Conor Whelan (born 31 October 1996) is an Irish hurler who plays as a right corner forward for club side Kinvara and at inter-county level for the Galway senior hurling team.
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Irish name | Conchúir Ó Faoláin | ||
| Sport | Hurling | ||
| Position | Right corner-forward | ||
| Born |
31 October 1996 Kinvara, County Galway, Ireland | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Nickname | Whelo | ||
| Occupation | Student | ||
| Club(s) | |||
| Years | Club | ||
2013–present | Kinvara | ||
| Club titles | |||
| Galway titles | 0 | ||
| Colleges(s) | |||
| Years | College | ||
| University of Galway | |||
| College titles | |||
| Fitzgibbon titles | 0 | ||
| Inter-county(ies)* | |||
| Years | County | Apps (scores) | |
2015–present | Galway | 44 (16-106) | |
| Inter-county titles | |||
| Leinster titles | 2 | ||
| All-Irelands | 1 | ||
| NHL | 2 | ||
| All Stars | 2 | ||
| *Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 21:29, 3 September 2023. | |||
Playing career
editUniversity of Galway
editAs a student at the University of Galway, Whelan has been a regular player on the university's senior hurling team in the Fitzgibbon Cup.[1]
Kinvara
editWhelan joined the Kinvara club at a young age and played in all grades at juvenile and underage levels before joining the club's intermediate team.[citation needed]
Galway
editMinor and under-21
editWhelan first played for Galway as a member of the minor hurling team on 28 July 2013. He made his first appearance in a 1-19 to 0-13 All-Ireland quarter-final defeat of Laois.[2] On 8 September 2013, Whelan was at right corner-forward in Galway's 1-21 to 0-16 defeat by Waterford in the All-Ireland final at Croke Park.[3]
Whelan's second and final season with the Galway minor team ended with a 1-27 to 2-09 All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Limerick on 17 August 2014.[4]
As a member of the Galway under-21 hurling team, Whelan made his first appearance on 22 August 2015 in a 1-20 to 0-17 All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Limerick.[5]
On 10 September 2016, Whelan scored two points in a 5-15 to 0-14 defeat by Waterford in the All-Ireland final.[6]
Whelan ended the 2017 championship by being named on the Bord Gáis Energy Team of the Year.[7]
Intermediate
editOn 1 July 2015, Whelan made his first appearance for the Galway intermediate hurling team.[8] He later won a Leinster Championship medal following Galway's 1-20 to 0-11 defeat of Wexford in the final.[9]
Senior
editWhelan made his debut for the Galway senior team on 26 July 2015, scoring 1-02 from play in a 2-28 to 0-22 All-Ireland quarter-final defeat of Cork.[10][11] On 6 September 2015, Whelan scored two points from right wing-forward in a 1-22 to 1-18 defeat by Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final.[12]
On 23 April 2017, Whelan scored five points from play when Galway defeated Tipperary by 3-21 to 0-14 to win the National Hurling League.[13] Later that season he won his first Leinster Championship medal after Galway's 0-29 to 1-17 defeat of Wexford in the final.[14] On 3 September 2017, Whelan started for Galway at right corner-forward when they won their first All-Ireland in 29 years after a 0-26 to 2-17 defeat of Waterford in the final.[15] He ended the season by winning an All-Star award as well as being named All Stars Young Hurler of the Year.[16]
On 8 July 2018, Whelan won a second successive Leinster Championship medal following Galway's 1-28 to 3-15 defeat of Kilkenny in the final.[17] On 19 August 2018, he scored a goal from right corner-forward in Galway's 3-16 to 2-18 All-Ireland final defeat by Limerick.[18]
Career statistics
edit- As of match played 8 July 2023.
| Team | Year | National League | Leinstser | All-Ireland | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Score | Apps | Score | Apps | Score | Apps | Score | ||
| Galway | 2015 | Division 1A | 0 | 0-00 | 0 | 0-00 | 3 | 1-06 | 3 | 1-06 |
| 2016 | 6 | 0-06 | 3 | 1-05 | 2 | 0-02 | 11 | 1-13 | ||
| 2017 | Division 1B | 7 | 3-12 | 3 | 0-12 | 2 | 0-05 | 12 | 3-29 | |
| 2018 | 5 | 2-05 | 6 | 2-13 | 3 | 1-06 | 14 | 5-24 | ||
| 2019 | 5 | 1-07 | 4 | 1-10 | — | 9 | 2-17 | |||
| 2020 | Division 1A | 5 | 3-06 | 2 | 0-06 | 1 | 0-01 | 8 | 3-13 | |
| 2021 | 5 | 2-11 | 1 | 1-02 | 1 | 0-03 | 7 | 3-16 | ||
| 2022 | 4 | 0-07 | 5 | 1-13 | 2 | 1-04 | 11 | 2-24 | ||
| 2023 | 4 | 1-04 | 6 | 6-11 | 2 | 1-07 | 12 | 8-22 | ||
| Total | 41 | 12-58 | 30 | 12-72 | 16 | 4-34 | 87 | 28-164 | ||
Honours
edit- Galway
- All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (1): 2017
- Leinster Senior Hurling Championship (2): 2017, 2018
- National Hurling League Division 1 (2): 2017, 2021
- Leinster Intermediate Hurling Championship (1): 2015
- Club
- Awards
- All Stars Young Hurler of the Year (1): 2017
- GAA GPA All Stars Awards (2): 2017, 2023
- The Sunday Game Team of the Year (2): 2017, 2023
References
edit- ^ Cormican, Eoghan (1 February 2018). "Fitzgibbon Cup previews". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- ^ Cahill, Jackie (29 July 2013). "Whelan strike turns tide as Tribesmen march on". Irish Independent. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
- ^ Fennessy, Paul (8 September 2013). "Waterford end 65-year wait for All-Ireland minor title". The 42. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
- ^ Kelly, Liam (18 August 2014). "Limerick's power surge shuts down outclassed Tribesmen". Irish Independent. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
- ^ "Limerick too good for Galway in Under-21 semi-final". Irish Times. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
- ^ "All-Ireland U21 HC final: dazzling Deise surge past Tribesmen". Hogan Stand. 10 September 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- ^ O'Toole, Fintan (2 October 2017). "Gillane the star man as Limerick, Kilkenny, Galway and Cork players make U21 team of the year". The 42. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
- ^ McDonald, Brian (1 July 2015). "Michael Rice returns - but it's first blood for Galway in a big week against Kilkenny". The 42. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
- ^ Dwyer, Michael (16 July 2015). "Senior stars shine in historic Leinster title win for Galway against the champions". The 42. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
- ^ Fallon, John (25 July 2015). "Galway hand debut to Whelan for Cork clash". Irish Independent. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
- ^ Fogarty, John (26 July 2015). "Galway untroubled by lacklustre Cork performance". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- ^ Moran, Seán (6 September 2015). "Clinical Kilkenny retain All-Ireland hurling title". Irish Times. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
- ^ Moran, Seán (24 April 2017). "Tipperary shellshocked as Galway storm to 10th league title". Irish Times. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
- ^ Clerkin, Malachy (2 July 2017). "Galway put down the Wexford revolution". Irish Times. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
- ^ "Emotions run high as Tribe end agonising 29-year wait". Irish Examiner. 4 September 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
- ^ "Andy Moran and Joe Canning are football and hurler of the year". Irish Examiner. 3 November 2017. Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
- ^ Fogarty, John (8 July 2018). "Galway hold their nerve against Kilkenny in Leinster final replay". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- ^ McGoldrick, Seán (19 August 2018). "Limerick are All Ireland hurling champions for the first time in 45 years following epic victory over Galway". Irish Independent. Retrieved 20 August 2018.