Paul Kelly (born 14 December 1979) 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 ...

hurler who plays for his local club

Mullinahone Mullinahone () is a village located in the barony of Slievardagh, County Tipperary in Ireland. It is also a parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. , the village population was 499. Location and access Mullinahone is situa ...

and at senior level for the Tipperary county team. Recently he has transferred clubs to

O'Loughlin Gaels O'Loughlin Gaels is a Gaelic Athletic Association club situated in the St. John’s parish of Kilkenny city, County Kilkenny, Ireland. History The club was founded in 1969, replacing the St. John’s Hurling Club that started back in 1887. O ...

club in

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 ...

but since 2010 he has returned to play for Mullinahone. He is noted for his versatility, playing in the backline, midfield and more recently in the forward line.

Early life

Paul Kelly was born in

on 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 ...

border in 1979. He is the older brother of Eoin Kelly. He was educated locally and attended Scoil Riain Killenaule Vocational School which has produced many Tipperary Hurlers.

Playing career

Club

Kelly played his club

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 native

with whom he has won one County Senior Hurling medal in 2002. On 17 March 2008, it was announced that Kelly would join O'Loughlin Gaels (a Kilkenny club) for the upcoming club season. He later returned to

. He won a Tipperary Intermediate Football Championship with them in 2011.

Inter-county

Kelly was quickly selected for inter-county duty with

. He joined the Tipp minors at a relatively young age and went on to win an All-Ireland minor medal in 1996 and a Munster minor medal in 1997. He won a Munster Under-21 medal in 1999. Having joined the Tipperary senior hurling panel in 1998 he was a key member of the panel when the team won 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 ...

, the

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

and the All-Ireland Championship in 2001. Kelly also won a

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 ...

medal with

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

in 2001. Although not having much success with Tipperary in 2002 he received his first All-Star award. Although losing out to

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 Munster Final in 2005, Kelly scored 7 points from his midfield position and was named

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

's 'man of the match.' He claimed a further All-Star award in 2005, together with his brother

Eoin Eoin (, or ) is an Irish name. The Scottish Gaelic equivalent is () and both are closely related to the Welsh . It is also cognate with the Irish . In the Irish language, it is the name used for all Biblical figures known as ''John'' in Engli ...

. Kelly has also won 2 Under-21 caps for Ireland in the

Shinty Shinty ( gd, camanachd, iomain) is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread in Scotland, an ...

Internationals against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. In April 2010, Kelly broke his ankle in a club match, jeopardising his participation in the 2010 All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.

Coaching career

Kelly has been a hurling coach, managed the Mullinahone ladies' footballers and was appointed as Dublin

camogie Camogie ( ; ga, camógaíocht ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game of hurling (which is played by men onl ...

manager on a three-year term in October 2022.

Honours

Team

;Mullinahone *

Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship The Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the FBD Insurance Tipperary County Senior Hurling Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Tipperary County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Associati ...

(1): 2002 ;Tipperary *

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):

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

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 ...

(2):

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

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 ...

(2):

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

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 ...

(1):

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

Munster Minor Hurling Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Minor Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Electric Ireland Munster GAA Hurling Minor Championship) is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Associ ...

(1):

Individual

;Awards * All-Star Awards (2): 2002, 2005

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Paul 1979 births Living people All Stars Awards winners (hurling) Camogie managers Dual players Dublin county camogie team Hurling coaches Ladies' Gaelic football managers Mullinahone Gaelic footballers Mullinahone hurlers O'Loughlin Gaels hurlers Tipperary inter-county hurlers