Patrick Maher (hurler)

Patrick Maher

Personal information
Irish name	Pádraig Ó Meachair
Sport	Hurling
Position	Centre-forward
Born	(1989-10-12) 12 October 1989 (age 33) Ballinasloe, County Galway, Ireland
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Nickname	Bonner
Occupation	Army Private
Club(s)
Years	Club
2007-present	Lorrha–Dorrha
Club titles
Tipperary titles	0
Colleges(s)
Years	College
	Dublin Institute of Technology
College titles
Fitzgibbon titles	0
Inter-county(ies)*
Years	County	Apps (scores)
2009-present	Tipperary	45 (7-26)
Inter-county titles
Munster titles	5
All-Irelands	3
NHL	0
All Stars	2
*Inter County team apps and scores correct as of match played 22 May 2022.

Patrick "Bonner" Maher (born 12 October 1989) is an Irish hurler who currently plays as a centre-forward for the Tipperary senior team. ^[1]

Maher joined the team straight out of the minor grade during the 2009 championship, however, he didn't become a regular member of the starting fifteen until the following year. Since then he has won three All-Ireland winners' medals (2010, 2016, & 2019) and five Munster winners' medals (2009, 2011, 2012, 2015 & 2016). He has ended up as an All-Ireland runner-up on three occasions (2009, 2011 & 2014). Maher also picked up his first and All-Star for his role in getting Tipperary to the All-Ireland final in 2014 and in 2016 won a second.

Army Career

Maher was a 3 Star Private in the Irish Army from 2012 to 2022. He survived overseas with the UN in Syria and Golan Heights.

Playing Career

Club

At club level Maher is a one-time county intermediate championship medallist with Lorrha–Dorrha. The men from Lower Ormond defeated Moycarkey–Borris from Mid Tipperary in the 2007 County Final on a scoreline of 1-11 to 0-11. Lorrha defeated Ballina in the North Tipperary final en route to the County final that year on a scoreline of 3-9 to 1-13. Maher - who was still only a minor that year - scored a late goal which put Lorrha in a winning position.

Minor and under-21

Maher first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Tipperary minor team in 2007. He won a Munster medal in this grade that year following an 0-18 to 1-11 defeat of Cork. ^[2] Tipp subsequently defeated Kilkenny to qualify for the All-Ireland final. Cork, the defeated Munster finalists, provided the opposition and a high-scoring game developed over the course of the hour. At the full-time whistle Tipp were the champions by 3-14 to 2-11 and Maher added an All-Ireland medal to his collection. ^[3]

Maher subsequently graduated onto the Tipperary under-21 hurling team. In 2010 Tipp defeated Clare in the provincial decider by 1-22 to 1-17, giving Maher his second Munster under-21 winners' medal having previously won one in 2008 at wing half forward . ^[4] Tipp subsequently qualified for an All-Ireland meeting with Galway, which Tipperary won by 5-21 to 0-11. ^[5] It was Maher's first All-Ireland under-21 winners' medal.

Senior

Maher made his Senior inter-county debut for Tipperary against Waterford in the 2009 Waterford Crystal Cup, lining out at left half-forward, and scored a goal against Clare in the 2009 Waterford Crystal Cup Final. He made his debut in the National Hurling League in February 2009, lining out at centre-forward against Waterford and scoring a point in a 2–13 to 1–12 Tipperary victory. Maher went on to make his Championship debut at left half-forward on 3 July 2010 against Wexford in the 2010 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Qualifiers, scoring two points from play. ^[6]

On 5 September 2010, Maher started at left half-forward as Tipperary won their 26th All Ireland title, beating reigning champions Killkenny by 4–17 to 1–18 in the final, preventing Kilkenny from achieving an historic 5-in-a-row, it was Maher's first All-Ireland winners medal. ^[7] Six day's later on 11 September 2010, Tipperary clinched the All Ireland Under-21 title by defeating Galway by 5–22 to 0–12 at Semple Stadium, with Maher starting at centre half forward and scoring a goal in the second half. ^[8] Patrick was nominated for an All-star award in 2010, 2011 and 2012. GAA/GPA player of the month for June 2012. Munster senior hurling Player of the Year 2012. In 2013 Maher joined the Irish army. ^{[9] [10]}

In October 2014, Maher won his first All Stars Award after a successful 2014 campaign where Tipperary reached the All-Ireland Final. ^[11]

On 4 September 2016, Maher won his second All-Ireland Senior hurling title when Tipperary defeated Kilkenny in the final by 2-29 to 2-20. ^{[12] [13]}

In October 2016, Maher left Ireland for six months army service in a peacekeeping mission to the Golan Heights in Syria. ^{[14] [15]}

On 16 June 2019, Maher was stretchered off in first-half injury-time after appearing to twist his knee in an awkward fall in Tipperary's 1-22 to 0-21 defeat of Limerick. ^[16] A scan subsequently revealed that he had ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, an injury which ended his season. ^{[17] [18]}

On 22 May 2021, it was announced that Maher would miss the remainder of the 2021 season after suffering an Achilles injury in training on the previous Thursday which required surgery. ^{[19] [20] [21]}

Career statistics

As of match played 22 May 2022

Team	Year	National League			Munster		All-Ireland		Total
		Division	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score
Tipperary-	2009	Division 1	7	1-01	0	0-00	0	0-00	7	1-01
	2010		1	0-00	0	0-00	5	0-03	6	0-03
	2011		7	0-05	3	1-01	2	0-00	12	1-06
	2012	Division 1A	0	0-00	3	0-00	1	0-00	4	0-00
	2013		4	1-00	1	0-00	1	0-00	6	1-00
	2014		5	3-02	1	1-00	6	2-04	12	6-06
	2015		3	1-00	2	0-05	1	0-01	6	1-06
	2016		3	0-00	3	0-01	2	0-02	8	0-03
	2017		—		0	0-00	4	0-03	4	0-03
	2018		6	1-05	4	1-02	—		10	2-07
	2019		6	1-00	4	1-03	—		10	2-03
	2020		—		—		2	1-00	2	1-00
	2021		2	0-00	—		—		2	0-00
	2022		1	0-00	1	0-01	—		2	0-01
Total			45	8-13	22	4-13	23	3-13	91	15-39

Honours

Tipperary

• All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship :
  • Winner (3): 2010, 2016, 2019
  • Runner-up (3): 2009, 2011, 2014
• Munster Senior Hurling Championship :
  • Winner (5): 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016
  • Runner-up (0):
• National Hurling League :
  • Winner (0):
  • Runner-up (4): 2009, 2013, 2014, 2017
• All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship :
  • Winner (1): 2010
  • Runner-up (1): 2008
• Munster Under-21 Hurling Championship :
  • Winner (2): 2008, 2010
• All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship :
  • Winner (1): 2007
• Munster Minor Hurling Championship :
  • Winner (1): 2007

Individual

• All Star Award (2): 2014, 2016

References

1. "Profile: Patrick Maher". Hurling Stats website. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
2. "Rebel goals rattle Tipp". Irish Examiner. 9 July 2007. Archived from the original on 10 December 2007. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
3. "Dunne: Minor must get time to develop". Irish Examiner. 3 September 2007. Archived from the original on 1 July 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
4. "Tipperary settle after early Clare blitz and finish strongly". Irish Times. 29 July 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
5. "Tipperary claim Under-21 hurling crown". RTÉ Sport. 11 September 2010. Archived from the original on 14 September 2010. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
6. "Tipperary hurlers too strong for Wexford". Irish Examiner . Thomas Crosbie Holdings. 3 July 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
7. Breheny, Martin (6 September 2010). "Rampant Tipp deny Cats immortality". Irish Independent . Independent News & Media . Retrieved 8 September 2010.
8. Lawlor, Damian (12 September 2010). "Five-star Tipp cruise to title". Irish Independent . Independent News & Media. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
9. "Everyone goes through their bad patch - last year was mine, says Tipp's Maher". Irish Independent. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
10. "Friday Profile: 'Bonner is a guy you would bring to war with you'". Irish Independent. 5 September 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
11. "Tipperary earn more hurling All Stars than the Cats as Richie Hogan and James O'Donoghue land top awards". Irish Independent. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
12. "Tipperary 2-29 Kilkenny 2-20". Munster GAA. 5 September 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
13. "Analysis: How Tipperary finally overcame Kilkenny to claim All-Ireland senior hurling glory". The 42. 5 September 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
14. "Tipperary All-Ireland winner preparing for 6-month Army peace-keeping role in Syria". The 42. 15 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
15. "Galway more than aware of 'Bonner' Maher threat". Irish Times. 2 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
16. Hogan, Vincent (16 June 2019). "Tipperary hold off Limerick to set up Munster final rematch but Premier county left with major injury concerns". Irish Independent. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
17. Verney, Michael (18 June 2019). "Tipp hit with devastating 'Bonner' blow as Maher ruled out for rest of the championship with ACL tear". Irish Independent. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
18. "Injured 'Bonner' enjoyed All-Ireland win". Hogan Stand. 19 August 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
19. "Tipperary's Patrick Bonner Maher out for the season". Irish Times. 22 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
20. "Tipp boss Sheedy confirms Bonner Maher gone for season: 'He's such a loss to the Championship'". Irish Examiner. 22 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
21. "Bonner injury "a tough pill to swallow" - Sheedy". Hogan Stand. 22 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.