Donal O'Grady (23 November 1927 – 20 January 2024) was an Irish hurler. At club level he played with Tubber and

Faughs Faughs GAA Club ( ga, CLG Fág an Bealach) is a Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) hurling and camogie club in Templeogue, Dublin, Ireland. They have won 31 titles. History Faughs GAA Club was founded in Easter 1885, "under the big tree" in t ...

and was also a member of the Clare senior hurling team.

Career

O'Grady first appeared on the inter-county scene for Clare as a member of the minor team in 1945. After a period away from the game, he returned to inter-county activity in 1948. O'Grady won a Munster JHC medal a year later, however, Clare subsequently suffered a 3–07 to 3–06 defeat by

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in the 1949 All-Ireland junior final. O'Grady immediately progressed onto the senior team and won an Oireachtas Cup medal in 1954. He lined out in the 1955 Munster final defeat by

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 ...

. O'Grady also earned selection to the Munster team and won Railway Cup medals in 1953 and 1955. His career with Clare ended in 1956 when he moved to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, however, he continued his club hurling with

Coaching career

O'Grady was appointed a

selector Selector may refer to: *Selector, electrical or mechanical component, a switch *''Selector'', music scheduling software for radio stations created by Radio Computing Services *Selector, of music, otherwise known as a disc jockey *Selector, a per ...

to the Clare senior hurling team in July 1989.

Personal life and death

O'Grady was born in Tubber,

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,81 ...

in November 1927. He joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

at the age of 18 and spent three years in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. O'Grady emigrated to

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable a ...

and worked as a stores manager with General Motors in the late 1950s. He later returned to Clare and worked in O'Connor Engineering as office manager. O'Grady's nephews, Enda and Patrick O'Connor, were part of Clare's National Hurling League-winning teams in 1977 and 1978. His grandnephew, Patrick O'Connor, won an All-Ireland SHC medal with Clare in 2013. O'Grady died on 20 January 2024, at the age of 96.

Honours

; Clare * Oireachtas Cup: 1954 *

Munster Junior Hurling Championship The Munster Junior Hurling Championship is a junior "knockout" competition in the game of Hurling played in the province of Munster in Ireland. The series of games are organised by the Munster Council. The winners of the Munster Junior Hurling Ch ...

: 1949 ;Munster * Railway Cup:

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yug ...

, 1955

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogrady, Donal 1927 births 2024 deaths Tubber hurlers Faughs hurlers Clare inter-county hurlers Munster inter-provincial hurlers Hurling selectors