Shane O'Donnell (born 15 June 1994) is an Irish hurler who plays as a forward for the Clare senior team. Born and bred in Ennis, Co Clare O'Donnell first arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of sixteen when he first linked up with the Clare minor team, before later lining out with the under-21 side. He made his senior debut in the 2013 Waterford Crystal Cup. O'Donnell has since gone on to play a key part for Clare, and has won two

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 ...

medals, two

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 ...

medals and one

Waterford Crystal Cup The Waterford Crystal Cup was an annual hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association from 2006 to 2015 for the top inter-county teams and third-level institutes and universities in the province of Munste ...

medal. At club level O'Donnell plays with Éire Óg, Ennis. He missed the 2019 National Hurling League as he was awarded a

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in the US.

Playing career

Inter-county

O'Donnell made his senior debut during the pre-season

in 2013. It was a successful campaign for Clare, as a 1-21 to 1-13 defeat of Tipperary gave O'Donnell a winners' medal in that competition. Later that year he made his championship debut at left corner-forward in a Munster quarter-final defeat of

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 ...

. The rest of the championship campaign saw O'Donnell dropped from the starting fifteen for several games, however, he was a late addition at full-forward for Clare's All-Ireland final replay against

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 * ...

. His selection seemed surprising but was justified, as O'Donnell scored a hat-trick of goals in the first nineteen minutes of the game. Further goals from Conor McGrath and Darach Honan secured a 5-16 to 3-16 victory following a classic championship decider. The win gave O'Donnell an

medal, while he was also named

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

. In October 2013, O'Donnell won the Opel Player of the Month Award for September. In June 2021, he received a heavy blow when training with the Clare team that left him with a serious concussion. It ruled him out of the

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 ...

Championship. He returned to the Clare panel in March 2022. On 21 July

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, he started in the full-forward line as Clare won the

for the first time in 11 years after an extra-time win against

by 3-29 to 1-34, claiming their fifth All-Ireland title. O'Donnell won his third All Star and was selected as GAA/GPA Hurler of the Year at the end of the 2024 season.

Personal life

O’Donnell completed his degree in UCC where he was a Quercus Scholar. He completed a PhD in

Microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

in 2021. Between 2018 and 2019, he spent six months in

as the recipient of a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

scholarship.

Career statistics

Honours

;Clare *

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): 2013, 2024 *

(2):

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 ...

(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 ...

* All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship (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 ...

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 ...

(2):

* Munster Minor Hurling Championship (1) :

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

;Awards * All-Star Award (3): 2022, 2023, 2024 * GAA/GPA Hurler of the Year (1): 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 (3): 2022, 2023, 2024 *''The Sunday Game'' Hurler of the Year: 2024 *All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final Man of the Match (1): 2013 (replay)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ODonnell, Shane 1994 births Living people Éire Óg, Inis hurlers Clare inter-county hurlers All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners 21st-century Irish sportsmen