| Sport: | Hurling | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Irish: | Uíbh Fhailí | ||
| Nickname(s): | The Faithful County | ||
| County board: | Offaly GAA | ||
| Home venue(s): | Glenisk O'Connor Park,Tullamore Grant Heating St Brendan's Park,Birr | ||
| Recent competitive record | |||
| Last championship title: | 2024 | ||
| |||
TheOffaly county hurling team representsOffaly inhurling and is governed byOffaly GAA, thecounty board of theGaelic Athletic Association. The team plays in theLeinster Senior Hurling Championship, part of the top tier of theAll-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. At senior level, the county have won fourAll-Ireland championships, nineLeinster championships and oneNational Hurling League title.
Offaly's home grounds areGlenisk O'Connor Park,Tullamore andGrant Heating St Brendan's Park,Birr. The team's manager is Johnny Kelly.
The team last won the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship in 1995, the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship in1998 and the National Hurling League in1991.
After a scheme developed by the Gaelic Athletic Association in the 1970s to encourage the playing of hurling in non-traditional counties, Offaly was one of the first teams to benefit. As a result, the county won sixLeinster Senior Hurling Championship titles in the 1980s, as well as its firstAll-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship in 1981.
The county has since gone on to win three other All-Irelands. Perhaps Offaly's most famous win came in the All-Ireland Final of 1994 in what has come to be remembered as the "five minute final."Limerick looked set to win their first All-Ireland title since 1973 until Offaly staged one of the greatest comebacks of all time, scoring two goals and five points in the last five minutes. They defeated Limerick by 3–16 to 2–13.
In the1998 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship semi-final, Offaly defeated All-Ireland championsClare in a second replay. Offaly had lost the first replay after referee Jimmy Cooney blew for full-time too early, leading Offaly fans to blockade the pitch in protest.[1]
Offaly conceded a walkover to Kildare in the2020 Christy Ring Cup after an outbreak of COVID-19 forced "almost every member" of the panel into isolation due toHealth Service Executive (HSE) advice that they were "close contacts".[2][3][4] Later in the same competition, in the semi-final,Down knocked Offaly out in a first ever inter-county hurling penalty shootout.[5]
On 8 June 2024, at Croke Park in Dublin, Offaly defeatedLaois in the Joe McDonagh Cup final by 2–23 to 0–26. This was the first success in this competition and also earned them promotion to the2025 Leinster Senior Hurling Championship.
Team as per Offaly vs Laois in the Joe McDonagh Cup Final, 08 June 2024
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INJ Player has had an injury which has affected recent involvement with the county team.
RET Player has since retired from the county team.
WD Player has since withdrawn from the county team due to a non-injury issue.
Offaly have a history of appointing "foreign" managers.[7] In 2016, the formerWaterford hurlerKevin Ryan became Offaly's ninth "foreign" manager in a quarter of a century.[8]
Andy Gallagher 1976–1983
Dermot Healy 1983–1986
Georgie Leahy 1986–1988
P. J. Whelahan 1988–1989
Paudge Mulhare 1989–1990
Pádraig Horan 1990–1992
Éamonn Cregan 1992–1996
John McIntyre 1996–1997
Babs Keating 1997–1998[9][10]
Michael Bond 1998–1999[11]
Pat Fleury 1999–2000[12][13][14][15]
Michael Bond (2) 2000–2001[16][17]
Tom Fogarty 2001–2002[18][19]
Mike McNamara 2002–2004[20][21]
John McIntyre (2) 2004–2007[22][23]
Joe Dooley 2007–2011[additional citation(s) needed][24]
Ollie Baker 2011–2013[25][26]
Brian Whelahan 2013–2015[27][28]
Éamonn Kelly 2015–2016[29][30][31]
Kevin Ryan 2016–2017[32][33][34][35]
Kevin Martin 2017–2019[36][37][38][39]
Joachim Kelly 2019**[40]
Michael Fennelly 2019–2022[41][42]
Johnny Kelly 2022–Present[43]
**=In a caretaker role
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Before the beginning of the 2024 season Offaly revealed a new home jersey, which featured acrew neck withribbing and the inscriptionEslo Fidelis (Latin for "Be Faithful") on its lower back.[44]
The food company Carroll's of Tullamore sponsored Offaly since the GAA first permitted shirt sponsorship deals in 1991 until 2021. It was the sport's longest running shirt sponsor. In 2022, Glenisk became the County's Camogie, Football and Hurling sponsors, with them becoming the Ladies Football sponsors in 2023 once their current sponsorship with CMG closes.
Professional golferShane Lowry and Offaly announced a five-year partnership in April 2021.[45][46]
| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|
| 1991–2021 | O'Neills | Carroll's of Tullamore |
| 2022– | Glenisk |
Winners (2): 1923, 1929
Runners-up (1): 1915Winners (1):2024Runners-up (4): 1989, 1991, 1992, 2023Winners (1):1991Runners-up (2): 1980–81, 1987–88Winners (9): 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994, 1995Runners-up (14): 1901, 1924, 1926, 1928, 1969, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004Winners (7): 1915, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1929, 1938, 1953Runners-up (4): 1908, 1912, 1937, 1959Winners (7): 1978, 1989, 1991, 1992, 2000, 2023, 2024Runners-up (13): 1967, 1972, 1973, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2007, 2008, 2016Winners (5): 1986, 1987, 1989, 2000, 2022[50]Runners-up (10): 1948, 1950, 1957, 1982, 1988, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2003, 2020Winners (5): 1977, 1981, 1990, 1993, 1994Runners-up (5): 1966, 1974, 1987, 1995,2008Bond took over from Michael 'Babs' Keating in controversial circumstances after last season's Leinster final defeat and guided the Faithful County to their second All-Ireland success of the '90's via the back door.
Meanwhile, former Tipperary hurling boss Father Tom Fogarty has been appointed as the new Offaly manager. Fogarty replaces Michael Bond, who stepped down after this year's disappointing campaign which saw Offaly well-beaten by Kilkenny in the Leinster Semi-Final.
Hurling manager, Mike McNamara also quit, citing a lack of support as the main reason for his decision. McNamara met with club delegates last night and then took questions from them during a two hour session. However following that meeting McNamara felt he did not have enough support and announced he would not be staying for next season.
