NICK O'DONNELL

'Nick O'Donnell' (1925-1988) is a former Irish sportsperson who played hurling with Wexford in the 1950s. He is regarded as the greatest full-back player of all-time.

Contents

Early life

Playing career

Wexford

Leinster

Retirement

Teams

See also

References

Early life

Nick O'Donnell was born in Graiguenamanagh, County Kilkenny in 1925. He was educated locally and started playing hurling at a young age. He later joined the Éire Óg club in Kilkenny where his skills were nurtured and developed further. In 1946 O’Donnell was a member of the Kilkenny panel that won the All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship after defeating Galway and London. The following year he became a member of the Kilkenny senior panel. That year Kilkenny defeated Cork in a thrilling All-Ireland final, however, since O’Donnell was only a non-playing substitute he got no All-Ireland medal.

Playing career

Wexford

In 1950 O’Donnell moved to Enniscorthy in County Wexford where he worked with Roadstone Ltd. Here he joined the local St. Aidan's GAA club, where he was quickly spotted by the Wexford inter-county selectors. By the end of 1950 O’Donnell was informed that there was no place for him on either the Kilkenny senior team or the Leinster Railway Cup team. As a result of this he joined the Wexford senior hurling team, making his debut against Dublin in 1951. That year he won his first Leinster medal, however, Tipperary accounted for O’Donnell’s side in the All-Ireland final.
Three years later in 1954 O’Donnell won his second Leinster medal, however, a record crowd of almost 85,000 saw Cork claim victory in the All-Ireland final. In the game itself O’Donnell had to retire early with a broken collar bone following an encounter with Christy Ring. In 1955 O’Donnell was captain of Wexford and won his third Leinster title. In the All-Ireland final Wexford beat Galway by 8-points to win there first All-Ireland title in 45 years. It was O’Donnell’s first All-Ireland title.
In 1956 O’Donnell won his first National Hurling League and his fourth Leinster title. Wexford’s opponents in the All-Ireland final were once again Cork. The game itself is remembered for Art Foley’s great save of a Christy Ring shot, thus denying the Cork man his ninth All-Ireland medal. Wexford went on to win the game by 2-14 to 2-8 and O’Donnell had captured his second All-Ireland medal. It would be 1960 before O’Donnell captured his fifth provincial medal, however, he did win another National league medal in 1958. In the 1960 All-Ireland final against Tipperary O’Donnell, who was captain again, had a superb game at full-back. At the age of 35 he had masterminded the hurling upset of the decade and had captured his third All-Ireland medal in the process. Not only that but he was also presented with the Texaco Hurler of the Year award. Shortly afterwards he retired from inter-county hurling.

Leinster

In 1956, having previously been told that there was no place for him on the team, O’Donnell took over the full-back position on the Leinster inter-provincial team. That year he captained his province to victory, and was accompanied on the team by nine of his fellow Wexford players. He continued to play with Leinster until 1961, however, Munster were the dominant force in the Railway Cup at the rime.

Retirement

Away from the playing fields O’Donnell was regarded as a quiet and a shy individual. In 1984 he was back in the limelight again when he was named in the full-back position on the Gaelic Athletic Association’s Hurling Team of the Century. His reputation as the undisputed greatest full-back of all-time was further cemented in 2000 when he was named in the No.3 position on the Hurling Team of the Millennium.

Teams

See also

★ List of people on stamps of Ireland

References

★ Brendan Fullam, ''Captains of the Ash'', (Wolfhound Press, 2004)