Conal Bonnar

Conal Bonnar
Personal information
Sport	Hurling
Position	Half-back
Born	1969 Cashel, County Tipperary
Club(s)
Years	Club
	Cashel King Cormac’s
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County
1989-1999	Tipperary
Inter-county titles
Munster titles	3
All-Irelands	2
NHL	2
All Stars	2

Conal Bonnar (born 1969) is a former Irish sportsperson. He played senior hurling with the Tipperary inter-county team from 1989 until 1999.^[1]

Early life

Conal Bonnar was born in Cashel, County Tipperary, in 1969, the twelfth child in a family of thirteen which includes two siblings, Cormac and Colm, who won the All-Ireland Championship with Tipperary. His forename reflects the family ancestry. Bonnar’s parents came originally from County Donegal and Conal’s name was taken from the ancient name for the county. He was educated at Cashel CBS. His father Pearse holds the unique distinction of having played for Cashel King Cormac's in a West Tipperary Junior Football Championship match at the age of 72 years.

Playing career

Club

Bonnar played his club hurling with the local Cashel King Cormac's club. He enjoyed some success at underage levels, and in 1991 he won a senior county championship. It was the club’s first-ever senior county title. This triumph was later followed by a Munster club hurling title.

Inter-county

Bonnar first came to prominence with Tipperary in 1987 when he won a Munster minor title with the county. He subsequently joined the Tipperary under-21 panel and won both Munster and All-Ireland titles with his native-county in 1989. The following year he won a second consecutive Munster under-21 medal.

Bonnar was drafted into the Tipperary panel for the 1988 All-Ireland final. The event attracted plenty of attention because he became the third Bonnar on the panel and, to be drafted in at that stage of the championship, was an indication of the potential of the player. Unfortunately, victory went to Galway on the day. In 1989 Bonnar was a full member of the Tipperary team and he captured his first senior Munster medal. This was later converted into his first senior All-Ireland medal following a final victory over Antrim. His performance throughout the championship earned Bonnar his very first All-Star award.^[2]

Two years later in 1991 Bonnar captured a second provincial medal before later winning his second All-Ireland medal following a win over Kilkenny. Once again his performance in the championship earned him a second All-Star award. In 1993 he won his third Munster medal, however, Tipperary were later beaten by Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final. Bonnar won his first National Hurling League medal in 1994. Three years later in 1997 Tipperary lost to Clare in the Munster final, however, in the first year of the 'back-door system' Tipp later qualified to play Clare again in the first-ever All-Munster All-Ireland final. Unfortunately, Bonnar ended up on the losing side for a second time. In 1999 he claimed a second National League medal before retiring from inter-county hurling.

Teams

Tipperary - 1989 All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Champions (7th title)

1 B. Bane 2 L. Sheedy 3 M. Ryan 4 G. Frend 5 C. Bonnar 6 J. Madden 7 S. Maher 8 J. Leahy 9 D. Ryan (c) 10 P. Hogan 11 C. Stakelum 12 D. Ryan 13 M. Nolan 14 D. Quirke 15 T. Lanigan Subs used J. Cahill K. Ryan D. Lyons

Tipperary - 1989 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Champions (23rd title)

1 K. Hogan 2 J. Heffernan 3 C. O'Donovan 4 Noel Sheehy 5 Conal Bonnar 6 B. Ryan (c) 7 J. Kennedy 8 Colm Bonnar 9 D. Carr 10 J. Leahy 11 D. Ryan 12 M. Cleary 13 P. Fox 14 Cormac Bonnar 15 N. English Subs used 17 J. Hayes for Cormac Bonnar 20 D. O'Connell for J. Leahy 19 A. Ryan for M. Cleary Subs not used 16 J. Leamy 18 P. McGrath 21 J. Cormack 22 J. Madden 23 R. Stakelum Manager M. Keating Selectors D. Nealon T. English

Reference: Tipperary GAA Archives Database searchable by team, year and/or player name.

Tipperary - 1991 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Champions (24th title)

1 K. Hogan 2 P. Delaney 3 N. Sheehy 4 M. Ryan 5 Colm Bonnar 6 B. Ryan 7 Conal Bonnar 8 D. Carr (c) 9 A. Ryan 10 M. Cleary 11 D. Ryan 12 J. Leahy 13 P. Fox 14 Cormac Bonnar 15 N. English Subs used C. Stakelum for Cormac Bonnar D. O'Connell for N. English Subs not used J. Grace J. Hayes M. O'Meara G. O'Neill J. Madden C. O'Donovan S. Nealon Manager M. Keating Selectors J. O'Donoghue D. Nealon

Reference: Tipperary GAA Archives Database searchable by team, year and/or player name.

Tipperary - 1994 National Hurling League Champions (16th title)

1 J. Grace 2 G. Frend (c) 3 N. Sheehy 4 M. Ryan 5 R. Ryan 6 M. O'Meara 7 Conal Bonnar 8 P. King 9 J. Hayes 10 J. Leahy 11 L. McGrath 12 A. Ryan 13 D. Ryan 14 A. Crosse 15 M. Cleary Subs used T. Dunne Manager M. Keating

Reference: Tipperary GAA Archives Database searchable by team, year and/or player name.

Tipperary - 1997 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship runners-up

1 B. Cummins 2 P. Shelly 3 N. Sheehy 4 M. Ryan 5 L. Sheedy 6 Colm Bonnar 7 Conal Bonnar 8 T. Dunne 9 C. Gleeson (c) 10 L. McGrath 11 D. Ryan 12 J. Leahy 13 M. Cleary 14 E. O'Neill 15 B. O'Meara Subs used A. Ryan for L. McGrath L. Cahill for M. Cleary Subs not used K. O'Sullivan A. Flanagan P. Delaney B. Carroll B. Gaynor G. Frend R. Ryan A. Butler K. Tucker Manager L. Gaynor Selectors M. Doyle M. Duggan

Reference: Tipperary GAA Archives Database searchable by team, year and/or player name.

Tipperary - 1999 National Hurling League Champions (17th title)

1 B. Cummins 2 D. Fahy 3 F. Heaney 4 L. Sheedy 5 B. Horgan 6 D. Kennedy 7 E. Corcoran 8 E. Enright 9 D. Carr 10 T. Dunne (c) 11 D. Ryan 12 B. O'Meara 13 L. Cahill 14 P. Shelly 15 J. Leahy Subs used Conal Bonnar G. Maguire C. Gleeson Manager N. English

Reference: Tipperary GAA Archives Database searchable by team, year and/or player name.

1989 All-Star Hurling Team

1 J. Commins 2 A. Fogarty 3 E.Cleary 4 D. Donnelly 5 C. Bonner 6 B. Ryan 7 S. Treacy 8 M. Coleman 9 D. Carr 10 E. Ryan 11 J. Cooney 12 O. McFetridge 13 P. Fox 14 C. Bonner 15 N. English

1991 All-Star Hurling Team

1 M. Walsh 2 P. Delaney 3 N. Sheehy 4 S. Treacy 5 C. Bonner 6 J. Cashman 7 C. Casey 8 T. McNaughton 9 J. Leahy 10 M. Cleary 11 G. Kirby 12 D. J. Carey 13 P. Fox 14 C. Bonner 15 J. Fitzgibbon

References

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