Aaron Gillane (born 1996) is an Irish hurler who plays as a right corner-forward for club side

Patrickswell Patrickswell, historically known as Toberpatrick (), is a small town in County Limerick, Ireland. It is primarily a commuter village for people working in Limerick, particularly the nearby industrial suburb of Raheen. The population was 847 at ...

and at inter-county level with the Limerick senior hurling team.

Early career

Ardscoil Rís

Gillane first came to prominence in Ardscoil Rís in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

. On 22 February 2014, he was introduced as asubstitute when Arscoil Rís defeated Scoil na Trionóide from Doon by 2-13 to 0-04 in the final of the Harty Cup.

Mary Immaculate College

During his studies at

Mary Immaculate College Mary Immaculate College (Coláiste Mhuire gan Smál), also known as MIC and Mary I, is a College of Education and Liberal Arts. Founded in 1898, the university level College of Education and the Liberal Arts is academically linked with the Univ ...

, Gillane was selected as a forward for the college's senior hurling team. On 25 February 2017, he won a

Fitzgibbon Cup The Fitzgibbon Cup ( ga, Corn Mhic Giobúin) is the trophy for the premier hurling championship among higher education institutions (universities, colleges and institutes of technology) in Ireland. The Fitzgibbon Cup competition is administered ...

medal as Mary I retained the title after a 3-24 to 1-19 defeat of

Carlow Institute of Technology The Institute of Technology, Carlow (IT Carlow; ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Cheatharlach) was an institute of technology, located in Carlow, Ireland. The institute had campuses in Carlow, Wexford, and Wicklow, as well as a part-time pr ...

in the final.

Club career

Gillane joined the

club at a young age and played in all grades at juvenile and underage levels. After an unremarkable period in these grades, he was 17-years-old when he joined the club's junior team after failing to make the cut with the senior panel. A combination of not being "good enough" and the prospect of

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

success could have resulted in Gillane walking away from the game but for the intervention of club legend

Ciarán Carey Ciarán Carey (born 16 January 1970) is an Irish former hurling manager, selector and player. Primarily playing at the centre-back position, Carey's club career was with Patrickswell and at inter-county level with Limerick. He was a key memb ...

who coaxed him onto the senior team. Gillane was in the early stages of his senior club career when Patrickswell suffered a one-point defeat by

Na Piarsaigh Na Piarsaigh are a hurling and Gaelic football club based in the north side of Cork City, Ireland. History Formation In 1943 a group of idealistic young men drawn mostly from the hurling nursery of North Mon laid the foundations of Cumann I ...

in the 2015 county final. Throughout the 2016 Limerick County Championship, Gillane further established himself as a key member of the starting fifteen by sharing the free-taking duties with

Diarmaid Byrnes Diarmaid Byrnes (born 1994) is an Irish hurler who plays as a right wing-back for club side Patrickswell and at inter-county level with the Limerick senior hurling team. Playing career University During his studies at Limerick Institute of T ...

. On 23 October 2016, he scored seven points, including five frees, from right corner-forward when Patrickswell claimed their first

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

in 13 years after a 19-point win over Ballybrown. Gillane lined out in a second county final on 6 October 2019. Playing at right corner-forward he scored six points and collected a second winners' medal following the 1-17 to 0-15 defeat of

Inter-county career

Minor and under-21

Gillane first played for

when he was added to the minor panel shortly before the start of the 2014 Munster Minor Championship. He made his first appearance for the team on 26 June 2014 when he was a late substitute for

Séamus Flanagan Séamus Flanagan (born 1997) is an Irish hurler who plays as a full-forward for club side Feohanagh-Castlemahon and at inter-county level with the Limerick senior hurling team. Club career Flanagan joined the Feohanagh-Castlemahon club at ...

in a two-point win over

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

in the Munster semi-final. Gillane was again confined to the substitutes' bench for the subsequent Munster final replay defeat by

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

. By the time Limerick qualified for the

All-Ireland final The All-Ireland Final may refer to: * All-Ireland Hurling Final, the last match to be played in the All-Ireland Hurling Championship (Senior, Minor and Under-21 levels) * The last match to be played in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship ...

against

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

, Gillane was overlooked by the management and did not make the 24-man match-day panel. After a season of no underage inter-county activity, Gillane made his debut with the Limerick under-21 team on 28 June 2016 when he lined out at right corner-forward in a Munster quarter-final win over Cork. He was dropped from the starting fifteen for the semi-final defeat by

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

. In his second and final season with the under-21 team, Gillane secured a starting fifteen berth as well as taking over the free-taking duties. He ended the 2017 Munster Under-21 Championship as top scorer with 0-29, while he also claimed a winners' medal after Limerick's defeat of Cork in the final. On 9 September 2017, Gillane top scored with seven points in Limerick's 0-17 to 0-11 defeat of

in the

. As well as ending the campaign as the championship's overall top scorer with 0-44, he was later named on the Bord Gáis Energy Team of the Year.

Senior

2017 season

Gillane was in his final season with the Limerick under-21 team when he was drafted onto the senior panel by new manager John Kiely in advance of the 2017 Munster League. He made his only appearance of the pre-season competition on 8 January 2017 when he came on as a 54th-minute substitute for full-forward

Seán Tobin Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; angli ...

in a first-round defeat of

. Gillane was cut from the panel for the 2017 National League campaign, however, his impressive form for

in the

saw him earn a recall to the panel in advance of the 2017 Munster Championship. On 4 June 2017, he made his championship debut when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute for Shane Dowling in a 3-17 to 2-16 defeat by

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

in the Munster semi-final.

2018 season

In November 2017, Gillane was again named on the 38-man Limerick panel for the upcoming 2018 season. He claimed his first silverware at senior level on 14 January 2018 when Limerick beat Clare by 0-16 to 0-10 to claim the 2018 Munster League title. Gillane started all of Limerick's games and ended the provincial league as top scorer with 1-21. The subsequent

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

saw him start in all seven of Limerick's games, ending the campaign as the team's top scorers with 5-57. On 2 June 2018, Gillane was red carded and received a one-match suspension for digging twice at

Seán O'Donoghue Seán O'Donoghue (born 25 January 1996) is an Irish hurler who plays as a right corner-back for club side Inniscarra, divisional side Muskerry and at inter-county level with the Cork senior hurling team. Playing career College O'Donoghue firs ...

in their Munster Championship Round 3 game. The decision was described as a "joke" by team manager John Kiely. On 19 August 2018, Gillane was named at right corner-forward when Limerick faced

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

in the

. He scored three points in total, including one from a free, as Limerick won their first All-Ireland Championship title in 45 years after a 3-16 to 2-18 win. Gillane was later named the GAA/GPA Player of the Month for August, before ending the season by being nominated for an All-Star Award.

2019 season

Gillane was again a regular for Limerick during the 2019 National League, starting in six of their eight games. He top scored with 1-09 from right corner-forward when Limerick claimed their first Division 1 title since

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

after a 1-24 to 0-19 win over Waterford in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

His

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

performance in the final also earned him a second GAA/GPA Player of the Month award. Gillane ended the 2019 Munster Championship as top scorer with 2-41, while he also claimed his first provincial winners' medal after the 2-26 to 2-14 win over

in the Munster final. He ended the year by receiving his second All-Star nomination and his first win.

2020 season

Gillane wasn't included on the Limerick team for the two

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concent ...

games of the 2020 Munster League, with David Reidy taking over the free-taking duties. He was back on the team at right corner-forward for the

against

on 11 January 2020, and scored 1-01 from play in the 1-32 to 0-20 win. The subsequent

campaign saw Gillane score 1-28 after lining out in four of Limerick's five Division 1A games. On 25 October 2020, he top-scored with 0-12 in a 0-36 to 1-23 defeat of

in the delayed league final. Gillane ended the 2020 Munster Championship as top scorer with 2-28, while he also claimed a second successive winners' medal after scoring ten points in the Munster final defeat of Waterford. On 29 November 2020, Gillane was hospitalised overnight following a heavy collision with

centre-back

Gearóid McInerney Gearóid McInerney (born 24 September 1990) is an Irish hurler who currently plays as a centre-back for the Galway senior team. Born in Oranmore, County Galway, McInerney was born into a strong hurling family. His father, Gerry McInerney, wa ...

in the All-Ireland semi-final. Limerick selector Donal O'Grady later cast doubt on his ability to recover in time for the

: "Aaron didn't train on Tuesday, obviously he took a heavy hit there at the weekend. We are hoping to possibly get him reassessed on Friday night, to see how he is. At the moment, 50-50 is my understanding as of today." Gillane made sufficient progress in his recovery and was named at right corner-forward for the All-Ireland final against Waterford on 13 December 2020. He top-scored for Limerick with ten points, including six frees, in the 0-30 to 0-19 win.

Career statistics

Club

Inter-county

Honours

;Ardscoil Rís * Dr. Harty Cup: 2014 ;Mary Immaculate College *

: 2017 ;Patrickswell *

Limerick Senior Hurling Championship The Limerick Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Bon Secours Hospital County Senior Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Limerick SHC) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Limerick County Board o ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

;Limerick *

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hurling competition i ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Munster Senior Hurling Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship, known simply as the Munster Championship, is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster GAA, Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the h ...

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...

Munster Senior Hurling League The Munster Senior Hurling League (known in some years as the Munster Hurling Cup) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 2016 for the top inter-county teams in the province of ...

All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling Under-20 All-Ireland Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling Under-20 All-Ireland Championship) is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (G ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Munster Under-21 Hurling Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Munster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-co ...

Munster Minor Hurling Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Minor Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Electric Ireland Munster GAA Hurling Minor Championship) is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Associ ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Individual

;Awards * All-Star Award: 2019, 2020, 2022 *''

The Sunday Game ''The Sunday Game'' is RTÉ's main Gaelic games television programme. It is shown on RTÉ2 every Sunday during the Football Championship and Hurling Championship seasons. It is one of RTÉ2's longest-running shows, having been on air since 197 ...

'' Team of the Year: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillane, Aaron 1996 births Living people Irish schoolteachers Limerick inter-county hurlers Patrickswell hurlers All Stars Awards winners (hurling)