John Donnelly (hurler)

John Donnelly

Personal information
Irish name	Seán Ó Donnaile
Sport	Hurling
Position	Centre-forward
Born	(1998-03-04) 4 March 1998 (age 26) Waterford, Ireland
Height	6 ft 0 [1]  in (1.83 m)
Occupation	Student
Club(s)
Years	Club
	Thomastown
Club titles
Kilkenny titles	1
Colleges(s)
Years	College
2016-present	DCU Dóchas Éireann
College titles
Fitzgibbon titles	0
Inter-county(ies)*
Years	County	Apps (scores)
2017-present	Kilkenny	18 (0-22)
Inter-county titles
Leinster titles	4
All-Irelands	0
NHL	1
All Stars	0
*Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 22:02, 17 July 2021.

John Donnelly (born 4 March 1998) is an Irish hurler who plays for Kilkenny Senior Championship club Thomastown and at inter-county level with the Kilkenny senior hurling team. He usually lines out as a centre-forward. ^[2]

Playing career

DCU Dóchas Éireann

As a student at Dublin City University, Donnelly immediately became involved in hurling and joined the college's freshers' hurling team in his first year. On 2 March 2017, he was selected at full-forward when Dublin City University faced the University of Limerick in the All-Ireland freshers' final. Donnelly was held scoreless but ended the game with a winners' medal following the 1-15 to 1-13 extra-time victory. ^[3]

Thomastown

Donnelly joined the Thomastown club at a young age and played in all grades at juvenile and underage levels before eventually joining the club's top adult team in the Kilkenny Intermediate Championship.

Kilkenny

Minor and under-21

Donnelly first lined out for Kilkenny as a member of the minor team during the 2015 Leinster Championship. He made his first appearance for the team on 25 April 2015 when he scored two points from play in a 1-18 to 1-17 extra-time defeat of Wexford. On 5 July 2015, Donnelly won a Leinster Championship medal after scoring two points from play in a 1-17 to 1-15 defeat of Dublin in the final. ^[4]

Donnelly was eligible for the minor grade for a second consecutive year in 2016. He made his last appearance for the team on 14 May 2016 in a 2-18 to 1-19 defeat by Dublin. ^[5]

Donnelly progressed onto the Kilkenny under-21 for the 2017 Leinster Championship. He made his first appearance for the team on 31 May 2017 when he lined out in a 0-21 to 0-16 defeat of Dublin. ^[6] Donnelly won a Leinster Championship medal on 5 July 2017 after scoring two points from play in Kilkenny's 0-30 to 1-15 defeat of Wexford in the final. ^[7] On 9 September 2017, he scored a point from centre-forward when Kilkenny suffered a 0-17 to 0-11 defeat by Limerick in the All-Ireland final. ^[8]

Donnelly was eligible for the under-21 grade for a second consecutive year in 2018. He made his last appearance for the team on 20 June 2018 in a 3-13 to 1-17 defeat by Galway. ^[9]

Senior

Donnelly joined the Kilkenny senior team at the start of the 2017 season. He was an unused substitute throughout the National League, Leinster Championship and All-Ireland Championship campaigns.

On 27 January 2018, Donnelly made his first appearance for the Kilkenny senior team. He was introduced as a 43rd-minute substitute for Conor Martin in a 1-24 to 0-24 defeat by Cork in the National League. ^[10] On 8 April 2018, Donnelly was selected at left wing-forward when Kilkenny faced Tipperary in the National League final. He scored two points from play and collected a winners' medal following the 2-23 to 2-17 victory. ^[11] Donnelly was selected on the bench when Kilkenny faced Galway in the Leinster final on 1 July 2018. He was introduced as a substitute for Richie Leahy in the 0-18 apiece draw. ^[12] Donnelly broke onto the starting fifteen at right wing-forward for the replay a week later, however, he was substituted by Luke Scanlon in the 1-28 to 3-15 defeat. ^[13]

On 30 June 2019, Donnelly was listed amongst the substitutes when Kilkenny faced Wexford in the Leinster final. He remained on the bench for the entire game which Kilkenny lost by 1-23 to 0-23. ^[14]

Career statistics

As of 13 February 2022

Team	Year	National League			Leinster		All-Ireland		Total
		Division	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score
Kilkenny	2017	Division 1A	0	0-00	0	0-00	0	0-00	0	0-00
	2018		7	0-09	6	0-07	1	0-01	14	0-17
	2019		6	0-04	3	0-02	3	0-06	12	0-12
	2020	Division 1B	3	0-05	2	0-03	1	0-02	6	0-10
	2021		4	0-04	2	0-01	0	0-00	6	0-05
	2022		2	0-09	0	0-00	0	0-00	2	0-09
Total			22	0-31	13	0-13	5	0-09	40	0-53

Honours

DCU Dóchas Éireann

• All-Ireland Freshers' Hurling Championship: 2017

Kilkenny

• Leinster Senior Hurling Championship: 2020, 2021
• National Hurling League: 2018
• Leinster Under-21 Hurling Championship: 2017
• Leinster Minor Hurling Championship: 2015

References

1. English, Nicky. "Nicky English's guide to the Kilkenny team". The Irish Times. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
2. Keys, Colm (9 April 2018). "Transition in the blink of an eye from Kilkenny". Irish Independent. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
3. Hurley, Denis (2 March 2017). "Pulsating, absorbing Freshers final sees DCU sneak past UL after 80-minute thriller". The 42. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
4. Cahill, Jackie (5 July 2015). "Late late show from Kilkenny seals another Leinster minor hurling crown". The 42. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
5. Mac Lochlainn, Rónán (14 May 2016). "Dublin earn thrilling Leinster minor semi-final victory over Kilkenny". The 42. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
6. "Leinster U21HC: Cats dethrone Dubs". Hogan Stand. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
7. O'Brien, Kevin (5 July 2017). "Kilkenny land 30 points en route to completing U21 and minor Leinster hurling double". The 42. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
8. Cormican, Eoghan (11 September 2017). "Limerick savour that September excitement in U21 hurling final". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
9. McKenna, Conor (20 June 2018). "Galway down Cats to book Leinster U-21 final spot". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
10. Crowe, Dermot (28 January 2018). "Cork claim early bragging rights in free-scoring clash". Irish Independent. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
11. McGoldrick, Seán (8 April 2018). "Kilkenny whirlwind blows Tipperary away as Brian Cody claims ninth league title". Irish Independent. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
12. "Leinster SHC final: Cats and Tribe must meet again". Hogan Stand. 1 July 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
13. Rooney, Declan (8 July 2018). "Galway retain Leinster crown after epic battle with Kilkenny". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
14. O'Brien, Kevin (30 June 2019). "Wexford land first Leinster title in 15 years with thrilling victory over Kilkenny". The 42. Retrieved 1 July 2019.