Daniel Kennedy (1925 – 6 February 1976) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

sportsman. He is best known as a hurler for several teams

Thomastown Thomastown (), historically known as Grennan, is a town in County Kilkenny in the province of Leinster in the south-east of Ireland. It is a market town along a stretch of the River Nore which is known for its salmon and trout, with a number of ...

, Dicksboro and

Bennettsbridge Bennettsbridge () is a village in County Kilkenny in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is situated on the River Nore south of Kilkenny city, in the centre of the county. Bennettsbridge is a census town, and has population of 745 as of the 2016 ...

clubs and was a member of the

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 ...

senior inter-county team in the 1940s and 1950s. Dan Kennedy captained

in 1947.

Playing career

Club

Kennedy first played

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

with his local

club and enjoyed some success. In 1946 it was with Thomastown that he won his first county title. Kennedy later joined the Dicksboro club and won a second county medal in 1950, however, it was with the famous

club that he became really successful. He added more county medals to his collection in 1952, 1953, 1955 and 1956.

Inter-county

Kennedy first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the

senior hurling team in the mid-1940s. He made his debut in 1945 at the age of nineteen and quickly captured his first

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

title. Kilkenny subsequently qualified for the All-Ireland final with

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 ...

providing the opposition. A huge crowd of 70,000 saw Kilkenny claw their way back in the second-half, however, victory went to Tipp on a score line of 5–6 to 3–6. In 1946 Kennedy won a second Leinster medal before later lining out in his second All-Ireland final. Arch-rivals

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 ...

were the opposition on the day, however, after scoring five goals in the second-half it was the Munstermen who took the title leaving Kennedy on the losing side once again. In the

1947 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1947 was the 61st series of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, Ireland's premier hurling knock-out competition. Kilkenny won the championship, beating Cork 0-14 to 2-7 in the final at Croke ...

Kennedy was appointed captain of the team for the year. He quickly added a third consecutive Leinster title to his collection before later leading his men out in a third consecutive championship decider. In the

1947 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final The 1947 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final was the 60th All-Ireland Final and the culmination of the 1947 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, an inter-county hurling tournament for the top teams in Ireland. The match was held at ...

, which has been described as the greatest hurling final of all-time, Kilkenny sealed the victory on a score line of 2–7 to 0–14 against Cork, giving Kennedy an

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

medal. It would be 1950 before he won his fourth Leinster title and, once again, Kilkenny later qualified for the All-Ireland final. Tipperary were the opponents once again and ended up as the victors on a score line of 1–9 to 1–8. In spite of the close score line the game was an uninteresting affair. Kennedy retired from inter-county hurling in the mid-1950s.

Province

Kennedy also lined out with

in the inter-provincial hurling competition, however, he never won a

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship ( ga, An Corn Idir-Chúigeach) or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster ...

medal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Dan 1925 births 1976 deaths Thomastown hurlers Dicksboro hurlers Bennettsbridge hurlers Kilkenny inter-county hurlers Leinster inter-provincial hurlers All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners