Patrick "Pa" Bourke (born 18 May 1988 in

Thurles Thurles (; ''Durlas Éile'') is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located in the civil parish of the same name in the barony of Eliogarty and in the ecclesiastical parish of Thurles (Roman Catholic parish), Thurles. The cathedral ch ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

) 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 ...

sportsperson. He plays

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

Thurles Sarsfields Thurles Sarsfields is a Tipperary GAA club which is located in County Tipperary, Ireland. Both hurling and Gaelic football are played in the "Mid-Tipperary" divisional competitions. The club is centred in the town of Thurles at Semple Stadium. T ...

and with 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 ...

senior inter-county team.

Early life

Pa Bourke was born in

in 1988. He was born into a family steeped in hurling history as his grandfather, John Maher, captained Tipperary to the

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 ...

title in 1945, having already won senior All-Ireland medals as far back as 1930 and 1937. Bourke was educated locally at the Christian Brothers secondary school in the town, where his

skills were first developed. He was a key member of the team in 2005 when his school were defeated by St. Flannans of

Ennis Ennis () is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in County Clare, with a population of 25,27 ...

in the final of the Dr. Harty Cup.

Playing career

Club

Bourke plays his club hurling with the famous

club in his home town and has enjoyed some success. He first came to prominence as a

dual player Dual player or dual star is a term used in Hiberno-English to describe someone who competes in multiple sports — for example, in Victorian Ireland, cricket and hurling. The term today in Gaelic games typically describes a male player who plays ...

at minor level. Bourke had little success on the minor hurling field; however, he won back-to-back minor football titles in 2005 and 2006. His performance in the latter final earned him the

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 ...

title. Bourke has since moved onto the club's under-21 and senior teams. Pa won his second county championship medal in 2009 with a starring role for the team in their victory over neighbours Drom & Inch. In 2010 Sarsfields defeated Toomevara in the county semi final with Bourke scoring a crucial last minute goal to sicken the former champions. Bourke suffered a minor injury to the calf three weeks later whilst on vacation in Corfu.

Inter-county

Bourke first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the

minor hurling team in 2005, however, he had little success in his first year.

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 ...

defeated Tipp in the Munster final in 2006, however, Tipp still qualified for the All-Ireland final. On that occasion Tipp defeated

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 ...

giving Bourke an

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 ...

medal. Bourke also finished the championship as the top scorers after recording a respectable 3 goals and 35 points in only a handful of games. He made his senior debut in 2007, however, it was an unhappy year for Tipperary's senior hurling team. Bourke returned to the substitute's bench for Tipp's

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 ...

triumph in 2008. Pa is still enjoying success at club level and recently scored 6.3 earning him man of the match against Loughmore in the Mid Tipperary Senior hurling final. On 5 September 2010, Bourke was a non-playing substitute as Tipperary won their 26th All Ireland title, beating reigning champions Killkenny by 4-17 to 1-18 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 ...

, preventing Kilkenny from achieving an historic 5-in-a-row, it was Bourke's first All-Ireland winners medal.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

Tipperary Player Profiles

Teams

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourke, Patrick (Pa) 1988 births Living people Thurles Sarsfields hurlers Tipperary inter-county hurlers