Kevin Downes (born 14 October 1991) is an Irish hurler who plays for Limerick Senior Championship club

Na Piarsaigh Na Piarsaigh are a hurling and Gaelic football club based in the north side of Cork City, Ireland. History Formation In 1943 a group of idealistic young men drawn mostly from the hurling nursery of North Mon laid the foundations of Cumann I ...

and at inter-county level with the

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

. He usually lines out as a full-forward.

Playing career

Ardscoil Rís

Downes first came to prominence as a hurler with Ardscoil Rís in

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 ...

. Having played in every grade as a hurler, he was full-forward on the college's senior hurling team. On 11 March 2010, Downes scored 1-02 from play when Ardscoil Rís defeated Thurles CBS in the final of the Harty Cup. On 3 April, he was switched to left wing-forward for the All-Ireland final against

St. Kieran's College St Kieran's College (Coláiste Chiaráin) is a Roman Catholic secondary school, located on College Road, Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, Ireland. History St Kieran's College was founded in Kilkenny, in the diocese of Ossory in 1782, after the passi ...

. Downes was held scoreless in the 2-11 to 2-08 defeat.

NUI Galway

During his studies at NUI Galway, Downes was selected for the college's senior hurling team. He was a regular member of the starting fifteen during the Fitzgibbon Cup and also served as chairman of the club.

Na Piarsaigh

Downes joined the

club at a young age and played in all grades at juvenile and underage levels, enjoying championship success in the under-21 grades as a dual player before eventually joining the club's top adult teams. On 2 October 2011, Downes scored 1-01 from full-forward in Na Piarsaigh's 2-18 to 0-13 defeat of Adare to win their very first Limerick Championship title. On 4 December 2012, he won a Munster Championship medal following a 1-13 to 0-09 defeat of Crusheen in the final. After surrendering their titles the following year, Downes won a second Limerick Championship medal after lining out at centre-forward when Na Piarsaigh defeated Adare by 0-14 to 0-12 on 6 October 2013. He was retained at centre-forward for the subsequent Munster Championship, which culminated on 24 November 2014 with him winning a second provincial medal after scoring a goal in the 4-14 to 0-08 defeat of Sixmilebridge in the final. Downes won a third Limerick Championship medal on 11 October 2015 after a 1-22 to 4-12 defeat of

Patrickswell Patrickswell, historically known as Toberpatrick (), is a small town in County Limerick, Ireland. It is primarily a commuter village for people working in Limerick, particularly the nearby industrial suburb of Raheen. The population was 847 at ...

in the final. He top scored with 1-05 and ended the game as

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

. Downes missed Na Piarsaigh's subsequent Munster Championship final defeat of

Ballygunner Ballygunner ( ga, Baile Gunnair), is a civil parish in County Waterford, Ireland. It lies on the southern outskirts of Waterford city. The placename is derived, in part, from the Old Norse masculine personal name ''Gunnarr''. Ballygunner conta ...

due to a concussion. On 17 March 2016, he won an All-Ireland Championship medal after scoring 1-02 in Na Piarsaigh's 2-25 to 2-14 defeat of Ruairí Óg 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 ...

. On 15 October 2017, Downes won a fourth Limerick Championship medal when Na Piarsaigh defeated

Kilmallock Kilmallock () is a town in south County Limerick, Ireland, near the border with County Cork. There is a Dominican Priory in the town and King's Castle (or King John's Castle). The remains of medieval walls which encircled the settlement are sti ...

by 1-22 to 2-14 in the final. He won a third Munster Championship medal on 19 November when Na Piarsaigh defeated Ballygunner by 3-15 to 2-10 in the final. On 17 March 2018, Downes was named at full-forward by played much of the match at left corner-forward when Na Piarsaigh suffered a 2-17 to 1-17 defeat by

Cuala Cuala GAA club (or ''Cuala GAC'', ) is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Dalkey in the south of County Dublin, Ireland. It fields teams in Dublin GAA competitions. Cuala is primarily based in a sports and social centre in Dalkey, an ...

in the All-Ireland final. On 27 October 2018, Downes won a fifth Limerick Championship medal following Na Piarsaigh's 2-22 to 3-10 defeat of Doon in the final.

Limerick

Minor and under-21

Downes first played for Limerick when he was selected for the minor team in advance of the 2008 Munster Championship. He made his first appearance on 30 April when he scored seven points in a 3-21 to 1-12 defeat by

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 ...

. Limerick's championship ended with a defeat by

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 ...

in a play-ff, however, Downes ended the season as Limerick's top scorer. Downes was eligible for the minor grade again the following year. After a second consecutive defeat to Tipperary at the quarter-final stage, he played his last game for Limerick on 5 June 2009 in a 4-08 to 1-14 defeat by

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 a play-off. After progressing onto the Limerick under-21 team, he made his first appearance on 14 July 2010 when he came on as a substitute and scored two points in Limerick's 1-15 to 1-12 defeat by

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 ...

in the Munster Championship. Downes broke onto the starting fifteen of the Limerick under-21 team during the 2011 Munster Championship and was appointed captain of the team. On 3 August, he scored a point from full-forward when Limerick defeated Cork by 4-20 to 1-27 after extra-time to win the Munster Championship. Downes played his last game for the Limerick under-21 team on 18 July 2012. He scored two points from full-forward in a 1-16 to 1-11 defeat by Tipperary in the Munster Championship semi-final.

Senior

On 13 February 2011, Downes made his first appearance for the Limerick senior team. He scored a point in Limerick's 2-09 to 0-06 defeat of Clare in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

. On 30 April, he scored 1-02 from play when Limerick defeated Clare by 4-12 to 2-13 to win the Division 2 title. Downes made his first championship appearance on 12 June. He top scored for Limerick 2-01 in the 3-15 to 3-14 defeat by Waterford. On 14 July 2013, Downes lined out in his first Munster Championship final. He started the game on the bench but was introduced as a 65th-minute substitute and scored two points in Limerick's 0-24 to 0-15 defeat of Cork and a first title in 17 years. On 2 August 2016, Downes tore his cruciate in a club football game. The injury ruled him out of Limerick's 2017 league and championship campaigns. Downes rejoined the Limerick senior panel in 2018. On 19 August 2018, he was an unused substitute when Limerick won their first All-Ireland title in 45 years after a 3-16 to 2-18 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 ...

in the final. On 2 February 2019, Downes made his first appearance for Limerick in over 30 months when he lined out at full-forward in Limerick's 1-21 to 1-14 defeat of Clare in the

Career statistics

Inter-county

Honours

;Na Piarsaigh *

All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Club Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Club Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county club hurlin ...

(1):

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

* Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship (4):

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

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 ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Limerick Senior Hurling Championship The Limerick Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Bon Secours Hospital County Senior Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Limerick SHC) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Limerick County Board o ...

(7):

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

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* Limerick Under-21 Hurling Championship (1): 2010 * Limerick Under-21 Football B Championship (1): 2011 * Limerick Under-21 Football All County Championship (1): 2011 ;Limerick *

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):

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):

* National Hurling League Division 2 (1):

* Munster Under-21 Hurling Championship (1):

(c)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Downes, Kevin 1991 births Living people Na Piarsaigh (Limerick) hurlers Limerick inter-county hurlers People educated at Ardscoil Rís, Limerick