| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Irish name | Ailéon Ó Conghaile | ||
| Sport | Hurling | ||
| Position | Full-forward | ||
| Born | 19 July 2001 Blackrock, Cork, Ireland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 [1] in (1.85 m) | ||
| Occupation | Student | ||
| Club(s)* | |||
| Years | Club | Apps (scores) | |
2019–present | Blackrock | 23 (16–155) | |
| Club titles | |||
| Cork titles | 1 | ||
| Colleges(s) | |||
| Years | College | ||
2020–present | MTU Cork | ||
| College titles | |||
| Fitzgibbon titles | 0 | ||
| Inter-county(ies)** | |||
| Years | County | Apps (scores) | |
2020–present | Cork | 23 (12-29) | |
| Inter-county titles | |||
| Munster titles | 1 | ||
| All-Irelands | 0 | ||
| NHL | 1 | ||
| All Stars | 0 | ||
| * club appearances and scores correct as of 21:08, 8 October 2024. **Inter County team apps and scores correct as of match played 20 July 2025. | |||
Alan Connolly (born 19 July 2001) is an Irish hurler. At club level he plays with Blackrock and at inter-county level with the Cork senior hurling team. He usually lines out at full-forward.
Born and raised in Blackrock, Connolly first played hurling to a high standard as a student at St Francis College in Rochestown. He progressed through the various age grades before joining the school's senior team. Connolly was top scorer with 0-07 when St Francis College beat Hamilton High School by 1-13 to 0-14 to claim the Munster PPS SBHC title. [2] He was a Dr O'Callaghan Cup runner-up in February 2020 after a 3-24 to 1-15 defeat by Midleton CBS, in what was his last game for Rochestown College. [3] Connolly later studied at Munster Technological University Cork and was added to their Fitzgibbon Cup panel in 2023. [4]
Connolly began his club career at juvenile and underage levels with the Blackrock club, before progressing to the club's senior team. He made his championship debut in a 1–25 to 2–16 defeat by Newtownshandrum in August 2019. [5] Connolly won a Cork SHC medal in October 2020 after top-scoring with 0-13 in the 4-26 to 4-18 extra-time defeat of Glen Rovers in the final. [6] He also claimed the man of the match award and was the championship's top scorer with 5-52.
Connolly first played for Cork as a member of the minor team during their unsuccessful Munster MHC campaign in 2018. [7] [8] After a year with no inter-county activity, he joined Cork's under-20 team in 2020. Success in this grade was immediate with Connolly claiming Munster and All-Ireland U20HC medals in 2020 after respective defeats of Tipperary and Dublin. [9] [10]
Connolly had one more year of under-20 hurling, however, his inclusion on the senior team in 2021, after being an unused substitute the previous year, made him ineligible for the grade. [11] [12] He made his senior debut in May 2021 when he scored two goals after coming on as a substitute for Shane Barrett in a 5–22 to 1–27 National Hurling League defeat of Waterford. [13] Connolly was part of the matchday panel when Cork suffered a 3-32 to 1-22 defeat by Limerick in the 2021 All-Ireland final. [14]
Connolly was at full-forward when Cork lost the 2022 National League final to Waterford. [15] He missed the entire 2023 season with a shoulder injury, before a hamstring injury further delayed his return. [16]
Connolly's uncles, Tom and Jim Cashman, won six All-Ireland SHC medals between them with Cork between 1977 and 1990. His grandfather, Mick Cashman, was a substitute on Cork's 1952–1954 three-in-a-row team, while his granduncle, Jimmy Brohan, also lined out with that team. [17]
| Team | Year | Cork PSHC | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Score | ||
| Blackrock | 2019 | 1 | 0-01 |
| 2020 | 6 | 5-52 | |
| 2021 | 5 | 5-31 | |
| 2022 | 6 | 1-39 | |
| 2023 | 0 | 0-00 | |
| 2024 | 5 | 5-32 | |
| 2025 | 1 | 0-05 | |
| Career total | 24 | 16-160 | |
| Team | Year | National League | Munster | All-Ireland | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Score | Apps | Score | Apps | Score | Apps | Score | ||
| Cork | 2020 | Division 1A | 0 | 0-00 | 0 | 0-00 | 0 | 0-00 | 0 | 0-00 |
| 2021 | 5 | 4-02 | 1 | 0-00 | 2 | 0-02 | 8 | 4-04 | ||
| 2022 | 5 | 1-05 | 3 | 4-02 | 2 | 0-02 | 10 | 5-09 | ||
| 2023 | 0 | 0-00 | 0 | 0-00 | — | 0 | 0-00 | |||
| 2024 | 3 | 6-04 | 4 | 4-09 | 4 | 0-04 | 11 | 10-17 | ||
| 2025 | 3 | 1-03 | 5 | 1-07 | 2 | 3-03 | 10 | 5-13 | ||
| Total | 16 | 12-14 | 13 | 9-18 | 10 | 3-11 | 39 | 24-43 | ||