Jackie Tyrrell

Infobox GAA player
code= Hurling
sport = Hurling


name = Jackie Tyrrell
irish = Seánie Ó Tirial
fullname = Jackie Tyrrell
placeofbirth = Kilkenny
countryofbirth = Ireland
bday=19
bmonth=6
byear= 1982
dyear=
dday=
dmonth=
feet = 6
inches = 2
nickname =
county = Kilkenny
province = Leinster
club = James Stephens
clposition = Midfield
clubs =
clyears =
clapps(points) =
clcounty = 2
clprovince= 2
clallireland = 1
counties = Kilkenny
icposition = Left corner-back
icyears = 2003-present
icapps(points) = 15 (0-1)
icprovince = 5
icallireland = 4
nhl = 2
allstars = 1
clupdate=
icupdate=

Jackie Tyrrell (born 19 June, 1982 in Kilkenny, Ireland) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club James Stephens and has been a member of the Kilkenny senior inter-county team since 2005. Tyrrell captained Kilkenny to the All-Ireland title in 2006.

Early life

Jackie Tyrrell was born in Kilkenny in 1982. He received his primary education locally before later attending St. Kieran's College, a famed hurling nursery in the city. It was here that Tyrrell's hurling skills were developed and nurtured by the many hurling enthusiasts there. He won back-to-back Leinster colleges' titles in 1999 and 2000. This latter victory was later converted into an All-Ireland colleges title after a defeat of Gort Community College. Tyrrell later studied at the Cork Institute of Technology and at the Limerick Institute of Technology. It was at the latter institution that he won a Fitzgibbon Cup medal on a team trained by Clare's Davy Fitzgerald. [cite web|url=http://www.lit.ie/news/FitzgibbonCup2007.htm |title=LIT - Winners of the Fitzgibbon Cup 2007|publisher=Limerick Institute of Technology|date=|accessdate=2008-09-17] Tyrrell won a second Fitzgibbon Cup title two years after his first in 2007. [cite web|url=http://www.lit.ie/news/FitzgibbonCup2007.htm |title=LIT - Winners of the Fitzgibbon Cup 2007|publisher=Limerick Institute of Technology|date=|accessdate=2008-09-17]

Playing career

Club

Tyrrell plays his club hurling with his local James Stephens GAA club. He has had much success at under-age levels with the famous club, known locally as 'the Village', including county titles at ubder-14, under-16, under-21 and junior. In 2004 Tyrrell tasted his first major success with the club when he captured his first senior county title. This was later converted into a Leinster club title over University College Dublin (UCD). The subsequent All-Ireland final on St. Patrick's Day, 2005 saw Tyrrell's side take on Athenry. A final score of 0-19 to 0-14 gave victory to 'the Village' and gave Tyrrell a first All-Ireland club medal. [cite web|url=http://www.james-stephens.com/pages/All%20Ireland%20Final%202005/all_ireland_club_hurling_2005.htm|title=All-Ireland Club Hurling Champions 2005|publisher=James Stephens|date=2005-03-17|accessdate=2008-09-17]

In 2005 Tyrrell had another successful year with the club when he added a second consecutive county medal to his collection following a victory over Ballyhale Shamrocks. James Stephens later represented Kilkenny in the provincial series of games. A second consecutive defeat of UCD gave Tyrrell a second Leinster club medal, however, James Stephens were later defeated in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Inter-county

Tyrrell first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Kilkenny under-21 hurling team in the early 2000s. In 2003 he was captain of the team when he collected his a Leinster title in that grade. Tyrrell later guided his team to an All-Ireland victory over Galway.

In 2003 Tyrrell joined the Kilkenny senior inter-county panel, however, it was 2006 before he secured a place on the starting fifteen. That year Tyrrell won his first senior National Hurling League medal. He subsequently captured his first senior Leinster title, however, Kilkenny were later defeated by Galway in a thrilling All-Ireland semi-final.

In 2006 Tyrrell was honoured by being appointed captain of the Kilkenny senior inter-county team for the year. He began the year by guiding his county to the National Hurling League title. This victory were followed by Tyrrell winning a second Leinster title before later lining out in his first All-Ireland final. The game that everyone had predicted would happen in 2005 was now taking place as Cork squared up to Kilkenny for the third time in four years. The Leesiders were aiming for a third All-Ireland victory in-a-row; however, revenge was foremost in the minds of Kilkenny as it was Cork who denied their three-in-a-row bid in 2004. On the day Kilkenny were far too strong for Cork with Tyrrell playing a captain's role to give his side a 1-16 to 1-13 victory. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/5306504.stm|title=Cork 1-13 1-16 Kilkenny|publisher=BBC Sport|date=2006-09-03|accessdate=2008-09-17] It was his first senior All-Ireland medal.

In 2007 Tyrrell collected a third Leinster medal in-a-row following another facile victory in the provincial decider. After a minor scare against Galway Kilkenny later qualified for the All-Ireland final where, surprisingly, Limerick provided the opposition. Kilkenny got off to a flying start with Eddie Brennan and Henry Shefflin scoring two goals within the first ten minutes. Unfortunately, Shefflin sustained an injury during the game and had to retire at half-time. In spite of losing their captain and star player Kilkenny still went on to win the game by 2-19 to 1-15. [cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2007/0903/tomamccarthy.html |title=RTÉ Sport: Kilkenny 2-19 Limerick 1-15, by Tomás McCarthy|publisher=RTÉ Sport|date=2007-09-03|accessdate=2008-09-17] It was Tyrrell's second consecutive All-Ireland medal. He was later presented with a coveted All-Star award.

2008 saw Kilkenny launch an all-out attack in an attempt to capture a third All-Ireland title in-a-row. The team had an easy passage through the Leinster Championship, however, the opening half of the provincial final against Wexford gave ‘the Cats’ another minor scare. In the end Tyrrell collected his fourth consecutive Leinster medal after a 5-21 to 0-17 victory. This victory allowed Kilkenny to advance directly to the All-Ireland semi-final where arch-rivals Cork were the opponents. The game was an interesting encounter; however, Kilkenny claimed a 1-23 to 0-17 victory. The subsequent All-Ireland final saw Kilkenny take on Waterford. It was their first meeting in the championship decider since 1963. A classic game of hurling was expected by many, however, Kilkenny started stronger. Two goals by Eddie Brennan after twenty minutes effectively killed the game, however, ‘the Cats’ ploughed on to record an enormous 3-30 to 1-13 victory.Jackie has stated that throughout the three in a row years there has been two men who have taken him to where he is now, these two men are, A stallwarth of Carlow Gaa David Grath and Nigel "Noddy" Daly, Jackie has been quoted as saying the following " Davids Guidance and indepth knowledge of GAA circles nationally has been instrumental in my achievements such as the three in a row and All Star Awards of recent years," Nigel has been a great source of hurling knowledge and jackie himself has been quoted as saying " Nigel helps me prepare for all the big games and is heavily involved in my preparation for matches, he leaves no stone unturned" [cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2008/0907/kilkenny_waterford_tracker.html|title=Kilkenny 3-30 Waterford 1-13 matchtracker|publisher=RTÉ Sport|date=2008-09-07|accessdate=2008-09-17]

ources

* Corry, Eoghan, "The GAA Book of Lists" (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).
* Donegan, Des, "The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games" (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).

References

Teams