John O'Grady (born 14 January 1931) is an Irish former hurler. At club level he played with Moycarkey–Borris,

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

and

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 ...

and was also a member of the

Tipperary senior hurling team The Tipperary county hurling team represents Tipperary in hurling and is governed by Tipperary GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Seni ...

Career

O'Grady first played

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

at club level with Moycarkey–Borris and joined the club's senior team as a 16-year-old. He also lined out with

Thurles CBS CBS Thurles is a Congregation of Christian Brothers, Christian Brothers all-boys secondary school, post-primary school located in Thurles, County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The school has over 550 students and operates under the tru ...

in the Harty Cup and earned selection on the Munster Colleges team. As a university student in

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 ...

, O'Grady played in the

Fitzgibbon Cup The Fitzgibbon Cup ( ga, Corn Mhic Giobúin) is the trophy for the premier hurling championship among higher education institutions (universities, colleges and institutes of technology) in Ireland. The Fitzgibbon Cup competition is administered ...

with

and also earned inclusion on the Combined Universities team in 1952 and 1953. After leaving university he played with the

club in Cork, lining out in the 1954 final defeat by

Glen Rovers Glen Rovers is a Cork-based Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Blackpool, Cork, Ireland. The club was founded in 1916 and is primarily concerned with the game of hurling. They were Cork senior hurling champions in 2015 and 2016, having w ...

, before ending his career with Moycarkey–Borris in

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

. O'Grady first played for

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 ...

during a three-year tenure as goalkeeper with the minor team. He won his first All-Ireland MHC medal in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

before

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

ing the team to the title two years later in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

. O'Grady's progress to the senior team was delayed due to the dominance of

Tony Reddin Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

in the position, however he lined out in a tournament game with

in 1953. After Reddin's retirement in 1957, O'Grady impressed in a series of club games and inter-county trials and was called up to the team in 1958. Later that year he won a Munster SHC medal before lining out in goal in the 1958 All-Ireland final defeat of

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 ...

. An eyesight issue brought an end to his inter-county career shortly afterwards.

Personal life

Following his graduation from

, O'Grady worked as a secondary school teacher at Sullivan's Quay CBS. He took a teaching post in Thurles CBS in 1955 and remained there until his retirement as deputy principal in 1992. For over 60 years O'Grady has written a hurling column in the ''

Tipperary Star The ''Tipperary Star'' is a weekly regional newspaper covering news in County Tipperary, Ireland. The newspaper's main office is located in Thurles town. The paper is currently owned by Iconic Newspapers Iconic Newspapers is an Irish newspape ...

'' under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

"Cúlbáire".

Honours

;Tipperary *

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 ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

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 ...

All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Minor Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Electric Ireland GAA Hurling All-Ireland Minor Championship) is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). I ...

Munster Minor Hurling Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Minor Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Electric Ireland Munster GAA Hurling Minor Championship) is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Associ ...

(c)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogrady, John 1931 births Living people All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners Blackrock National Hurling Club hurlers Gaelic games writers and broadcasters Hurling goalkeepers Irish columnists Moycarkey-Borris hurlers Tipperary inter-county hurlers UCC hurlers