| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Irish name | Séamus Ó Conchubhair | ||
| Sport | Hurling | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Born | (1972-07-28)28 July 1972 (age 53) Knocknaheeney,Cork City, bcIreland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||
| Occupation | Secondary school teacher | ||
| Club | |||
| Years | Club | ||
| St Joseph's Doora-Barefield | |||
| Club titles | |||
| Clare titles | 3 | ||
| Munster titles | 2 | ||
| All-Ireland Titles | 1 | ||
| College | |||
| Years | College | ||
| University College Galway | |||
| Inter-county | |||
| Years | County | Apps (scores) | |
1992–2004 | Clare | 42 (2–148) | |
| Inter-county titles | |||
| Munster titles | 3 | ||
| All-Irelands | 2 | ||
| NHL | 0 | ||
| All Stars | 4 | ||
Jamesie O'Connor (born 28 July 1972) is anIrish formerhurler who played as amidfielder for theClare senior team.
O'Connor made his first appearance for the team during the1992–93 National League and became a regular member of the starting fifteen until his retirement after the2004 championship. During that time he won twoAll-Ireland medals, threeMunster medals and fourAll-Star awards. He ended up as an All-Ireland runner-up on one occasion.
At club level, O'Connor was anAll-Ireland medalist withSt Joseph's Doora-Barefield. He also won twoMunster medals and threecounty club championship medals.
The son of a Clare-born mother and aCounty Galway father, O'Connor was born inKnocknaheeney, Cork City. As a child he supported theGalway team that won three All-Ireland titles in the 1980s. In 1982 the O'Connor family moved toEnnis, County Clare where his father ran his own business.
O'Connor was educated atSt Flannan's College inEnnis before studying atUniversity College Galway (UCG). As of 2017, he was working as a business studies teacher at St Flannan's.[1] James's siblings include Christy O'Connor, John O'Connor, Sheila O'Connor and Claire O'Connor.
O'Connor played withSt Flannan's College in the inter-colleges championship. A defeat of nearby rivals Shannon Comprehensive in 1989 gave him his firstDr Harty Cup medal. St Flannan's later facedSt Kieran's College in the All-Ireland decider, but O'Connor's side was beaten on a 3–5 to 1–9 score line.
Flannan's retained the provincial title in 1990 with O'Connor collecting a second Harty Cup medal following a defeat of Nenagh CBS. He later lined out in a second All-Ireland final, however, St Kieran's College took the title once again following a 2–10 to 0–7 victory.
While attending UCG, O'Connor played in theFitzgibbon Cup.[2]
O'Connor played his club hurling withSt Joseph's Doora-Barefield.[3]
At youth level, he won a county minor championship medal in 1990, adding a county under-21 championship medal to his collection in 1993. By this stage O'Connor had also joined the club's top team. He won a county intermediate championship medal in 1993, propelling St Joseph's Doora-Barefield into the senior ranks.
After losing two championship deciders toClarecastle at senior level, O'Connor won his firstchampionship medal in 1998 following a defeat ofKilmaley. He later added aMunster medal to his collection following a 0–12 to 0–8 defeat ofToomevara.[4] St Joseph's later completed their landmark season with a 2–14 to 0–8 trouncing ofRathnure in the All-Ireland decider, giving O'Connor anAll-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship medal.[5]
St Joseph's continued their run of success in 1999 with O'Connor winning a second successive county club championship medal. He later won a second Munster winners' medal following 4–9 to 3–8 defeat ofBallygunner.[6] St Joseph's subsequently qualified for the All-Ireland final and the chance to become the second team in history to retain their title.Athenry provided the opposition and defeated O'Connor's side by 0–16 to 0–12.[7]
After being defeated in their bid for a third consecutive county championship, St Joseph's returned in 2001. A 1–15 to 1–12 defeat ofSixmilebridge gave O'Connor his third and final county club championship medal.[8]
O'Connor came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Clare minor hurling team in 1989. He won aMunster medal that year following a narrow 2–12 to 2–11 defeat ofLimerick. The subsequent All-Ireland decider resulted in a 2–16 to 1–12 defeat byOffaly.
He later played for a few years with the Clare under-21 team.
O'Connor joined the Clare senior team during the1992–93 National League before making his championship debut in the subsequent provincial championship campaign.
O'Connor won his firstMunster medal in 1995 following a surprise 1–17 to 0–11 defeat of reigning champions Limerick. It was Clare's first provincial success in sixty-three years. O'Connor's side later qualified for the All-Ireland final and were the underdogs against reigning champions Offaly. Although trailing at half-time, substituteÉamonn Taaffe scored a crucial goal to propel Clare to a 1–13 to 2–8 victory. It was their first championship title in 81 years. As well as collecting anAll-Ireland medal, O'Connor was later honoured with his firstAll-Star award.
After surrendering their provincial and All-Ireland crowns in 1996, a 1–18 to 0–18 defeat ofTipperary gave O'Connor a second Munster medal in three years.[9] Clare subsequently qualified for the All-Ireland decider. Due to the introduction of the "back-door" system, Tipperary provided the opposition in the first all-Munster All-Ireland final. Clare were in the lead for much of the game, butLiam Cahill andEugene O'Neill scored twice for Tipp in the last ten minutes.John Leahy missed a goal chance in the last minute while another Tipp point was ruled wide. At the full-time whistle, Clare won by a single point on a score line of 0–20 to 2–13. It was a second All-Ireland medal for O'Connor while he was also named as theman of the match. He later collected a second All-Star before being the unanimous choice as Hurler of the Year.
O'Connor won his third and final Munster medal in 1998 following a tense draw and a replay withWaterford. Clare drew with Offaly in the All-Ireland semi-final, but in the replay Clare were winning by two points when the referee,Jimmy Cooney, blew the whistle with two minutes of normal time left to be played. The Offaly fans were outraged and staged a sit-down protest on theCroke Park pitch. The result was not allowed to stand and Clare were forced to meet Offaly for a third time that year. They lost the second replay. O'Connor later won a third All-Star award.
Clare qualified for the All-Ireland final again in 2002. O'Connor's side put up a good fight againstKilkenny, but a combined tally of 2–13 for bothHenry Shefflin andD. J. Carey gave the Cats a seven-point victory.[10]
O'Connor continued to line out with Clare for the next two seasons but called time on his inter-county career following the team's exit from the 2004 championship.[11]
O'Connor has done co-commentary for theBBC and has written for theSunday Independent.[12] He previously provided match analysis forSky Sports.[13][14][15]
James is now in his 23rd year teaching Business Studies at St. Flannans, Ennis, and once again he is embroiled in the quest for Harty Cup honours as one of the college's coaches and in recent years the Ennis college have achieved great success.
Live on air with the BBC, I — like most people in the stadium — was oblivious to the mistake, assuming the scoreboard was accurate. I subsequently remarked on co-commentary that with two scores needed, and still almost four minutes on the clock, the goal was never really on andCody should have tapped the ball over the bar.
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | All-Ireland SHC final Man of the Match 1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Texaco Hurler of the Year 1997 | Succeeded by |
| Eircell Hurler of the Year 1997 | Succeeded by | |