Dr. Eamon O'Shea (born 1958) is an Irish former hurler who played as a right wing-forward at senior level for the

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

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

county teams. O'Shea began his senior career during the 1979 championship and was a regular player on the inter-county scene until his retirement after the 1986 championship. During that time he won one

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...

winners' medal. At club level O'Shea is 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 with Kilruane MacDonagh's. In addition to this he has also 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 ...

and four county club championship medals. A former coach of the Tipperary senior hurling team, O'Shea was appointed manager of the team in September 2012. O'Shea is currently based in

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

and works as the head of Economics at

NUI Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

Playing career

Club

O'Shea enjoyed a hugely successful career with the Kilruane MacDonagh's club. He was just out of the minor grade in 1977 when he captured his first championship medal at senior level following a 1–5 to 0–5 defeat of Borris-Ileigh in a replay. It was the first of three county championship winners' medal in succession for O'Shea. Four-in-a-row proved beyond the club as

Roscrea Roscrea () is a market town in County Tipperary, Ireland, which in 2016 had a population of 5,446. Roscrea is one of the oldest towns in Ireland, having developed around the 7th century monastery of Saint Crónán of Roscrea, parts of which rem ...

won by a single point in the 1980 championship decider. After a brief absence Kilruane MacDonagh's returned to the summit of Tipperary hurling again in 1986. A 2–11 to 0–10 defeat of Roscrea gave O'Shea his fourth championship medal. He subsequently added a

winners' medal to his collection following a draw and a replay victory over

Blackrock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multi-national investment company based in New York City. Founded in 1988, initially as a Enterprise risk management, risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackR ...

. An All-Ireland final appearance for the club soon followed, with

Buffers Alley Buffers Alley is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in the villages of Kilmuckridge and Monamolin in County Wexford, Ireland. The club fields teams in Intermediate hurling, Gaelic football and camogie. It competes in Wexford compet ...

providing the opposition. Kilruane fought back and overwhelmed the Wexford side in the final quarter to claim a 1–15 to 2–10 victory and give O'Shea an

club winners' medal.

Inter-county

O'Shea's inter-county career began in 1976 when he joined the Tipperary minor hurling panel. He won a

medal in this grade in his debut year following a 5–10 to 5–6 defeat of

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 ...

. This provincial success was later converted into an

success following a 2–20 to 1–7 trouncing of

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 ...

. O'Shea later moved onto the Tipperary under-21 team. He won a

medal in this grade in 1978, however, All-Ireland success eluded Tipp that year. In 1979 O'Shea was in his final year with the under-21 team. He added a second Munster medal to his collection that year before later claiming an

medal following a 2–12 to 1–9 defeat of

. By this stage O'Shea had already joined the Tipperary senior hurling team. He won a

medal during the 1978–79 season following a 3–15 to 0–8 trouncing of Galway in the decider. The rest of O'Shea's inter-county career coincided with a barren spell for Tipperary's senior team. He joined the

team for two unsuccessful seasons in 1984 and 1985, however, he finished his career with Tipperary following the 1986 championship.

Management career

Coach

When

Liam Sheedy Liam is a short form of the Irish name Uilliam or the old Germanic name William. Etymology The original name was a merging of two Old German elements: ''willa'' ("will" or "resolution"); and ''helma'' ("helmet"). The juxtaposition of these elem ...

was appointed manager of the Tipperary senior team in 2007 O'Shea joined his backroom team as coach. During his three-year tenure Tipperary returned to the big time. In his first season, he coached the team to National League and

titles. Under Sheedy and O'Shea Tipperary retained their Munster crown in 2009 before later lining out in the All-Ireland decider. On that occasion Tipperary put up a good fight, however, Kilkenny retained their title for a record-breaking fourth year in succession. In 2010 Tipperary surrendered their Munster crown, however, they still reached the All-Ireland final via the back-door. Another exciting game with Kilkenny developed, however, on this occasion Tipp denied 'the Cats' their "drive-for-five" with a 4–17 to 1–18 victory. Following this win against Kilkenny Sheedy and his management team, including O'Shea, stepped down from their positions.

Manager

On 25 September 2012 O'Shea succeeded Declan Ryan as manager of the Tipperary senior team. His first game in charge was on 6 January

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in a 3–23 to 2–15 against

UCC The initialism UCC may stand for: Law * Uniform civil code of India, referring to proposed Civil code in the legal system of India, which would apply equally to all irrespective of their religion * Uniform Commercial Code, a 1952 uniform act to ...

in a challenge match. In February he guided Tipperary to the final of the 2013 Waterford Crystal Cup against Clare, with Clare winning by 1–21 to 1–13. In April 2013, Tipperary reached the final of the 2013 National Hurling League where they were defeated 2–17 to 0–20 by

Nowlan Park UPMC Nowlan Park (; ) is the principal Gaelic Athletic Association stadium in Kilkenny, Ireland. Named after James Nowlan (the longest serving President of the GAA), the stadium hosts major hurling matches and is home to the Kilkenny hurling te ...

on 5 May. His first

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

game came against

on 9 June 2013, where Tipperary were defeated 1–18 to 1–15 at the

Gaelic Grounds The Gaelic Grounds, know for sponsorshop reasons as the TUS Gaelic Grounds, is the principal GAA stadium in the Irish city of Limerick, home to the Limerick hurling and football teams. It has a capacity of 44,023. History 9 October 1926 saw f ...

. In phase 2 of the All-Ireland qualifiers on 6 July 2013, Tipperary were eliminated from the championship after a 1–14 to 0–20 defeat to

. In October 2013, O'Shea was given another two years as Tipperary senior hurling manager after a county board meeting. In February

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, Tipperary won the 2014 Waterford Crystal Cup after a 4–22 to 3–11 win against Clare. In August 2014, Tipperary qualified for the 2014 All-Ireland Final after a ten-point win 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 ...

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

. The final against Kilkenny finished in a draw with Kilkenny winning the replay on 27 September on a 2–17 to 2–14 scoreline. In October 2014, O'Shea confirmed that he would stay on for a third and final year as Tipperary manager. On 21 June 2015, O'Shea recorded his first

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 ...

win as manager as Tipperary defeated Limerick in the Munster semi-final on a 4-23 to 1-16 scoreline. O'Shea won his first Munster Senior title with Tipperary on 12 July 2015, as they 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 ...

in the Munster Final. On 16 August 2015, Tipperary lost to

by a point in the All-Ireland Semi-Final. The match was O'Shea's last game as Tipperary manager as he had planned to leave the position at the end of the 2015 Championship.

Managerial statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OShea, Eamon 1958 births Living people Academics of the University of Galway Hurling managers Hurling selectors Kilruane MacDonaghs hurlers People from Cloughjordan Tipperary inter-county hurlers Dublin inter-county hurlers