Donal O'Grady (Limerick hurler)

Donal O'Grady

Personal information
Irish name	Donal Ó Grádaigh
Sport	Hurling
Position	Midfield
Born	3 July 1980 Limerick, Ireland
Nickname	Dodge
Occupation	Supermarket Manager
Club(s)
Years	Club
2008-	Granagh-Ballingarry
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County	Apps (scores)
2004-2016	Limerick	? (0-28)
Inter-county titles
Munster titles	1

Donal O'Grady (born 3 July 1980) is an Irish hurler who played as a centre-back for the Limerick senior team.^[1]

Born in Ballingarry, County Limerick, O'Grady first arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of twenty-one when he first linked up with the Limerick under-21 team. He made his senior debut in the 2004 championship. O'Grady has since gone on to play a key part for Limerick, and has won one Munster medal and one National League (Division 2) medal. O'Grady has been an All-Ireland runner-up on one occasion.

O'Grady has been a member of the Munster inter-provincial team on a number of occasions and has won two Railway Cup medals. At club level he won one intermediate championship medal with Granagh-Ballingarry.

He attended St Munchin's College, Limerick and graduated from there in 1998.

Playing career

Club

O'Grady plays his club hurling with the Granagh-Ballingarry club and has enjoyed some success.

In 2005 the club enjoyed its greatest success, with O'Grady playing a key role. After losing at the quarter-final or semi-final stage for six years in a row, the club finally reached the final of the county intermediate championship. A 4-10 to 3-10 defeat of Glenroe gave O'Grady a coveted championship medal.^[2]

Inter-county

O'Grady first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Limerick under-21 team in 2001. He started in Limerick's opening game against Cork but was substituted after half-an-hour and failed to regain his place on the team., In spite of this he claimed Munster and All-Ireland medals as a non-playing substitute.^[3]

In 2004 O'Grady made his senior debut when he came on as a blood sub in Limerick's 1-18 to 2-12 defeat by Cork in the Munster semi-final. He was the first man from the Granagh-Ballingarry club to play senior hurling for Limerick.

After becoming a regular member of the starting fifteen the following year, O'Grady lined out in his first Munster final in 2007. Waterford provided the opposition, however, a 3-17 to 1-14 defeat was Limerick's lot on that occasion.^[4] Limerick later gained their revenge on Waterford in the All-Ireland semi-final, thus gaining qualification to a first All-Ireland decider in eleven years for the Treaty men. Kilkenny provided the opposition and got off to a flying start with Eddie Brennan and Henry Shefflin combining to score two goals within the first ten minutes. Limerick were eventually defeated on a 2–19 to 1–15 score line.^[5]

Limerick failed to build on their reasonably successful 2007 season and went into decline once again.

In late 2009 and early 2010 Limerick hurling hit an all-time low when many of the senior hurling team withdrew their services in protest at the continuation of Justin McCarthy as manager.^[6][7] As a result of this O'Grady played no part in the 2010 championship.

O'Grady returned to the panel in 2011 and a new management team took over. Limerick defeated Clare by 4-12 to 2-13 in the National League Division 2 final that year, giving O'Grady his first success in the senior grade.^[8]

In 2013 O'Grady was appointed captain of the Limerick senior hurling team. It was a successful year as he won a Munster medal after guiding the team to a 0-24 to 0-15 victory over Cork in the final.^[9]

Inter-provincial

O'Grady has also lined out with Munster in a number of inter-provincial campaigns and has enjoyed some success.

In 2007 he was at midfield in his debut year when Munster defeated Connacht by 2-22 to 2-19 to take the Railway Cup title.^[10] Further appearances for the province in 2008, 2009 and 2012 ended in defeat.

O'Grady won a second inter-provincial medal in 2013 following Munster's 1-22 to 0-15 defeat of Connacht.^[11]

Honours

Limerick

• Munster Senior Hurling Championship (1): 2013

References

1. "O'Grady can lay foundations for Limerick rebuild". Irish Independent. 3 October 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
2. "Granagh/Ballingarry braced for senior action". Hogan Stand website. 16 February 2006. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
3. O'Connell, Jerome (9 February 2013). "New Limerick captain ready for challenge". Limerick Leader. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
4. Breheny, Martin (9 July 2007). "Dynamic Dan adds some extra dash for the Déise". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
5. "Kilkenny overpower Limerick to retain title". Irish Times. 2 September 2007. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
6. "Could it end in a strike?". Limerick Leader. 5 November 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
7. O'Flynn, Diarmuid (8 March 2010). "Limerick players reaffirm strike stance". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
8. "Limerick 4-12 Clare 2-13". RTÉ Sport. 30 April 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
9. O'Flynn, Diarmuid (15 July 2013). "Day of joy sends tremor through Treaty". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
10. "RTÉ Sport: Munster 2-22 Connacht 2-19". RTÉ Sport. 28 October 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
11. "Munster too strong for Connacht". Irish Examiner. 3 March 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2013.