| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Irish name | Niall Ó Laoire | ||
| Sport | Hurling | ||
| Position | Left corner-back | ||
| Born | 1998 Castlelyons, County Cork, Ireland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||
| Occupation | Secondary school teacher | ||
| Club(s) | |||
| Years | Club | ||
2015-present 2017-2018; 2020 2019; 2021-2023 | Castlelyons → Imokilly → University College Cork | ||
| Club titles | |||
| Cork titles | 2 | ||
| Colleges(s) | |||
| Years | College | ||
2017-2023 | University College Cork | ||
| College titles | |||
| Fitzgibbon titles | 2 | ||
| Inter-county(ies)* | |||
| Years | County | Apps (scores) | |
2019-present | Cork | 10 (0-01) | |
| Inter-county titles | |||
| Munster titles | 0 | ||
| All-Irelands | 0 | ||
| NHL | 1 | ||
| All Stars | 0 | ||
| *Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 21:52, 31 July 2021. | |||
Niall O'Leary (born 1998) is an Irish hurler who plays for club side Castlelyons, divisional side Imokilly and at inter-county level with the Cork senior hurling team. He is usually deployed as a corner-back, but can also be deployed as a full-back or as a centre-back.
O'Leary first came to prominence as a hurler with St. Colman's College in Fermoy. On 18 February 2017, he scored 1-01 from play for St. Colman's in a 2-22 to 1-06 defeat by Our Lady's Secondary School from Templemore in the Harty Cup final. [1]
On 23 February 2019, O'Leary lined out at right corner-back for University College Cork when they faced Mary Immaculate College in the Fitzgibbon Cup final. He scored a point from play in the 2-21 to 0-13 victory. [2]
O'Leary played in a second successive Fitzgibbon Cup final on 12 February 2020. Selected at left wing-back but mostly playing in a sweeper role, he ended the game with a second successive winners' medal after the 0-18 to 2-11 defeat of the Institute of Technology, Carlow. [3]
O'Leary joined the Castlelyons club at a young age and played in all grades at juvenile and underage levels. On 8 October 2016, he scored 1-1 from midfield in a 2-13 to 1-15 Cork Minor Championship final replay defeat by Ballygiblin. [4]
In 2017, O'Leary was added to the Imokilly senior team. On 22 October, he was at centre-back when Imokilly defeated Blackrock by 3-13 to 0-18 to win the Cork Senior Championship. [5]
On 14 October 2018, O'Leary won a second successive Cork Senior Championship medal from centre-back, following Imokilly's 4-19 to 1-18 defeat of Midleton in the final. [6]
O'Leary first played for Cork at minor level on 8 April 2015 in a 2-20 to 1-13 Munster Championship defeat of Limerick. [7] An anomaly in the championship format saw Cork face the same opposition in the semi-final, with Limerick reversing the result. [8] O'Leary was eligible for the minor grade again in 2016 and was appointed captain of the team. [9] He played his last game in the minor grade on 30 June 2016 in a 0-23 to 1-12 defeat by Tipperary in the Munster semi-final. [10]
On 20 June 2018, O'Leary made his first appearance for the Cork under-21 hurling team in a 0-23 to 1-17 defeat of Waterford. [11] He later won a Munster Championship medal on 4 July following Cork's 2-23 to 1-13 defeat of Tipperary in the final. [12] On 26 August, O'Leray was at left corner-back in Cork's 3-13 to 1-16 All-Ireland final defeat by Tipperary, in what was his last game in the grade. [13]
On 2 January 2019, O'Leary made his first appearance for the Cork senior hurling team in a 1-24 to 1-18 pre-season Munster League defeat by Waterford. [14] He was later included on the Cork panel for the National League but made no appearances throughout the six-game campaign. O'Leary made his first competitive appearance on 12 May when he lined out at left corner-back in a 2-28 to 1-24 defeat by Tipperary in the Munster Championship. [15]
| Team | Year | Cork PIHC | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Score | ||
| Castlelyons | 2015 | 2 | 0-01 |
| 2016 | 1 | 0-00 | |
| 2017 | 3 | 0-03 | |
| 2018 | 3 | 0-00 | |
| 2019 | 1 | 0-02 | |
| Career total | 10 | 0-06 | |
| Team | Year | National League | Munster | All-Ireland | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Score | Apps | Score | Apps | Score | Apps | Score | ||
| Cork | 2019 | Division 1A | 0 | 0-00 | 4 | 0-00 | 2 | 0-00 | 6 | 0-00 |
| 2020 | 3 | 0-00 | 0 | 0-00 | 1 | 0-00 | 4 | 0-00 | ||
| 2021 | 3 | 0-00 | 1 | 0-00 | 2 | 0-01 | 6 | 0-01 | ||
| Career total | 6 | 0-00 | 5 | 0-00 | 5 | 0-01 | 16 | 0-01 | ||