John O'Keeffe (born 17 November 1988) is an Irish hurler who currently plays as a right wing-back for the Tipperary senior team.[1]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Irish name | Seán Ó Caoimh | ||
| Sport | Hurling | ||
| Position | Right wing-back | ||
| Born | 17 November 1988 Clonoulty, County Tipperary, Ireland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||
| Occupation | Student | ||
| Club(s) | |||
| Years | Club | ||
2004-present | Clonoulty–Rossmore | ||
| Club titles | |||
| Tipperary titles | 1 | ||
| Inter-county(ies)* | |||
| Years | County | Apps (scores) | |
2011–2017 | Tipperary | 5 (0-00) | |
| Inter-county titles | |||
| Munster titles | 3 | ||
| All-Irelands | 1 | ||
| NHL | 0 | ||
| All Stars | 0 | ||
| *Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 15:02, 31 October 2012. | |||
O'Keeffe made his first appearance for the team during the 2011 National League and has become a regular player over the last few seasons. Since then he has won one Munster winners' medal. He has ended up as an All-Ireland runner-up on one occasion.
At club level O'Keeffe plays with the Clonoulty–Rossmore club.
Playing career
Club
O'Keeffe made his senior championship debut for Clonoulty–Rossmore in 2004.[citation needed]
He has enjoyed little success with the senior team, losing back-to-back championship deciders in 2010 and 2011.[2][3]
Inter-county
O'Keeffe first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Tipperary minor hurling team. He enjoyed much success in this grade as Tipperary reached the All-Ireland decider via the "back-door" in 2006. Three-in-a-row hopefuls Galway provided the opposition, however, Tipp powered to 2–18 to 2–7 victory.[4] It was O'Keeffe's sole All-Ireland medal in that grade.
O'Keeffe subsequently joined the Tipperary under-21 team. He won a Munster medal in this grade in his debut season following a controversial one-point defeat of Clare. Tipp later reached the All-Ireland, however, O'Keeffe's side were defeated by Kilkenny.[5]
In 2011 O'Keeffe made his senior debut for Tipp in a National Hurling League game against Waterford. His first championship start came later that year against Cork.[6] A 7-19 to 0-19 trouncing of Waterford in the subsequent provincial decider gave O'Keeffe his first Munster medal.[7] For the third successive year, Tipperary faced off against Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final, however, on this occasion Kilkenny were slight underdogs going up against the new champions. Kilkenny started quickly and never surrendered the lead in the 2-17 to 1-16 victory.[8]
O'Keeffe was dropped from Tipperary's starting fifteen in 2012 but remained on the extended panel of players. He announced his retirement from inter-county hurling in October 2017.[9]