Gearóid M. Hegarty (born 10 August 1994) is an Irish hurler 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 ...

er who plays as a right wing-forward for club side St Patrick's and at inter-county level with the Limerick senior hurling team. He is a former member of the Limerick senior football team.

Early life

Hegarty was born in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

. His father, Ger Hegarty, 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 ...

runner-up with the Limerick senior hurling team in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Playing career

College

Hegarty first came to prominence as a hurler with

Castletroy College Castletroy College is a co-educational community school in Newtown, Castletroy, County Limerick, Ireland. It was founded in 2000. As of 2024, it had over 1,200 students enrolled. Sport Basketball is played at the school and the girls team have ...

. On 19 October 2011, he was a forward on the first Castletroy College team to play in the Harty Cup.

University

During his studies at the

University of Limerick University of Limerick (UL) () is a Public university, public research university institution in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded in 1972, as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it became a university in Septemb ...

, Hegarty was selected for the college's senior hurling team. On 24 February 2018, he won a

Fitzgibbon Cup The Fitzgibbon Cup () 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 by Comhairle Ard Oideac ...

medal following UL's 2-21 to 2-15 defeat of

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) () is a Third-level education in the Republic of Ireland, university based on the Northside, Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Highe ...

in the final. Hegarty was also a regular for the University of Limerick football team in the

Sigerson Cup The Sigerson Cup is the trophy for the premier Gaelic football championship among Higher Education institutions (Universities, Colleges and Institutes of Technology) in Ireland. It traditionally begins in mid January and ends in late February. T ...

Club

Hegarty joined the St. Patrick's club at a young age and played in all grades 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 ...

at juvenile and underage levels. On 12 October 2014, Hegarty was at full forward when St. Patrick's were defeated by

Ballylanders Ballylanders () is a village in south County Limerick, Ireland. It is south of Limerick and north of Mitchelstown, on the R513 road. The 2022 census recorded a population of 337 people. The village is in a townland and civil parish of the ...

in the final of the Limerick Football Championship.

Inter-county

Under-21

Hegarty first played for Limerick as a Gaelic footballer with the under-21 team. He made his first appearance in a 3-15 to 0-08 Munster Championship defeat by

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

on 19 March 2014. Hegarty became a dual under-21 player in 2015 and won a Munster Championship medal after a 0-22 to 0-19 win over

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 ...

in the final. On 12 September 2015, Hegarty was at midfield when Limerick defeated

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

by 0-26 to 1-07 in the All-Ireland final.

Senior

Hegarty first played at senior level as a member of the Limerick senior football team. He made his first appearance in a 2-11 to 0-11 defeat of

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It had a population of 10,952 at the 2022 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meeting of ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

on 9 February 2014. Hegarty later made his first championship start on a 2-14 to 1-11 defeat by Tipperary in the Munster Championship. Hegarty played in the early rounds of the National Football League in 2016 before joining the Limerick senior hurling team. He made his first appearance for the hurlers on 13 March 2016, replacing Seánie O'Brien at half-time in a 6-29 to 1-12 defeat of

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 ...

at the

Gaelic Grounds The Gaelic Grounds, known for sponsorship reasons as the TUS Gaelic Grounds, is the principal GAA stadium in the city of Limerick in Ireland. Home to the Limerick hurling and football teams, it has a capacity of 44,023. History 9 October 192 ...

. Hegarty later made his first championship appearance in a 3-12 to 1-16 defeat by Tipperary. In 2017 Hegarty left the Limerick senior football team and committed solely to the hurlers after an end to the facilitating of dual players. On 19 August 2018, Hegarty was at right wing-forward when Limerick won their first

title in 45 years after a 3-16 to 2-18 defeat of

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

in the final. He ended the season by being nominated for an All-Star Award. On 31 March 2019, Hegarty was selected at right wing-forward for Limerick's National League final meeting with

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

Croke Park Croke Park (, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and headquarters of the Gaelic At ...

. He collected a winners' medal after scoring three points from play in the 1-24 to 0-19 victory. On 30 June 2019, Hegarty won a Munster Championship medal after scoring three points from right wing-forward in Limerick's 2-26 to 2-14 defeat of Tipperary in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. Hegarty won his fourth

All Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

at the end of the 2024 season.

Personal life

Hegarty also plays

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

at Junior D level for Aisling Annacotty AFC.

Career statistics

Honours

;University of Limerick *

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

;Limerick *

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Championship, is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest-tier competition for ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

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 ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

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 ...

All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling Under-20 All-Ireland Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the oneills.com GAA Hurling Under-20 All-Ireland Championship) is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). ...

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 ...

Munster Under-21 Hurling Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Munster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-c ...

;Individual *

All Stars Hurler of the Year The GAA–GPA All-Star Hurler of the Year is a hurling award presented to the player voted as best in the country by all the players from around Ireland. It began in 1995 and honours the achievements of a hurler of outstanding excellence. K ...

(1): 2020 * All-Star Award (4): 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024 *''

The Sunday Game ''The Sunday Game'' is RTÉ's main Gaelic games television programme. It is shown on RTÉ2 every Sunday during the Football Championship and Hurling Championship seasons. It is one of RTÉ2's longest-running shows, having been on air since 1 ...

'' Team of the Year: 2020, 2022 *''The Sunday Game'' Hurler of the Year: 2020 *All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final Man of the Match (2): 2020, 2022 * GAA/GPA Player of the Month: October 2020, December 2020

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hegarty, Gearóid 1994 births Living people All Stars Awards winners (hurling) Dual players Hurling forwards Irish schoolteachers Limerick inter-county hurlers Limerick inter-county Gaelic footballers St Patrick's (Limerick) hurlers St Patrick's (Limerick) Gaelic footballers 21st-century Irish sportsmen