Donal O'Grady (born 3 July 1980) is an Irish hurler who played as a midfielder and later centre back for the

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 ...

senior team. Born in Ballingarry, County Limerick, O'Grady first arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of twenty-one when he first linked up with the Limerick under-21 team. He made his senior debut in the 2004 championship. O'Grady has since gone on to play a key part for Limerick, and has won one

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

medal and one National League (Division 2) medal. O'Grady has been an All-Ireland runner-up on one occasion. O'Grady has been a member of the

inter-provincial team on a number of occasions and has won two

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 ...

medals. At club level he won one intermediate championship medal with Granagh-Ballingarry. He attended

St Munchin's College St. Munchin's College is a second-level education college located in Corbally, Limerick, Ireland. The school was founded in 1796. It is a Diocesan CollegeDiocese of Limerick > Education > Post Primary or minor seminary. College Crest The colle ...

, Limerick and graduated from there in 1998. College :L.I.T

Playing career

Granagh-Ballingarry

O'Grady plays his club hurling with the Granagh-Ballingarry club and has enjoyed some success. In 2005 the club enjoyed its greatest success, with O'Grady playing a key role. After losing at the quarter-final or semi-final stage for six years in a row, the club finally reached the final of the county intermediate championship. A 4-10 to 3-10 defeat of

Glenroe ''Glenroe'' was a television drama series broadcast on RTÉ One in Ireland between September 1983, when the first episode was aired, and May 2001. A spin-off from ''Bracken'' — a short-lived RTÉ drama itself spun off from ''The Riordans'' � ...

gave O'Grady a championship medal.

Limerick

O'Grady first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the

under-21 team in 2001. He started in Limerick's opening game against

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 ...

but was substituted after half-an-hour and failed to regain his place on the team., In spite of this he claimed

and All-Ireland medals as a non-playing substitute. In 2004 O'Grady made his senior debut when he came on as a blood sub in Limerick's 1-18 to 2-12 defeat by Cork in the Munster semi-final. He was the first man from the Granagh-Ballingarry club to play senior hurling for Limerick. After becoming a regular member of the starting fifteen the following year, O'Grady lined out in his first Munster final in 2007.

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 ...

provided the opposition, however, a 3-17 to 1-14 defeat was Limerick's lot on that occasion. Limerick later gained their revenge on Waterford in the All-Ireland semi-final, thus gaining qualification to a first All-Ireland decider in eleven years for the Treaty men.

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 ...

provided the opposition and got off to a flying start with Eddie Brennan and

Henry Shefflin Henry Shefflin (born 11 January 1979) is an Irish hurling manager and former player who is the current manager of the Galway senior hurling team. In his playing career he was nicknamed "King Henry" because of his directive style, dominance, com ...

combining to score two goals within the first ten minutes. Limerick were eventually defeated on a 2–19 to 1–15 score line. Limerick failed to build on their reasonably successful 2007 season and went into decline once again. In late 2009 and early 2010 Limerick hurling hit an all-time low when many of the senior hurling team withdrew their services in protest at the continuation of Justin McCarthy as manager. As a result of this O'Grady played no part in the 2010 championship. O'Grady returned to the panel in 2011 and a new management team took over. Limerick defeated

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 ...

by 4-12 to 2-13 in the National League Division 2 final that year, giving O'Grady his first success in the senior grade. In 2013 O'Grady was appointed captain of the Limerick senior hurling team. It was a successful year as he won a

medal after guiding the team to a 0-24 to 0-15 victory over Cork 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 ...

Munster

O'Grady has also lined out with

in a number of inter-provincial campaigns and has enjoyed some success. In 2007 he was at midfield in his debut year when Munster defeated

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

by 2-22 to 2-19 to take the

title. Further appearances for the province in 2008, 2009 and 2012 ended in defeat. O'Grady won a second inter-provincial medal in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

following Munster's 1-22 to 0-15 defeat of Connacht.

Honours

;Limerick Limerick Senior Hurling Captain 2013-2015 *

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 ...

(1):

Waterford Crystal Cup 2006 & 2015 NHL Div 2 League 2011 Railway Cup 2007 & 2013 All-Ireland U21 Hurling Championship 2001

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogrady, Donal 1980 births Living people Granagh-Ballingarry hurlers Limerick inter-county hurlers Munster inter-provincial hurlers People educated at St Munchin's College Hurling selectors