
Club(s)
Years	Club
1996-present	Newtownshandrum
Club Titles
Cork titles	4
Munster titles	2
All-Ireland Titles	1
Inter-county(ies)*
Years	County	Apps (scores)
2000-2011	Cork	49 (0-68)
Inter-county titles
Munster titles	4
All Irelands	2
NHL	0
All Stars	3
*Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 22:15, 17 October 2011.

Jerry O'Connor (born 25 January 1979) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club Newtownshandrum and with the Cork senior inter-county team.

Early & private life

Jerry O’Connor was born in the village of Newtownshandrum, County Cork in 1979. He is, along with his twin brother Ben, the eldest in a family of ten children. O’Connor was born into a family that had a strong association with the game of hurling. His father, Bernie O'Connor, had played at minor, under-21 and senior levels for Cork in the 1960s, winning a minor All-Ireland medal in 1967. O’Connor was educated at the local national school before later attending Mannix College in Charleville. While going to school here he had his first All-Ireland success when he won a Senior Vocational Schools medal.

O’Connor currently works as a member of An Garda Síochána in Cork.

Playing career

Club

O’Connor plays his club hurling with his local Newtownshandrum club. He enjoyed much success at underage levels, winning practically every hurling competition from under-12 upwards. In 1996 he was barely seventeen years-old, however, he played a key role when Newtown won the Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship title. Two years later in 1998 O’Connor won a Cork Under-21 Hurling Championship title, with two more titles following in 1999 and 2000. That same year the O’Connor twins were instrumental in helping the club to win its first ever senior county championship title. Three years later in 2003 O’Connor added a second senior county title before later landing a Munster club hurling medal as well as an All-Ireland club medal. In 2006 he won another brace of county and provincial medals, however, Newtown were later defeated by Portumna in the All-Ireland final.

Inter-county

O'Connor's skill was quickly spotted and he soon followed his brother onto the inter-county scene. He won his first Munster medal in 2000, however, Cork were later defeated by Offaly in the All-Ireland semi-final. In Cork hurling took a dramatic downturn culminating in a players strike in 2002. In 2003 the Cork hurlers were back and O’Connor won his second Munster title. The team were later defeated by Kilkenny in an exciting All-Ireland final. In 2004 Cork were defeated by Waterford in one of the greatest Munster finals of all-time. In spite of this O’Connor’s side qualified for another All-Ireland final showdown with Kilkenny. The game failed to live up to the expectations of commentators and fans, however, O'Connor won his first All-Ireland medal.

In 2005 O’Connor won a third Munster medal before later winning a second All-Ireland medal following a win over Galway. Both Jerry and his brother Ben finished off the year by becoming the first set of twins to be presented with All-Star awards.^[1] In 2006 O’Connor won a fourth provincial medal before later qualifying to play in a fourth consecutive All-Ireland final. Once again Kilkenny provided the opposition, however, Cork were stopped in their bid to win three finals in-a-row.

References

1. ^ "Rebels lead hurling All-Stars". RTÉ Sport. 23 November 2005. http://www.rte.ie/sport/2005/1123/allstars.html. Retrieved 20 November 2010. 

Preceded by Seán Óg Ó hAilpín (Cork)	Vodafone Hurler of the Year 2005	Succeeded by Henry Shefflin (Kilkenny)
	Texaco Hurler of the Year 2005

Teams and awards

Persondata
Name	Oconnor, Jerry
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 25, 1979
Place of birth	Newtownshandrum
Date of death
Place of death