Aidan Fogarty (Offaly hurler)

Aidan Fogarty
Personal information
Irish name	Aodán Ó Fógartaigh
Sport	Hurling
Position	Half-back
Born	7 June 1958 (age 61); Banagher, County Offaly
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Occupation	Sales rep
Club(s)
Years	Club
	St. Rynagh's
Club titles
Offaly titles	8
Leinster titles	2
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County
1977-1991	Offaly
Inter-county titles
Leinster titles	7
All-Irelands	2
All Stars	2

Last updated September 16, 2019

Aidan Fogarty (born 7 June 1958 in Banagher, County Offaly) is a retired Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club St. Rynagh's and with the Offaly senior inter-county team^[1] from 1977 until 1991.

Banagher is a town in Republic of Ireland, located in the midlands, on the western edge of County Offaly in the province of Leinster, on the banks of the River Shannon. The name Banagher comes from its Irish name, which translates to English as "the place of the pointed rocks on the Shannon".

County Offaly is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe and was formerly known as King's County. Offaly County Council is the local authority for the county. The county population was 77,961 at the 2016 census.

Ireland, also known as the Republic of Ireland, is a country in north-western Europe occupying 26 of 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, which is located on the eastern side of the island. Around a third of the country's population of 4.9 million people resides in the greater Dublin area. The sovereign state shares its only land border with Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, St George's Channel to the south-east, and the Irish Sea to the east. It is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The legislature, the Oireachtas, consists of a lower house, Dáil Éireann, an upper house, Seanad Éireann, and an elected President who serves as the largely ceremonial head of state, but with some important powers and duties. The head of government is the Taoiseach, who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President; the Taoiseach in turn appoints other government ministers.

Playing career

Club

Fogarty played his club hurling with the famous St. Rynagh's club in Banagher and enjoyed much success. He won his first two senior county titles in 1975 and 1976 while still only a minor. Fogarty captured another set of back-to-back county medals in 1981 and 1982. This latter victory was subsequently converted into a Leinster title. Fogarty won another two county titles in 1987 and 1990, before finishing off his club career by winning another two-in-a-row in 1992 and 1993. Once again, this latter victory was converted into a second Leinster club title.

Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic and Irish origin. It is administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). The game has prehistoric origins, and has been played for 4,000 years. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of players, and much terminology. There is a similar game for women called camogie. It shares a common Gaelic root with the sport of shinty, which is played predominantly in Scotland.

St. Rynagh's is a Gaelic Athletic Association club that encompasses the towns of Cloghan and Banagher in County Offaly, in Ireland. Formed in 1961, the club gained almost immediate success - winning the senior championship in 1965. St. Rynagh's went on to appear in three All-Ireland club finals during the next 30 years.

The Offaly Senior Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition organised by the Offaly County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1896 for the top hurling teams in the county of Offaly in Ireland.

Inter-county

Fogarty first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Offaly minor hurling team in the mid-1970s. He played at this level for his native-county in both 1975 and 1976, however, success eluded him on both occasions. Fogarty later joined the county under-21 team where he did win a Leinster title in 1978. It was a sign of things to come for Offaly.

Offaly GAA County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association in Offaly

The Offaly County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) or Offaly GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Offaly. Separate county boards are also responsible for the Offaly inter-county teams.

By this stage Fogarty had already joined the Offaly senior team. He made his debut in the 1976-77 National Hurling League, however, Offaly were defeated at the semi-final stages. In spite of this success was slow in coming in the championship as Fogarty’s side was defeated in 1977, 1978 and 1979. All this changed in 1980 when Offaly recorded a sensational 3-17 to 5-10 victory over All-Ireland champions Kilkenny in the Leinster final. Not only was it Fogarty’s first Leinster title but it was also the first time that Offaly had won the provincial title. Offaly's fairytale season subsequently ended with a defeat by Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final. Offaly bounced back in 1981 with Fogarty capturing a second consecutive Leinster medal. This victory allowed Offaly a straight passage into the All-Ireland final where Galway provided the opposition. Things looked bad for Offaly as the second-half saw Galway take a six-point lead. The men from the West failed to score for the final 23 minutes of the game, allowing Offaly to capture a 2-12 to 0-15 win. Fogarty had finally captured his first All-Ireland medal.

The National Hurling League is an annual inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the league system.

The Kilkenny County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland and is responsible for Gaelic Games in County Kilkenny. The county board has its head office and main grounds at Nowlan Park and is also responsible for Kilkenny inter-county teams in all codes at all levels. The Kilkenny branch of the Gaelic Athletic Association was founded in 1887.

The Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship, known simply as the Leinster Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hurling competition in the province of Leinster, and has been contested every year since the 1888 championship.

Offaly surrendered their provincial crown to Kilkenny in 1982; however, Fogarty was still presented with his first All-Star award. Kilkenny remained on top in 1983, however, Offaly bounced back in 1984 to win the Leinster title for the third time. A facile win over Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final resulted in Offaly being installed as hot favourites to claim their second All-Ireland title. Cork provided the opposition in the championship decider in the first ever meeting of these two teams. Offaly's favourites tag turned out to be completely unjustified as Cork swept them off the field on a score line of 3-16 to 1-12. In 1985 Offaly retained their provincial crown, giving Fogarty a fourth Leinster title. This victory allowed Offaly to advance directly to the All-Ireland final where Galway provided the opposition. After an exciting game Offaly emerged victorious giving Fogarty a second All-Ireland title.^[2] The next few years saw Kilkenny reclaim the Leinster title, however, Offaly returned to their winning ways in 1988 with Fogarty capturing a fifth Leinster medal. The subsequent All-Ireland semi-final resulted in a loss for his side. The following year he added a sixth Leinster medal to his collection, however, the subsequent All-Ireland semi-final produced one of the biggest hurling shocks of all-time. Antrim came from nowhere to defeat the men from the Faithful County on a score line of 4-15 to 1-15. The significance of Antrim's victory was not lost on the Offaly team, who provided a guard of honour for the Ulstermen as they left the field. Fogarty was later presented with a second All-Star award.

Cork GAA irish Gaelic Athletic Association

The Cork County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) or Cork GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Cork and the Cork inter-county teams. It is one of the constituent counties of Munster GAA.

The Antrim County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Antrim GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Antrim. The county board is also responsible for the Antrim inter-county teams.

In 1990 Fogarty won a seventh Leinster medal, however, defeat soon followed in the All-Ireland semi-final. 1991 began well as Offaly captured their first National League title; however, Fogarty played no part in that victory. He was recalled for the Leinster championship games against Dublin. It was his last game for Offaly as he retired immediately after the game.

The Dublin County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) or Dublin GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in the Dublin Region and the Dublin inter-county teams. The team and its fans are known as "The Dubs" or "Boys in Blue". The fans have a special affiliation with the Hill 16 end of Croke Park

Provincial

Fogarty has also lined out with Leinster in the Railway Cup inter-provincial competition. He captured a winners’ medal in this as captain of the side in 1988 as Leinster defeated Connacht.

Post-playing career

In retirement from playing Fogarty has remained involved with the game of hurling. He moved to County Kilkenny in 1984 and turned his hand to club coaching. He guided the Kilkenny club O'Loughlin Gaels to their first county title in 2001.

References

↑ Michael Foley (July 4, 2004). "Caught in Time: Offaly beat Wexford, 1984 Leinster hurling final". The Times . Retrieved 2010-07-15.
↑ "Offaly GAA: All Ireland Winning Teams" . Retrieved 2010-07-16.

Teams

Achievements
Preceded by Conor Hayes (Connacht)	Interprovincial Hurling Final winning captain 1988	Succeeded by Joe Cooney (Connacht)

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[1] Michael Foley (July 4, 2004). "Caught in Time: Offaly beat Wexford, 1984 Leinster hurling final". The Times . Retrieved 2010-07-15.

[2] "Offaly GAA: All Ireland Winning Teams" . Retrieved 2010-07-16.