The Gaelic Athletic Association-Gaelic Players' Association All Stars Awards (often known simply as the All Stars) are awarded annually to the best player in each of the 15 playing positions in

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by ki ...

and hurling. Additionally, one player in each code is selected as Player of the Year. The awards were instituted in 1971. Since 2011 they have been presented jointly by the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

and the representative body for inter-county players, the Gaelic Players Association. Each player who receives a nomination is given a medallion marking the milestone. It is considered "the most coveted sporting award scheme in the country". Equivalent awards exist for ladies' football, rounders and camogie.

History and procedure

Since the 1960s there had been a tradition of annually selecting the best player in each position, in football and hurling, to create a special team of the year. Between 1963 and 1967 these players received what was known as the

Cú Chulainn Cú Chulainn ( ), called the Hound of Ulster ( Irish: ''Cú Uladh''), is a warrior hero and demigod in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore. He is believed to be an incarnation of the Irish god Lug ...

award. In 1971 these awards were formalised into the annual GAA All Star Awards. In 2006 the Gaelic Players Association launched a parallel award scheme entitled the GPA Gaelic Team of the Year (often referred to as the GPA Awards). An annual award was also given by the GPA to the Footballer of the Year and the Hurler of the Year. In 2011 it was announced that the GAA All Stars Awards, which had been sponsored in recent years by Vodafone, and the GPA Awards would merge under the sponsorship of car manufacturer Opel. The move announced by Christy Cooney saw the achievements of players recognised jointly for the first time in October 2011. The All Stars team comprises the best player in each position, regardless of club or county affiliation. The composition of the All Star teams are decided on the basis of a shortlist compiled by a selection committee of sports journalists from the national media, while the overall winners are chosen by inter-county players themselves. The award is regarded by players as the highest accolade available to them, due to it being picked by their peers. The awards are presented at a gala banquet in November following the end of the Championship season. Both men's teams are honoured with a special holiday where they play an exhibition game. Since 1971 over 1,000 players have been honoured with All Stars Awards. Damien Martin of the

Offaly hurling team 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 ...

was the first ever recipient of the award, while in 2004 Paul Galvin of the Kerry football team became the 1,000th winner of the award.

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...

and Longford are the only counties in Ireland not to receive an award in either sport. In September 2017

PwC PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

became the new sponsors of the All Star Awards on a four year deal, with the awards being re-named ''The PwC All-Stars''.

Winners

For a complete listing of all winners see the following articles: * All Stars Footballer of the Year * All Stars Hurler of the Year * List of All Stars Awards winners (football) * List of All Stars Awards winners (hurling) *

All-Time All Star Award (football) The All-Time All Star Award in Football was an award given on an annual basis to a sportsperson who had made a long-running and considerable contribution to the sport of Gaelic football in Ireland. In existence from 1980 until 1994 the award was pr ...

All-Time All Star Award (hurling) The All-Time All Star Award in Hurling was an award given on an annual basis to a sportsperson who had made a long-running and considerable contribution to the sport of hurling in Ireland. In existence from 1980 until 1994 the award was presented t ...

Ladies' Gaelic football All Stars Awards The Ladies' Gaelic Football All Stars Awards have been hosted annually by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association since 1980. The All Stars are sponsored by TG4. O'Neills have also helped sponsor the awards. All Stars are awarded to the best Lad ...

( Winners) * Camogie All Stars Awards ( Winners) *

Rounders All Stars Awards This page is a list of all GAA Rounders All Star Awards winners from 2002 to present. These awards are presented annually to the best Irish rounders Rounders is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams. Rounders is a striking and fielding ...

(Winners: Men / Women)

Records

Brothers

Twenty two sets of brothers have won All Star Awards in hurling. They are: * Colm, Conal and Cormac Bonnar of Tipperary *

Tom Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

and Jim Cashman of Cork * Andy and Martin Comerford of Kilkenny * John and Joe Connolly of

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city ...

Jimmy Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

and Joe Cooney of Galway * Ollie and Joe Canning of Galway *

Johnny Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varia ...

Billy Billy may refer to: * Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name) Animals * Billy (dog), a dog breed * Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945 * Billy (pygmy hippo), a pet of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge * Billy, a youn ...

and Joe Dooley of

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the Ancient Ireland ...

* Colm and Tony Doran of Wexford * Liam and Ger Fennelly of Kilkenny * Pat, Ger and John Henderson of Kilkenny * Eoin and Paul Kelly of Tipperary * Brian and Frank Lohan of

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

* Willie and Eddie O'Connor of Kilkenny *

Seán Óg Sean O'Malley (born 4 June 1992), most commonly known by his stage name Seán Óg (meaning Young Seán), is a singer and musician from Milltown Malbay, County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Souther ...

and Setanta Ó hAilpín of Cork *

Aidan Aidan or Aiden is a modern version of a number of Celtic language names, including the Irish male given name ''Aodhán'', the Scottish Gaelic given name Aodhan and the Welsh name Aeddan. Phonetic variants, such as spelled with an "e" instead of ...

and Bobby Ryan of Tipperary * Martin and John Quigley of Wexford * Michael and

Colin Fennelly Colin Fennelly (born 25 August 1989) is an Irish hurler who plays as a forward for Kilkenny Senior Championship club Ballyhale Shamrocks. He is a former captain of the Kilkenny senior hurling team. Fennelly first appeared on the inter-county ...

of Kilkenny *

Dan Shanahan Daniel Shanahan (born 4 January 1977) is an Irish former hurler. He has been a selector with the Waterford county team since 2013. Born in Lismore, County Waterford, Shanahan was introduced to hurling by his father, a former hurler with Wate ...

and Maurice Shanahan of Waterford * Pádraic Maher and

Ronan Maher Ronan Maher may refer to: * Ronan Maher (hurler) Ronan Maher (born 9 October 1995) is an Irish hurler who plays for Tipperary Senior Championship club Thurles Sarsfields and at inter-county level alongside his brother Pádraic with the Tip ...

of Tipperary * Noel McGrath and John McGrath of Tipperary * Tommy Walsh and Pádraig Walsh of Kilkenny * Cathal Mannion and Pádraic Mannion of Galway One set of twins have won All Star Awards in hurling: * Jerry and Ben O'Connor of Cork Twelve sets of brothers have won All Star Awards in

. They are: *Matt and Richie Connor of

*Tomás and Liam Connor of Offaly * Paul and

Dermot Earley Snr Lieutenant-General Dermot Earley DSM (24 February 1948 – 23 June 2010) was a high-ranking military official in Ireland and with the United Nations. He was the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces from 2007 to 2010. Early life and education E ...

of Roscommon *Seán and Brendan Lowry of Offaly *James and Martin McHugh of Donegal *Mark and Ryan McHugh of Donegal *Anthony and John McGurk of Derry *

, Mick and Pat Spillane of Kerry * Tomás, Darragh and Marc Ó Sé of Kerry *Kenneth and Conor Mortimer of Mayo *

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name ** List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' * ...

and Bernard Brogan Jnr of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

* Seán Cavanagh and Colm Cavanagh of Tyrone One set of brothers has won All Star Awards in hurling and football (with two different counties): *Declan Carr won his hurling award while playing with Tipperary and Tommy Carr won his football award while playing with Dublin.

Father and son

Sixteen father and son pairings have won All Star Awards. Thirteen of these have been in football. Of the thirteen, two fathers have each been followed by two sons, therefore a total of four father and son pairings: *

Bernard Brogan Snr Bernard Brogan is a former Gaelic footballer who played for the St Oliver Plunketts/Eoghan Ruadh club and for the Dublin county team. He won three All-Ireland senior football medals in the 1970s. Playing career Brogan, who mostly played mid ...

, plus Alan Brogan and Bernard Brogan Jnr of Dublin. * Martin McHugh, plus

Mark McHugh Mark McHugh (born 22 August 1990) is an Irish Gaelic footballer and coach who plays for Cill Chartha and, formerly, the Donegal county team. He is the brother of Ryan and the son of Martin. He won one All-Ireland Senior Football Championshi ...

and Ryan McHugh of Donegal. The other nine father and son pairings are: * Pat Reynolds and Paddy Reynolds of

Meath Meath may refer to: General * County Meath, Republic of Ireland **Kingdom of Meath, medieval precursor of the county ** List of kings of Meath ** Meath GAA, including the intercounty football and hurling teams ** Diocese of Meath, in the Roman Cath ...

. *

and Dermot Earley Jnr of Roscommon and Kildare. * Liam O'Neill of

and Kevin O'Neill of Mayo. * Frank McGuigan and Brian McGuigan of Tyrone. * Tim Kennelly and Tadhg Kennelly of Kerry. * Denis 'Ógie' Moran and David Moran of Kerry. * Noel McCaffrey and

Jack McCaffrey Jack McCaffrey (born 19 October 1993) is a Gaelic footballer who plays for Clontarf. Early and personal life His father Noel also represented Dublin in football. McCaffrey attended Belvedere College private school and studied medicine at Uni ...

of Dublin. * Barney Rock and

Dean Rock Dean Rock (born 26 February 1990) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who has been a senior member of the Dublin county team since 2013. He has represented Dublin at all grades, Minor, Junior, U21 and Senior. He is a noted free taker and scored the ...

of Dublin. *

Val Daly Val Daly is an Irish Gaelic football manager and former player. Originally from Mountbellew, Daly made his debut with the county side in the 1981 National League and played until the 1997 Championship season when he was player manager. An Al ...

and John Daly of Galway. There have been three hurling father and son pairings: * Fan Larkin and Philly Larkin of Kilkenny. *

Richie Power Snr Richie Power (born 8 April 1957 in Carrickshock, County Kilkenny, Ireland) is an Irish former hurler who played for his local club Carrickshock and at senior level for the Kilkenny county team from 1982 until 1991. Playing career Club Power ...

and

Richie Power Jnr Richard "Richie" Power (born 4 December 1985) is an Irish hurler who played as a centre-forward at senior level for the Kilkenny county team. Born in Carrickshock, County Kilkenny, Power first played competitive hurling during his schooling ...

of Kilkenny. *

Ken Hogan James Kenneth Hogan (born 1 May 1963) is an Irish former hurler who played as a goalkeeper at senior level for the Tipperary county team. Born in Lorrha, County Tipperary, Hogan first played competitive hurling whilst at school at the Presen ...

and

Brian Hogan Brian Hogan may refer to: * Brian Hogan (Kilkenny hurler) (born 1981), Irish hurler *Brian Hogan (rugby league) (1947–2022), English rugby league footballer *Brian Hogan (Tipperary hurler) (born 1996), Irish hurler *Brian Hogan, Irish musician, me ...

of Tipperary.

Dual All Stars

One player, Ray Cummins of Cork, holds the unique record of winning a hurling and a football All Star in the same year (1971). Three other players share the distinction of winning All Star awards in both hurling and football, but they did not win the accolades in the same year. These players are: * Jimmy Barry-Murphy of Cork * Brian Murphy of Cork * Liam Currams of

Players with most wins

Unique achievements

Tommy Walsh of Kilkenny won nine consecutive hurling All Star Awards in a record five different positions. These were for playing at left corner back (1), at right half back (5), at left half back (1), at midfield (1) and at left half forward (1). Henry Shefflin of Kilkenny holds the record for most All Star Awards in the one position with seven at centre-forward. Brian Fenton and Brian Howard, both from Raheny and

were the first midfield to be selected from one club. Shortly after his 90th birthday, Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh was awarded the only All Star of 2020. No further All Stars could be awarded as competition was suspended due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

and only completed that December.

References

External links

All Stars
at the

2007
at ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

''
2007
at the '' Sunday Tribune''
50 years of the GAA All-Stars - 'You were given the five-star glitz and glamour of an Oscar night'
{{Gaelic games awards 1971 establishments in Ireland Annual events in Ireland Awards established in 1971