Éamonn Kelly (born 1968) is an Irish hurler who played as a full-forward for the Tipperary junior hurling team. Born in Puckane,

County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

, Kelly first arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of seventeen when he first linked up with the Tipperary minor teams 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 ...

, before later joining the under-21 hurling team. He joined the junior team for the 1987 championship. Kelly went on to play a key role for Tipperary over the next few years, and won one two All-Ireland medals in the junior grade. At club level Kelly played both hurling and

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

with

Kildangan Kildangan (; ) is a village in County Kildare, Ireland. It is also a townland and civil parish. History During the Anglo-Norman settlement of Ireland, Maurice Fitzgerald of Allen built a castle there as part of a defensive line along the Rive ...

. In retirement from playing, Kelly became involved in team management and coaching. He was an

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) is a term used to describe organisations and events whose interests extend over the entire island of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Irelan ...

-winning manager with the Kildangan intermediate hurling team in 2005, as well as serving as a manager and as a selector with the Tipperary under-21 and intermediate hurling teams. Kelly was appointed manager of the Kerry senior hurling team in January 2014. He led the county to 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 ...

Div 2A title with a win over

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had a population of 27,351, the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland, ...

. His side then lost a controversial play-off to

Offaly County Offaly (; ) 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 honour of Philip II of Spain ...

, missing out on a pace in Div 1B. His side regrouped to make it to the final of the

Christy Ring Cup The Christy Ring Cup () is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The cup forms the third-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is the first-tier trophy). It is ...

for the fourth time in five seasons. They faced

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 10,302, making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. It is home to Kildare Cathedral, historically the site of an important abbey said to have been founded by Saint ...

but for the second year in a row lost out by a 2 points. In July 2015, Kelly stepped down from the position as Kerry manager. In September 2015, Kelly was named as the new manager of the

hurling team. In September 2016, Kelly stepped down as manager of the Offaly team, saying "Having reviewed the season just gone and considered the increasing personal and business demands on my time at present, I have informed Offaly County Board that I will not be in a position to continue as manager of the Senior Hurling team for 2017." Later that year, Kelly was named as manager of neighbouring county

Laois County Laois ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medieval kingdom. Hist ...

for the forthcoming season. Following two years at the helm of the O’Moore County and a relegation battle in Division 1B with Antrim, Kelly stepped down as Laois manager to return to club management henceforth after the county were knocked out of the

Joe McDonagh Cup The Joe McDonagh Cup () is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The cup forms the second-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is the first-tier t ...

, saying: “I have enjoyed the last two years and made many friends. I am disappointed not to have built on the progress we made last year and I wish Laois every success going forward.”

Career statistics

Manager

Honours

Team

;Tipperary *

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 ...

(2): 1989, 1991 * Munster Junior Hurling Championship (3): 1988, 1989, 1991

Manager

;Kildangan * All-Ireland Intermediate Club Hurling Championship (1): 2005 * Munster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship (1): 2004 * Tipperary Intermediate Hurling Championship (1): 2004 ;Kerry * National League (Division 2A) (2):

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

(1):

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Eamonn 1968 births Living people Kildangan hurlers (Tipperary) Kildangan Gaelic footballers (Tipperary) Tipperary inter-county hurlers Tipperary inter-county Gaelic footballers Hurling selectors Hurling managers 20th-century Irish sportsmen