Niall O'Meara (born 16 December 1992) is an Irish hurler who plays for Tipperary Senior Championship club Kilruane MacDonagh's and formerly at inter-county level with the Tipperary senior hurling team. He usually lines out as a left wing-forward.

Playing career

Mary Immaculate College

During his studies at

Mary Immaculate College Mary Immaculate College (''Coláiste Mhuire gan Smál''), also known as MIC and Mary I, is a College of Education and Liberal Arts. Founded in 1898, the university level College of Education and the Liberal Arts is academically linked with the ...

, O'Meara was selected for the college's senior hurling team during his second year. On 27 February 2016, he was selected at right wing-forward but spent much of the game at left corner-forward when Mary Immaculate College faced 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 ...

in the Fitzgibbon Cup final. O'Meara ended the game with a winners' medal following the 1-30 to 3-22 victory.

Kilruane MacDonagh's

O'Meara joined the Kilruane MacDonagh's club at a young age and played in all grades at juvenile and underage levels. He enjoyed championship success in the under-21 grade before joining the club's senior. On 16 September 2018, O'Meara lined out at centre-back when Kilruane MacDonagh's qualified for the North Tipperary Championship final. He scored a point from play and claimed a winners' medal after the 0-19 to 0-12 defeat of Kiladangan. On 30 October 2022, O'Meara started as Kilruane MacDonaghs defeated Kiladangan 2–20 to 1–16 in the 2022 Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship final after a replay, it was their first

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

since

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 n ...

Thomas MacDonagh's

O'Meara was just 18-years-old when he was selected for the Thomas MacDonagh's amalgamated team in the 2011 Tipperary Football Championship. On 6 November 2011, he lined out at centre-back when the team qualified for a meeting with Moyle Rovers in the final. O'Meara ended the game with a winners' medal after a 0-09 to 0-07 victory. On 4 November 2012, O'Meara again lined out at centre-back when Thomas MacDonagh's qualified for a second successive final. He ended the game on the losing side after a 1-09 to 0-05 defeat by

Clonmel Commercials Clonmel Commercials GFC is a Gaelic Athletic Association Gaelic football club located in the town of Clonmel in County Tipperary, Ireland. The club is part of the South Division of Tipperary GAA. They have been Tipperary Senior Football champ ...

Tipperary

Minor and under-21

O'Meara first played for Tipperary as a member of the minor team during the 2010 Munster Championship. He made his first appearance for the team on 5 May 2010 when he lined out at centre-forward in a 0-17 to 1-13 defeat by

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 ...

. O'Meara was drafted onto the Tipperary under-21 team in advance of the 2012 Munster Championship. He made his first appearance for the team on 6 June 2012 when he lined out at right wing-forward in an 0-18 to 0-17 defeat of

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 8 August 2012, O'Meara was switched to midfield when Tipperary suffered a 1-16 to 1-14 defeat by Clare in the

Munster final Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

. O'Meara was appointed

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the Tipperary under-21 team for the 2013 Munster Championship. On 7 August 2013, he captained the team to a 1-17 to 2-10 defeat by Clare in a second successive

Intermediate

On 31 August 2013, O'Meara was selected at left wing-forward when Tipperary faced

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

in the All-Ireland final. He scored four points from play and ended the game with a winners' medal following the 2-14 to 2-11 victory.

Senior

O'Meara was added to the Tipperary senior team prior to the start of the 2014 National League. He made his first appearance for the team on 30 March 2014 when he scored a goal from left corner-forward in a 3-25 to 4-19 defeat of Cork. On 4 May 2014, O'Meara again lined out at left corner-forward when Tipperary suffered a 2-25 to 1-27 defeat by Kilkenny in the National League final. On 7 September 2014, he was selected amongst the substitutes when Tipperary drew 1-28 to 3-22 with Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final. He was again named on the bench for the replay on 27 September 2014 and ended the game on the losing side after a 2-17 to 2-14 defeat. On 12 July 2015, O'Meara was selected at left corner-forward when Tipperary faced

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 ...

in the

. He scored three points from play and claimed his first Munster Championship medal following the 0-21 to 0-16 victory. O'Meara won a second Munster Championship medal on 10 July 2016 after lining out at left corner-forward in a 5-19 to 0-13 defeat of Waterford 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 ...

. On 5 September 2016, he was named amongst the substitutes for Tipperary's All-Ireland final meeting with Kilkenny. O'Meara was introduced as a substitute for Dan McCormack at right wing-forward and claimed an All-Ireland medal following a 2-29 to 2-20 victory. On 23 April 2017, O'Meara was named on the bench when Tipperary faced

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 National League final. He was introduced as a substitute for Seán O'Brien at left wing-forward but ended the game on the losing side following a 3-21 to 0-14 defeat. O'Meara missed most of the 2018 National League due to injury but returned to the panel in April. On 30 June 2019, O'Meara was named on the bench when Tipperary faced Limerick in the

. He was introduced as a substitute for Michael Breen at midfield but ended the game on the losing side following a 2-26 to 2-14 defeat. On 18 August 2019, O'Meara lined out at centre-forward when Tipperary faced Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final. He scored his first championship goal during the game and collected a second All-Ireland winners' medal following the 3-25 to 0-20 victory. On 3 November 2023, O'Meara announced his retirement from inter-county hurling.

Career statistics

Honours

;Mary Immaculate College *

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 ...

(1):

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

;Thomas MacDonagh's *

Tipperary Senior Football Championship The Tipperary Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association club competition between the top Gaelic football clubs in Tipperary. The winners of the Tipperary Championship qualify to represent their county in the Munster ...

(1): 2011 ;Kilruane MacDonagh's * North Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship (1): 2018 *Tipperary Under-21 A Hurling Championship (1): 2010 *

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 GAA, Tipperary County Board of the Gaelic Ath ...

(1):

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 ...

;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, inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest-tier competition for ...

(2):

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 ...

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):

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 ...

All-Ireland Intermediate Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling Intermediate All-Ireland Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Intermediate Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). Effectively contested by the second ...

(1):

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Munster Intermediate Hurling Championship The Munster Intermediate Hurling Championship was an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) between 1961 and 2017. Teams consisted of senior, intermediate and junior club ...

(1):

References

External links

Niall O'Meara profile
at the Tipperary GAA website {{DEFAULTSORT:OMeara, Niall 1992 births Living people Kilruane MacDonaghs hurlers Tipperary inter-county hurlers Tipperary inter-county Gaelic footballers Alumni of Mary Immaculate College, Limerick 21st-century Irish sportsmen