Kieran Purcell (born 1945 in Windgap,

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 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

retired sportsperson. He 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 ...

with his local club Windgap and was a member of 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 inter-county team from 1971 until 1977.

Playing career

Club

Purcell played his club

with his local Windgap club. He enjoyed some success but he never won a senior county title.

Inter-county

Purcell first came to prominence as a member of the

minor hurling team in the early 1960s. He found it difficult to nail down a place on the team, however, he did enjoy some Leinster and All-Ireland successes as a substitute. Purcell later joined the Kilkenny under-21 team, however, it was

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

who dominated the early years of the provincial championship. In 1971, Purcell won his first

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 ...

title, however, in spite of an outstanding display by

Eddie Keher Edward Peter Keher (; born 14 October 1941) is an Irish former hurler who played as a centre-forward at senior level for the Kilkenny county team. Born in Inistioge, County Kilkenny, Keher first played competitive hurling whilst at school in ...

, Kilkenny lost to

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 ...

in the All-Ireland final. In 1972, Purcell won a second Leinster title before helping Kilkenny to defeat

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 the subsequent final to win his first

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. 1973 saw Purcell win another Leinster medal, however, Kilkenny were defeated by

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 ...

in the All-Ireland final. Purcell missed that game because of appendicitis, however, he was introduced as a substitute. The Kilkenny team quickly regrouped to win back-to-back Leinster and All-Ireland titles in 1974 and 1975, with Purcell winning back-to-back All-Star awards also.

References

Teams

{{DEFAULTSORT:Purcell, Kieran 1945 births Living people Kilkenny inter-county hurlers Leinster inter-provincial hurlers All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners Windgap hurlers