Eamon Kennedy (born 1972) is an Irish hurler who played as a centre-back for 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 team. Born in Dunnamaggin,

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the cou ...

, Kennedy first arrived on the inter-county scene when he first linked up with the Kilkenny under-21 team, before later joining the junior side. He made his senior debut during the 1999 championship. Kennedy went on to play a key role in defence, and won one All-Ireland medal and three

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 ...

medals. Kennedy was a member of the

inter-provincial team on a number of occasions, 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. At club level he has won a full set of senior, intermediate and junior championship medals with

Dunnamaggin Dunnamaggin (officially Dunnamaggan; ) is a small village in the south County Kilkenny, Ireland, on the R699 road between Callan and Knocktopher, east of its intersection with the R697 between Kells and Kilmoganny. Dunnamaggan gives its name ...

, while he has also won a championship medal as a

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

er with

Kilmoganny Kilmoganny (officially Kilmaganny; ) is a small village in the County Kilkenny in the south-east of Ireland. Saint Mogeanna was an Irish virgin whose feast day in the Irish Calendar of Saints is 29 January. It is home to a primary school, post ...

. Throughout his career Kennedy made 9 championship appearances for Kilkenny. Injury hampered his final season and he retired from inter-county hurling following the conclusion of the 2001 championship.

Playing career

Club

Kennedy first tasted success with

in 1994. That year the club faced Blacks and Whites in the final of the junior championship. A 2-9 to 1-10 victory gave Kennedy a

Kilkenny Junior Hurling Championship The J. J. Kavanagh & Sons Premier Junior Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition organised by the Kilkenny County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1905 for the third-tier hurling teams in the county of Kilkenny in I ...

medal. Dunnamaggin's first year in the intermediate grade saw the club reach the final. A 2-21 to 1-9 trouncing of

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 ...

gave Kennedy a championship medal and secured promotion to the top grade for the club. After just two years at senior level Dunnamaggin qualified for the final of the championship.

Young Irelands Young Irelands are a Gaelic Athletic Association Club based in Gowran, County Kilkenny, Ireland. Formed in 1952, they are located on the Chapel Road just outside the village. Their jersey consists of red and white vertical stripes. They are cu ...

were the opponents on that occasion, however, a 2-10 to 2-7 victory gave Kennedy a championship medal in the top grade. Dunnamaggin were relegated from the senior championship shortly after this victory, however, the club qualified for the final of the intermediate championship again in 2000. A 5-9 to 1-6 trouncing of

St. Martin's St. Martin's or St. Martins may refer to: Places * St. Martins, Missouri, a city in the USA * St Martin's, Isles of Scilly, an island off the Cornish coast, England * St Martin's, North Yorkshire, England * St Martins, Perth and Kinross, Scotland ...

gave Kennedy a second championship medal in that grade. That same year he won a senior football championship medal with

following a 2-11 to 1-9 defeat of Dicksboro in a replay.

Inter-county

Kennedy made his senior championship debut on 20 June 1999 in a 6-21 to 1-14 Leinster semi-final defeat of

Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

. He later collected his first

medal following a 5-14 to 1-16 defeat of

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

. Kennedy was dropped from the starting fifteen for the subsequent All-Ireland decider, which Kilkenny narrowly lost to

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 ...

by 0-13 to 0-12. In 2000 Kennedy won a second Leinster medal following another comfortable 2–21 to 1–13 victory over Offaly. As a result of the so-called "back-door" system both sides later faced off against each other again in the All-Ireland final on 10 September 2000.

D.J. Carey Denis Joseph Carey (born 11 November 1970) is an Irish former hurler who played as a left wing-forward at senior level for the Kilkenny county team. Carey began his hurling career at club level with Young Irelands. He broke onto the club's to ...

capitalised on an Offaly mistake after just six minutes to start a goal-fest for 'the Cats'. Carey scored 2–4 in all, sharing his second goal with Henry Shefflin who also scored a goal in the second-half. At the full-time whistle Kilkenny were the champions by 5–15 to 1–14 and Kennedy collected an All-Ireland medal. He was later presented with an All-Star award. Delaney won a third successive Leinster medal in 2001 following a 2-19 to 0-12 trouncing of Wexford.

Honours

Player

;Dunnamaggin *

Kilkenny Senior Hurling Championship The Kilkenny Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the St Canice's Credit Union Senior Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Kilkenny SHC) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Kilkenny County Board of ...

(1): 1997 *

Kilkenny Intermediate Hurling Championship The Kilkenny Intermediate Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as Michael Lyng Motors Intermediate Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Kilkenny IHC) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Kilkenny County Board ...

(2): 1995, 2001 *

(1): 1994 ;Kilkenny *

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 ...

(1):

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

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 ...

(3):

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

* Leinster Under-21 Hurling Championship (1):

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

* All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship (1): 1995 *

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

(1): 1995

Individual

;Awards * All-Star (1): 2000

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Eamon 1972 births Living people Dunnamaggin hurlers Kilmoganny Gaelic footballers Kilkenny inter-county hurlers Leinster inter-provincial hurlers Hurling selectors All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners