Pat Fleury

Infobox GAA player
code= Hurling
sport = Hurling


name = Pat Fleury
irish = Pádraig Ó Fíobhra
fullname = Pat Fleury
placeofbirth = Drumcullen
countryofbirth = County Offaly
bday=18
bmonth=5
byear= 1956
feet = 6
inches = 0
occupation = Secondary teacher
county = Offaly
province = Leinster
club = Drumcullen
clposition = Corner-back
clubs =
clyears =
clapps(points) =
clcounty =
clprovince=
clallireland =
counties = Offaly
icposition = Corner-back
icyears = 1975-1986
icapps(points) =
icprovince = 4
icallireland = 2
allstars =
clupdate =
icupdate =

Pat Fleury (born 18 May, 1956 in Drumcullen, County Offaly) is a retired Irish hurling manager and former player. He played hurling with his local club Drumcullen and with the Offaly senior inter-county team from 1975 until 1986. Fleury captained Offaly to the All-Ireland title in 1985. He later served as manager of the Offaly senior inter-county team from 1999 until 2000.

Biography

Pat Fleury was born in the parish of Drumcullen, County Offaly in 1956. He was educated at the local national school and later attended the Presentation School in Birr. Here Fleury’s skills were first developed as he came under the influence of hurling enthusiasts Brother Denis, Brother Cronin and Michael Queally. Under their tutelage he enjoyed a lot of underage success before winning an All-Ireland ‘B’ Colleges title in 1973. [cite book| first=Brendan| last=Fullam| title=Captains of the Ash| publisher=Wolfhound Press| year=2002| id= | pages=41] Fleury later studied at University College Galway (UCG) where he played on the college hurling team. Here he won a Fitzgibbon Cup title in 1977 as UCG defeated Maynooth in the final. Fleury’s team mates on that UCG panel included Conor Hayes, Joe Connolly Cyril Farrell and Joe McDonagh, three of whom would later captain All-Ireland winning teams in the 1980s. [cite book| first=Des| last=Donegan| title=The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games| publisher=DBA Publications| year=2005| id= | pages=250] Fleury later worked as a secondary school teacher at St. Michael’s CBS in Limerick.

Fleury has also turned his hand to media work. He frequently works as a hurling pundit and co-commentator for furling games on TG4. He also trained the ‘Underdogs’ team for the TG4 reality programme of the same name.

Playing career

Club

Fleury played his club hurling with his local club in Drumcullen.

Inter-county

Fleury first came to prominence on the inter-county scene while still attending university in the 1970s. He played for Offaly at both minor and under-21 levels, however, he had little success in either of these grades.

Fleury made his senior debut for his native-county in a Walsh Cuyp game against Kilkenny in 1975. At the time Offaly had to play second fiddle to both Wexford and Kilkenny in the Leinster championship. Towards the late 1970s Offaly gained promotion to Division 1 of the National Hurling League before later making great strides in the provincial championship.

Everything changed for Offaly and for Fleury in 1980 with the appointment of Dermot Healy as coach of the senior inter-county team. He placed great emphasis on returning to the simple skills of the game, something which became a trademark of Offaly’s hurling style. ["Captains of the Ash" p. 42] That year Fleury lined out in his first Leinster final. It was only Offaly’s sixth appearance in the provincial decider; however, the Offaly supporters and the hurling world at large expected yet another win for reigning All-Ireland champions Kilkenny. Fleury’s side were well prepared for the game and at half-time they only trailed by 3-6 to 1-10. At the full-time whistle Offaly were the winners by the incredible score line of 3-17 to 5-10. Not only was it Fleury’s first Leinster title but it was also Offaly’s first provincial triumph. The victory was tinged with sadness, however, as Tommy Horan, father of Offaly star Pádraig Horan, died at his home while listening to the match. ["Captains of the Ash" p. 43] The subsequent All-Ireland semi-final saw Offaly take on Galway, however, it was apparent that in winning the Leinster final the Offaly team had reached the peak of their ambition. Victory went to Galway on that occasion by 4-9 to 3-10. ["The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games" p. 7]

In spite of defeat in the All-Ireland series in 1980 Offaly bounced back and reached the Leinster final for the second consecutive year in 1981. Wexford provided the opposition on that occasion, however, Fleury’s side were very much on the up at the time. A narrow 3-12 to 2-13 victory gave Offaly the win and gave Fleury a second consecutive Leinster winner’s medal. Furthermore, this victory allowed Offaly to advance directly to the All-Ireland final where Galway, the reigning champions, were the opponents. An exciting game developed between these two breakthrough hurling teams with both sides exchanging tit-for-tat scores. After fourteen minutes Pat Carroll scored the opening goal of the game for Offaly, however, neither side built up a strong lead. Straight after the interval goalkeeper Damien Martin was doing great work when he batted out an almost certain Galway goal. With just over twenty minutes left in the game Galway led by six points, however, the team failed to score for the rest of the match. Offaly, on the other hand, ate into this lead. Johnny Flaherty’s hand-passed goal with three minutes was the deciding score of the game. At the full-time whistle Offaly were the winners by 2-12 to 0-15. [cite book| first=Eoghan| last=Corry| title=The GAA Book of Lists| publisher=Hodder Headline| year=2005| id= | pages=360] There were great scenes of joy at Croke Park as Offaly and Fleury celebrated their very first All-Ireland title.

Offaly were outclassed by Kilkenny in back-to-back Leinster finals in 1982 and 1983, however, the men from the ‘faithful county’ were back in 1984 with Fleury as captain. That year he guided his team to a fifth consecutive appearance in the provincial final. Wexford provided the opposition on that occasion and another close game developed. At the full-time whistle Offaly were the winners by 1-15 to 2-11. A single point victory gave Fleury his third Leinster winners’ medal. A subsequent 4-15 to 1-10 defeat of Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final allowed Offaly to advance to the centenary All-Ireland final at Semple Stadium in Thurles. On the day, however, Cork were far too strong for Fleury’s team. Although far from being a classic game Offaly were defeated by 3-16 to 1-12. ["The GAA Book of Lists" p. 361]

In 1985 Fleury was appointed captain of the team once again. That year he steered his team into a sixth consecutive provincial decider. Surprisingly, Laois provided the opposition on that occasion. Offaly justified their favourites tag for that game and won easily by 5-15 to 0-17. The ability to get goals at crucial times gave Fleury a fourth Leinster medal and the honour of lifting the Bob O’Keeffe Cup for the second consecutive year. A fourteen-point trouncing of Antrim in the All-Ireland semi-final allowed Fleury’s men to advance to the All-Ireland final. Galway were the opponents on that occasion and another tense game ensued. Once again it was Offaly’s goal-scoring ability that proved crucial. Pat Cleary scored the first of the day after twenty-five minutes of play and got his second less than half a minute after the restart. Joe Dooley had a goal disallowed half-way through the second-half while a long Joe Cooney effort, which seemed to cross the goal line, was not given. P.J. Molloy was Galway’s goal scorers, however, the day belonged to Offaly. ["The GAA Book of Lists" p. 361-362] A 2-11 to 1-12 victory gave Fleury his second All-Ireland medal and the honour of becoming the second Offaly man to lift the Liam McCarthy Cup.

In 1986 Offaly lined out in an impressive seventh Leinster decider in-a-row. Kilkenny were the opponents on that occasion, however, Offaly were now a team in decline. A 4-10 to 1-11 score line gave victory to ‘the Cats’ and knocked Offaly out of the championship. Fleury retired from inter-county hurling following this defeat.

Provincial

Fleury also lined out with Leinster in the inter-provincial hurling competition. He first came to prominence with his province in 1981 as Leinster took on Munster in the Railway Cup final. A ten-point defeat was Fleury’s lot on that occasion. Fleury was picked on the Leinster team again in 1982. Connacht provided the opposition in the final that year and, once again, Fleury ended up on the losing side. Two years later in 1984 he was the left corner-back on the Leinster team that faced Munster in the final again. Unfortunately, Fleury’s side faced a 1-18 to 2-9 defeat once again.

Managerial career

All through his life Fleury has been dedicated to the coaching and training of various hurling teams. His first stint as a coach began when he was in second year in University College Galway. Fleury coached the first-year hurling team to both league and championship successes in the mid-1970s. ["Captains of the Ash" p. 42] As a teacher Fleury also took charge of various teams at St. Michael’s CBS in Limerick. He guided the school to the Dr. Harty Cup final in 1984; however, the team was defeated by St. Finbarr’s of Cork in a replay. Success was slow in coming, however, Fleury was persistent. In 1993 his side triumphed and won the Harty Cup title for the first time since 1967 and for the tenth time in all. ["Captains of the Ash" p. 42] St. Michael’s were later defeated by Gort in the All-Ireland semi-final.

In late 1999 Fleury succeeded Michael Bond as manager of the Offaly senior hurling team. After a solid provincial campaign Offaly later qualified for the Leinster final. Kilkenny provided the opposition on that occasion and something of a rout ensued. ‘The Cats’ won that game by 2-21 to 1-13. This defeat did not mark the end of Offaly’s campaign as the ‘back-door system’ gave Fleury’s side a second chance to capture the All-Ireland title. A narrow defeat of Derry in the All-Ireland quarter-final set up an All-Ireland semi-final meeting with Cork. ‘The Rebels’ were the red-hot favourites going into the game, however, Fleury’s side pulled off a huge shock and won the game by four points. This victory set up an All-Ireland final meeting with Kilkenny. The championship decider, however, turned out to be one of the most one-sided finals in decades. A goal-scoring spree by the Kilkenny forwards resulted in a 5-15 to 1-14 defeat for Offaly. Fleury subsequently resigned as manager.

References

Teams