John P. O'Connor (1928 – 31 October 2010), known as Johnny O'Connor, was an Irish hurler who played as a midfielder for the

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 ...

senior team. Born in Abbeyside, County Waterford, O'Connor first played competitive hurling during his schooling at Dungarvan CBS. He arrived on the inter-county scene when he first linked up with the Waterford minor team. He made his senior debut during the 1946–47 league. O'Connor subsequently became a regular member of the starting fifteen and won one

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 ...

medal and two Munster medals. He was an All-Ireland runner-up on one occasion. As a member of the Munster inter-provincial on a number of occasions O'Connor won one Railway Cup medal. At club level he won several championship medals playing with Abbeyside, Clonea, UCD,

Castletownroche Castletownroche () is a townland, village, and civil parish in the barony of Fermoy, County Cork, Ireland. It is located on the N72 national secondary road. In ancient times, it was known in Irish as ''Dún Chruadha'', meaning Cruadha's Fort. ...

and Avondhu. O'Connor retired from inter-county hurling following the conclusion of the 1958 championship.

Playing career

Colleges

During his schooling at Dungarvan CBS, O'Connor first established himself as a hurler of note. In spite of a lack of success in the Harty Cup, he was picked on the Munster colleges inter-provincial team, claiming winners' medals in 1945 and 1946.

University

As a mature student at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

in the mid-1950s, O'Connor was an automatic inclusion on the college hurling team. In 1958 he was at midfield as UCD faced

University College 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 ...

in the final of the inter-varsities championship. A huge 7–9 to 2–1 victory gave O'Connor a

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 ...

medal.

Club

O'Connor first enjoyed club success in

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 ...

as a member of the University College Dublin team. In 1948 he won a

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 ...

medal as UCD won the decider for the second year in succession. Two years later O'Connor was back in Waterford, playing with the Abbeyside team that reached the final of the junior championship. A 2–4 to 1–3 defeat of Dunhill gave him a

medal in that grade. By 1952 O'Connor was lining out with the Clonea team. That year he played in the Waterford senior decider, with T. F. Meagher's providing the opposition. A 1–10 to 2–1 victory gave O'Connor a

medal once again. A decade later and O'Connor, after settling in Cork, was lining out with

. A 4–11 to 3–6 defeat of

Youghal Youghal ( ; ) is a seaside resort town in County Cork, Ireland. Located on the estuary of the River Blackwater, the town is a former military and economic centre. Located on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a long and narrow layout. ...

gave O'Connor yet another

medal. In the twilight of his club career, O'Connor's performances for Castletownroche earned him a place on the Avondhu divisional team. In 1966 a unique championship decider pitted Avondhu against

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 ...

. A 2–11 to 4–4 victory secured yet another

medal for O'Connor.

Inter-county

O'Connor made his senior debut for Waterford on 3 November 1946 in a 2–3 to 3–5 defeat by Kilkenny in the opening round of the National Hurling League. He was still a secondary school student at the time. A year later on 29 June 1947, O'Connor made his championship debut in a 3–10 to 1–5 Munster semi-final defeat by Cork. In 1948 Waterford lined out in their first provincial decider in five years, with reigning champions Cork providing the opposition. After falling behind by five points early in the game, Waterford fought back to lead by a point at the interval. Goalkeeper Charlie Ware made some great saves while O'Connor stymied Cork's chief scorer

Christy Ring Nicholas Christopher Michael Ring (30 October 1920 – 2 March 1979) was an Irish hurler whose league and championship career at senior level with the Cork county team spanned twenty-four years from 1939 to 1963. He established many champions ...

to secure a 4–7 to 3–9 victory. It was O'Connor's first Munster medal. The subsequent All-Ireland final on 5 September 1948 pitted Waterford against

. O'Connor's side started well and took a commanding 2–5 to 0–2 lead at the interval. Dublin rallied in the second half, however, Waterford quickly regained the upper-hand and powered to a 6–7 to 4–2 victory. Playing at centre-forward John Keane gave a masterclass, scoring three goals and two points and made most of the other scores. The victory gave O'Connor an

medal. After the long-awaited breakthrough at All-Ireland level, Waterford went into decline for almost a decade as

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 Cork went on to dominate the provincial and All-Ireland series. In 1957 Waterford broke back with O'Connor remaining as one of the veterans from the last glorious period. A 1–11 to 1–6 defeat of reigning provincial champions Cork gave O'Connor a second Munster medal. On 1 September 1957 Waterford lined out in the All-Ireland decider with Kilkenny providing the opposition. Over 70,000 spectators turned up at Croke Park to see an exciting game of hurling. With fifteen minutes left in the game Waterford led by six points. Two quick goals for "the Cats", together with a great point by captain

Mickey Kelly Michael Kelly (24 September 1929 – 26 October 2011) was an Irish hurler who played as a left wing-forward for the Kilkenny senior team from 1952 until 1960. Kelly made his first appearance for the team during the 1952 championship and be ...

reversed the trend and gave Kilkenny a 4–10 to 3–12 victory. O'Connor retired from inter-county hurling following Waterford's exit from the 1958 championship.

Inter-provincial

O'Connor first lined out for Munster in the inter-provincial series in 1954. He was an unused substitute throughout the campaign, as Munster were eventually bested by

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 ...

in the decider. The following year O'Connor, after playing in the opening game, was dropped from the starting fifteen for the decider. A 6–8 to 3–4 defeat of

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 Del ...

gave him his first Railway Cup medal, albeit as a non-playing substitute. Defeat was Munster's lot again in 1956, however, O'Connor was a member of the starting fifteen for the decider the following year. A 6–6 to 0–10 defeat of Connacht gave him a second Railway Cup medal, his first on the field of play.

Personal life

Born in Abbeyside, County Waterford, O'Connor was educated at the local national school before later attending Dungarvan CBS. After completing his Leaving Certificate in 1947, he studied to be a national school teacher at St. Patrick's College in Dublin. His first teaching post was at Coláiste na Rinne in An Rinn, before later working for a while in the neighbouring An Sean Phobal. After a period spent in Canada, O'Connor returned to Ireland in 1959 where he took up the position of headmaster of the national school in

Killavullen Killavullen () is a village on the river Blackwater, in County Cork, Ireland. The village is located just south of the N72 road, between Mallow and Castletownroche. It is east of Mallow and north of Cork city. The census of 2002 put the po ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...

. He was a greyhound trainer after his hurling career and won the prestigious 1973 English Greyhound Derby with a greyhound called Patricias Hope.

Honours

Team

;Dungarvan CBS *All-Ireland Colleges Interprovincial Hurling Championship (2): 1945, 1946 ;Abbeyside *Waterford Junior Hurling Championship (1): 1950 ;University College Dublin *

Dublin Senior Hurling Championship The Dublin Senior Hurling Championship ( ga, Craobh Sinsear Iomána Átha Cliath) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Dublin County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association ( GAA) since 1887 for the top hurling clubs in County Dubl ...

(1): 1948 *

(1): 1958 ;Clonea *

Waterford Senior Hurling Championship The Waterford Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the JJ Kavanagh & Sons Senior Hurling Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Waterford County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1 ...

(1): 1952 ;Castletownroche *

Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship The Cork Intermediate A Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Co-Op Superstores Cork Intermediate A Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Cork IAHC) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Cork GAA, Cork Coun ...

(1): 1964 ;Avondhu *

Cork Senior Hurling Championship The Cork Premier Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Co-Op Superstores Cork Premier Senior Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Cork PSHC) is an annual club hurling competition organised by the Cork County B ...

(1): 1966 ;Waterford * All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (1): 1948 * Munster Senior Hurling Championship (2): 1948,

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

;Munster * Railway Cup (2): 1955 (sub), 1957

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Johnny 1928 births 2010 deaths Abbeyside hurlers Clonea hurlers UCD hurlers Castletownroche hurlers Avondhu hurlers Waterford inter-county hurlers Munster inter-provincial hurlers All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners Irish greyhound racing trainers