John Donnelly (born 4 March 1998) is an Irish hurler who plays for Kilkenny Intermediate Championship club Thomastown and at inter-county level with the Kilkenny senior hurling team. He usually lines out as a centre-forward.[2]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Irish name | Seán Ó Donnaile | ||
| Sport | Hurling | ||
| Position | Centre-forward | ||
| Born | 4 March 1998 Waterford, Ireland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0[1] in (1.83 m) | ||
| Occupation | Student | ||
| Club(s) | |||
| Years | Club | ||
| Thomastown | |||
| Club titles | |||
| Kilkenny titles | 0 | ||
| Colleges(s) | |||
| Years | College | ||
2016-present | DCU Dóchas Éireann | ||
| College titles | |||
| Fitzgibbon titles | 0 | ||
| Inter-county(ies)* | |||
| Years | County | Apps (scores) | |
2017-present | Kilkenny | 18 (0-22) | |
| Inter-county titles | |||
| Leinster titles | 4 | ||
| All-Irelands | 0 | ||
| NHL | 1 | ||
| All Stars | 0 | ||
| *Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 22:02, 17 July 2021. | |||
Playing career
DCU Dóchas Éireann
As a student at Dublin City University, Donnelly immediately became involved in hurling and joined the college's freshers' hurling team in his first year. On 2 March 2017, he was selected at full-forward when Dublin City University faced the University of Limerick in the All-Ireland freshers' final. Donnelly was held scoreless but ended the game with a winners' medal following the 1-15 to 1-13 extra-time victory.[3]
Thomastown
Donnelly joined the Thomastown club at a young age and played in all grades at juvenile and underage levels before eventually joining the club's top adult team in the Kilkenny Intermediate Championship.
Kilkenny
Minor and under-21
Donnelly first lined out for Kilkenny as a member of the minor team during the 2015 Leinster Championship. He made his first appearance for the team on 25 April 2015 when he scored two points from play in a 1-18 to 1-17 extra-time defeat of Wexford. On 5 July 2015, Donnelly won a Leinster Championship medal after scoring two points from play in a 1-17 to 1-15 defeat of Dublin in the final.[4]
Donnelly was eligible for the minor grade for a second consecutive year in 2016. He made his last appearance for the team on 14 May 2016 in a 2-18 to 1-19 defeat by Dublin.[5]
Donnelly progressed onto the Kilkenny under-21 for the 2017 Leinster Championship. He made his first appearance for the team on 31 May 2017 when he lined out in a 0-21 to 0-16 defeat of Dublin.[6] Donnelly won a Leinster Championship medal on 5 July 2017 after scoring two points from play in Kilkenny's 0-30 to 1-15 defeat of Wexford in the final.[7] On 9 September 2017, he scored a point from centre-forward when Kilkenny suffered a 0-17 to 0-11 defeat by Limerick in the All-Ireland final.[8]
Donnelly was eligible for the under-21 grade for a second consecutive year in 2018. He made his last appearance for the team on 20 June 2018 in a 3-13 to 1-17 defeat by Galway.[9]
Senior
Donnelly joined the Kilkenny senior team at the start of the 2017 season. He was an unused substitute throughout the National League, Leinster Championship and All-Ireland Championship campaigns.
On 27 January 2018, Donnelly made his first appearance for the Kilkenny senior team. He was introduced as a 43rd-minute substitute for Conor Martin in a 1-24 to 0-24 defeat by Cork in the National League.[10] On 8 April 2018, Donnelly was selected at left wing-forward when Kilkenny faced Tipperary in the National League final. He scored two points from play and collected a winners' medal following the 2-23 to 2-17 victory.[11] Donnelly was selected on the bench when Kilkenny faced Galway in the Leinster final on 1 July 2018. He was introduced as a substitute for Richie Leahy in the 0-18 apiece draw.[12] Donnelly broke onto the starting fifteen at right wing-forward for the replay a week later, however, he was substituted by Luke Scanlon in the 1-28 to 3-15 defeat.[13]
On 30 June 2019, Donnelly was listed amongst the substitutes when Kilkenny faced Wexford in the Leinster final. He remained on the bench for the entire game which Kilkenny lost by 1-23 to 0-23.[14]
Career statistics
- As of 13 February 2022
| Team | Year | National League | Leinster | All-Ireland | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Score | Apps | Score | Apps | Score | Apps | Score | ||
| Kilkenny | 2017 | Division 1A | 0 | 0-00 | 0 | 0-00 | 0 | 0-00 | 0 | 0-00 |
| 2018 | 7 | 0-09 | 6 | 0-07 | 1 | 0-01 | 14 | 0-17 | ||
| 2019 | 6 | 0-04 | 3 | 0-02 | 3 | 0-06 | 12 | 0-12 | ||
| 2020 | Division 1B | 3 | 0-05 | 2 | 0-03 | 1 | 0-02 | 6 | 0-10 | |
| 2021 | 4 | 0-04 | 2 | 0-01 | 0 | 0-00 | 6 | 0-05 | ||
| 2022 | 2 | 0-09 | 0 | 0-00 | 0 | 0-00 | 2 | 0-09 | ||
| Total | 22 | 0-31 | 13 | 0-13 | 5 | 0-09 | 40 | 0-53 | ||
Honours
- DCU Dóchas Éireann
- All-Ireland Freshers' Hurling Championship: 2017
- Kilkenny