Michael G. O'Brien (1933 – 14 November 2014) was 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 ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

who was also a noted hurling coach and

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 ...

. Born in

Innishannon Innishannon or Inishannon () is a large village on the main Cork– Bandon road ( N71) in County Cork, Ireland. Situated on the River Bandon, the village has grown due to its proximity to Cork city, and is now a dormitory town for city wo ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...

, O'Brien was ordained into the priesthood in 1958. Over the next forty-five years he ministered in both Ireland and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, while also serving as a teacher at St. Finbarr's College and chaplain to the

Irish Navy The Naval Service ( ga, An tSeirbhís Chabhlaigh) is the maritime component of the Defence Forces of Ireland and is one of the three branches of the Irish Defence Forces. Its base is in Haulbowline, County Cork. Though preceded by earlier m ...

. O'Brien retired from active ministry in 2003. Concurrently with his duties as a priest, O'Brien was heavily involved as a hurling coach at colleges, university, club and inter-county levels. His biggest success came with Cork, whom he steered to two

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 ...

titles, four Munster titles and one National Hurling League title.

Biography

O'Brien was born in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

/ Knockavilla, County Cork. He entered

St Patrick's College, Maynooth St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth ( ga, Coláiste Naoimh Phádraig, Maigh Nuad), is the "National Seminary for Ireland" (a Roman Catholic college), and a pontifical university, located in the town of Maynooth, from Dublin, Ireland. ...

, and was ordained for the

Diocese of Cork and Ross The Diocese of Cork and Ross ( ga, Deoise Chorcaí agus Rosa) is a Roman Catholic diocese in southern Ireland, one of six suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cashel and Emly. The cathedral church of the diocese is Cathedral ...

in the seminary chapel on 22 June 1958. He then ministered in the Irish-emigrant areas of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

until 1961, when he returned to his home diocese and a

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

in the parish of Blackrock, Cork, where he helped to rebuild St. Michael's Church which had burnt to the ground. For 12 years, from 1964 to 1976, O'Brien taught at St. Finbarr's Seminary, Farranferris, where he was also the hurling trainer for the school team. He was "at the helm as Farranferris won Dr Harty Cups in 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974, adding All-Irelands in 1972 and 1974". A 12-year stint as chaplain at the Naval Base of

Haulbowline Haulbowline ( ga, Inis Sionnach; non, Ál-boling) is an island in Cork Harbour off the coast of Ireland. The world's first yacht club was founded on Haulbowline in 1720. The western side of the island is the main naval base and headquarters f ...

followed before O'Brien returned to parish ministry, again in Blackrock. In 1985 he started a lengthy stay in Carrigaline where he served as curate, administrator and finally

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

Carrigaline Carrigaline () is a town and civil parish in County Cork, Ireland, situated on the River Owenabue. Located about south of Cork city, and with a population of 15,770 people, it is one of the largest commuter towns of the city. The R611 regiona ...

, before retiring from active ministry in 2003. O'Brien was later resident in Nazareth Home in

Dromahane Dromahane () is a village located south west of the town of Mallow, County Cork, Ireland on the R619 regional road. Centred on a main crossroads, the village overlooks the Blackwater Valley. As of the 2016 census, Dromahane had a populatio ...

. He died on 14 November 2014 after a long illness. O'Brien served as the coach of the Cork senior hurling team on several occasions, guiding the team to All-Ireland titles in 1984 and 1990. .At colleges' level he also managed

UCC The initialism UCC may stand for: Law * Uniform civil code of India, referring to proposed Civil code in the legal system of India, which would apply equally to all irrespective of their religion * Uniform Commercial Code, a 1952 uniform act to ...

Fitzgibbon Cup The Fitzgibbon Cup ( ga, Corn Mhic Giobúin) is the trophy for the premier hurling championship among higher education institutions (universities, colleges and institutes of technology) in Ireland. The Fitzgibbon Cup competition is administered ...

titles, and later managed

Blackrock GAA Blackrock National Hurling Club is a Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) club located on the southside of Cork City, Ireland. The club was founded in 1883 and is primarily concerned with the game of hurling. No other Cork-based GAA club has won m ...

. He also helped coaching

Coláiste Chríost Rí Coláiste Chríost Rí ( en, Christ the King College) is a Trusteeship Board Catholic secondary school for boys based on Capwell Road in Turners Cross, Cork, Ireland. History The school was founded by the Presentation Brothers and owned by th ...

. He is not to be confused with Canon Michael O'Brien of the neighbouring

Roman Catholic Diocese of Cloyne The Diocese of Cloyne ( ga, Deoise Chluana) is a Roman Catholic diocese in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is one of six suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly, Cashel (also known as ...

Honours

Team

;St. Finbarr's College *

Dr. Croke Cup The Dr Croke Cup is the trophy presented to the winner of the All Ireland Secondary Schools Senior "A" hurling championship. Before that it was an inter-county GAA competition in hurling. The first Croke Cups (which included hurling and Gaelic ...

(3): 1969, 1972, 1974 * Dr. Harty Cup (5): 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 ;University College Cork *

(10): 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991 ;Argideen Rangers *

Cork Junior Hurling Championship The Cork Junior A Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Co-Op Superstores Cork Junior A Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Cork JAHC) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Cork County Board of the Gael ...

(1): 1996 ;Ballinhassig *

Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship The Cork Intermediate A Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Co-Op Superstores Cork Intermediate A Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Cork IAHC) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Cork GAA, Cork Coun ...

(2): 1975, 1977 ;Blackrock *

Cork Senior Hurling Championship The Cork Premier Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Co-Op Superstores Cork Premier Senior Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Cork PSHC) is an annual club hurling competition organised by the Cork County B ...

(2): 1985, 1999 ;Tracton *

(1): 1991 *

(1): 1979 ;Cork * All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (2):

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

* Munster Senior Hurling Championship (5):

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, 1992 * National Hurling League (1): 1992-93 *

All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship The All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship was a hurling competition organized by the Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland. The competition was originally contested by the second teams of the strong counties, and the first teams of the weaker ...

(1): 1983 *

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 ...

(6):

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

, 1971, 1974, 1978,

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

Philips Sports Manager of the Year The Philips Sports Manager of the Year is an award for the person considered the most outstanding Irish sports manager or coach of a particular year. The award is contested by the twelve winners of the year's Philips Sports Manager of the Month ...

(1): 1990

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OBrien, Michael 1933 births 2014 deaths Hurling managers Gaelic games players from County Cork Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth 20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests 21st-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Roman Catholic clergy in Europe