Patrick Joseph Whelahan (born 1945 in

Banagher Banagher ( or ''Beannchar na Sionna'') is a town in Ireland, located in the midlands, on the western edge of County Offaly in the province of Leinster, on the banks of the River Shannon. It had a population of 3,000 at the height of its econ ...

County Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

), better known as Pad Joe Whelahan, is an Irish

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 ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and former player. He played hurling with his local club St Rynagh's and with the

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

senior inter-county team in the 1960s and 1970s. Whelahan later served as manager of the Offaly and

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 ...

senior inter-county teams. He has also had a very successful career as manager of club sides Birr and Toomevara.

Early and private life

Pad Joe Whelahan was born in

in 1945. He was educated locally and later settled in Birr where he runs his own pub. Whelahan's sons – Brian, Simon and

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 19 ...

– would all experience success with Birr and with Offaly on the inter-county scene.

Playing career

Club

Whelahan played his club

with his local St Rynagh's club in Banagher and enjoyed much success. He won his first of his ten senior county titles in 1965. Whelahan added further county honours to his collection in 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1976. 1970 saw St Rynagh's convert their county title into a

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 ...

club title, however, the team was later defeated in the All-Ireland final by Roscrea. Whelahan captured a second Leinster club medal in 1972; however,

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 ...

accounted for the Offaly side in the All-Ireland final once again.

Inter-county

Whelahan also lined out at various levels with his native

. He spent thirteen years with the senior inter-county team; however, it was a time when Offaly hurling was unfashionable and Whelahan never had any major success. He did win a

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 ...

Division 2 medal following a victory over Antrim.

Inter-provincial

Whelehan also lined out with

in the

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship ( ga, An Corn Idir-Chúigeach) or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster ...

inter-provincial competition; however, he also had little success in this hurling competition.

Managerial career

Club

After his playing career came to an end Whelahan maintained a keen interest in the game of hurling as a coach and manager. He managed his native club of St Rynagh's to county honours, before later guiding Toomevara and Nenagh Éire Óg to club honours in

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 ...

as well. It was with Birr that Whelahan enjoyed his biggest successes. He took charge of his adopted club side in 1997 and steered Birr to a county title. Leinster club honours quickly followed before Birr captured the All-Ireland club title in 1998. The following year Whelahan's side captured the first of five county titles in-a-row. During this very successful period Birr also captured Leinster club honours in 1999, 2001 and 2002. These provincial titles were converted into All-Ireland wins in 2002 and 2003. Whelahan resigned as Birr manager after the club failed to win a sixth county title in-a-row in 2004. He later returned to guide the club to further county and Leinster honours in 2007. His side were later defeated by Portumna in the All-Ireland final in 2008.

Inter-county

At county level Whelahan was one of the most successful minor hurling managers of them all, leading Offaly to All-Ireland titles in 1986, 1987 and 1989. He also took charge of the county under-21 and senior sides. Whelahan guided the senior team to several

titles in the late 1980s. Whelahan served as manager of the

senior inter-county team between 2003 and 2005; however, he had little success as Limerick failed to win a championship game. He has also been linked to vacant managerial positions in Antrim, Westmeath, Offaly and

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whelahan, Pad Joe 1945 births Living people All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship winning managers Drinking establishment owners Hurling managers Leinster inter-provincial hurlers Offaly inter-county hurlers St Rynagh's hurlers