David Collins (born 17 March 1984) is an Irish hurler who currently plays as a right corner-back for the

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

senior team. He joined the team in 2004 and has been a regular member until 2016. 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 ...

medalist in the under-21 grade, Collins has been a stalwart on the Galway team for almost a decade. He has won one

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 ...

winners' medal, two National Hurling League winners' medals and one

Vodafone Young Hurler of the Year The Gaelic Athletic Association/Gaelic Players Association Young Hurler of the Year (known for sponsorship reasons as the PwC GAA/GPA Young Hurler of the Year, or simply the Young Hurler of the Year) is an annual award given to the player aged 21 ...

award. He ended up as an All-Ireland runner-up on three occasions. At club level Collins plays with the

Liam Mellows William Joseph Mellows ( ga, Liam Ó Maoilíosa, 25 May 1892 – 8 December 1922) was an Irish republican and Sinn Féin politician. Born in England to an English father and Irish mother, he grew up in Ashton-under-Lyne before moving to Irelan ...

club in Galway. Won a senior league with Liam Mellows in 2016 as a centre back.

Early life and education

Collins attended

St. Joseph's Patrician College St. Joseph's Patrician College, often known as "The Bish", is a secondary school in the West Ireland city of Galway. Founded by the Patrician Brothers, a religious order, it has approximately 800 students on roll and, in recent years, has ha ...

Playing career

Club

Collins plays his club hurling with his local

Liam Mellows GAA Liam Mellows GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in Renmore, a suburb of Galway City, Ireland. The club is primarily concerned with the game of hurling. The club is named after IRB member Liam Mellows. On 12 November 2017, Liam ...

club in Galway. He has had some success at underage level, however, the club hadn't won a senior county club championship title since 1970 until Sunday 3 December 2017.

Inter-county

Collins first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Galway minor hurling team. He enjoyed little success in this grade but later played with the under-21 county side. He won an All-Ireland medal with the Galway under-21 team in 2005 following a 1–15 to 1–14 defeat of Kilkenny. By this stage Collins was a regular on the Galway senior team. He won a National League winners medal in 2004 as Galway defeated

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 2–15 to 1–13. Later that year he made his championship debut at centre-back against Down. In 2005 Galway defeated both

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 ...

and Kilkenny in the All-Ireland series to qualify for an All-Ireland final showdown with Cork. It was the first meeting of Cork and Galway in an All-Ireland final since 1990. Men from the west had never beaten Cork in a championship decider. Neither side broke away into a considerable lead, however, at the final whistle, Cork was ahead by 1–21 to 1–16. In spite of this defeat, Collins ended the year as the

. In 2007 Collins was appointed Galway captain. After a number of disappointing seasons, Collins won a second National League medal in 2010 following a 2–22 to 1–17 defeat of Cork. In 2012, Galway shocked reigning All-Ireland champions Kilkenny and won a historic

title by 2–21 to 2–11. It was Collins' first provincial winners' medal in any grade. He was dropped from Galway panel in 2016.

Honours

Team

;Galway *

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

(1):

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

* National Hurling League (2): 2004, 2010 *

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 ...

(1): 2005 *

Connacht Under-21 Hurling Championship For the Senior equivalent see: Connacht Senior Hurling Championship The Connacht U-21 Hurling Championship is an U-21 hurling tournament. The winners of the Connacht championship go on to qualify for the All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship. ...

(1): 2005 ;Connacht * Interprovincial Hurling Championship (1): 2004 Club: Galway Senior Hurling Championship (1): 2017

Individual

(1): 2005 * All-Star (1): 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, David 1984 births Living people Connacht inter-provincial hurlers Galway inter-county hurlers Liam Mellows hurlers People educated at St Joseph's Patrician College Sportspeople from Galway (city)