Michael Kavanagh

For the plane crash victim, see United Airlines Flight 585.

For other people named similarly, see Michael Cavanaugh (disambiguation).

Michael Kavanagh

Personal information
Irish name	Mícheál Caomhánach
Sport	Hurling
Position	Right corner-back
Born	6 April 1979 (1979-04-06) (age 32) Freshford, County Kilkenny
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Nickname	Mick
Occupation	Financial advisor
Club(s)
Years	Club
1997-present	St. Lachtain's
Club Titles
Kilkenny titles	0
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County	Apps (scores)
1998-present	Kilkenny	48 (0-1)[1]
Inter-county titles
Leinster titles	11
All Irelands	8
NHL	5
All Stars	4

Michael Kavanagh (born 6 April 1979 in Freshford, County Kilkenny) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club St. Lachtain's and has a member of the Kilkenny senior inter-county team since 1998.

Biography

Mick Kavanagh was born in Freshford, County Kilkenny in 1979. He was educated locally at St. Lachtain's national school and later attended St. Kieran's College in Kilkenny, a famous nursery for young hurling talent. Here his hurling skills were nurtured and developed and he won an All-Ireland colleges' winners' medal with the school. Kavanagh later studied at the Waterford Institute of Technology. Here he played on the college's senior hurling team, winning back-to-back Fitzgibbon Cup titles in 1999 and 2000.

Kavanagh currently works as a financial advisor with Royal Liver.

Playing career

Club

Kavanagh plays his club hurling with St. Lachtain's Gaelic Athletic Association club.

Inter-county

Kavanagh first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Kilkenny minor hurling team in the mid-1990s. He won back-to-back Leinster titles at this level in 1996 and 1997, however, Kilkenny were beaten at the semi-final stage of the All-Ireland series in both years. Kavanagh was later drafted into the Kilkenny under-21 team. Here he won successive Leinster titles again in 1998 and 1999. He also won a coveted All-Ireland medal in this grade in 1999.

By this stage Kavanagh had already made his senior debut for Kilkenny. He won his first Leinster title in 1998 after a defeat of Offaly in the provincial final. The two sides later met again in the All-Ireland final, however, a rejuvenated Offaly came back and defeated Kavanagh’s side in the championship decider. In 1999 Kavanagh won a second Leinster title following a comprehensive victory over the All-Ireland champions. He later lined out in his second consecutive All-Ireland final, with arch-rivals Cork providing the opposition. In an unexciting championship decider a Cork team, with an average age of 22, came back from four-points down to win the game by the narrowest of margins. In 2000 Kavanagh captured a third Leinster title as Kilkenny steamrolled Offaly once again in the provincial final. The two sides later met in the All-Ireland final, however, two goals from Henry Shefflin helped ‘the Cats’ to secure a huge victory in one of the most one-sided finals in decades. Kavanagh had just captured his first All-Ireland medal. In 2001 he added a fourth successive Leinster medal to his collection as Kilkenny completely overpowered Wexford in the final. After such a huge win ‘the Cats’ were hot favourites to retain the title, however, Kilkenny were outsmarted by Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final. ‘The Cats’ bounced back in 2002 with Kavanagh claiming a first National Hurling League medal. He subsequently claimed yet another Leinster title before later lining out in a fourth All-Ireland final. Clare, who were defeated in the first-round of the Munster championship but had made it to the final via the newly introduced qualifier system, put up a good fight. A combined tally of 2-13 for Henry Shefflin and D.J. Carey gave Kilkenny a seven-point victory. Shortly after collecting his second All-Ireland medal Kavanagh was also presented with a first All-Star award.

In 2003 Kavanagh captured a second National League title before later winning a sixth consecutive Leinster medal. Kilkenny later faced Cork in an exciting and close All-Ireland final. The Leinstermen never led by more than four-points and only secured victory with a late Martin Comerford goal. Kavanagh won his third All-Ireland medal that day and later collected a second All-Star award. In 2004 Kilkenny were aiming for an unprecedented third All-Ireland victory in-a-row, however, the team was now under severe pressure from all quarters. For the first time in seven years Kilkenny failed in their bid to become Leinster champions as a last-gasp Wexford goal ended an almost unprecedented run of success. Kilkenny took the scenic route via the qualifiers system, however, after a scare against Clare they still reached the All-Ireland final. Once again Cork provided the opposition on a gloomy and overcast day. The sides were level for much of the game, however, in the final twenty minutes Cork scored nine points without reply and secured the victory. Kilkenny ended the year with no silverware. Kilkenny were back in form in 2005 with Kavanagh adding a third National League medal to his ever-growing collection. He later won a seventh Leinster title as ‘the Cats’ had a narrow win over reigning provincial champions Wexford. While a third successive All-Ireland showdown with Cork seemed extremely likely, Galway defeated Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final in one of the game’s of the decade. In 2006 Kavanagh captured his fourth National League title in a close victory over Limerick. He later won his eighth Leinster title before lining out in the All-Ireland final once again. 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 and Kavanagh played a huge role in capturing Kilkenny's 29th title and his own fourth All-Ireland medal.

In 2007 Kilkenny proved that their All-Ireland final victory the previous year was far from a flash in the pan. That year Kavanagh added yet another Leinster title to his collection following a defeat of Wexford. A second consecutive All-Ireland final appearance beckoned with surprise semi-final winners Limerick providing the opposition. Kilkenny got off to a flying start with Eddie Brennan and Henry Shefflin scoring two goals within the first ten minutes. Unfortunately, inspirational forward Shefflin sustained an injury during the game and had to retire at half-time. In spite of losing their captain and being outscored in the final sixty minutes, Kilkenny still went on to win the game by 2-19 to 1-15.^[2] It was Kavanagh's fifth All-Ireland winners' medal. A third All-Star award quickly followed, his first in four years.

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 Kavanagh collected a tenth 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 that failed to live up to expectations; however, Kilkenny claimed a 1-23 to 0-17 victory nonetheless. 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 and recorded an enormous 3-30 to 1-13 victory over their near neighbours. A near perfect performance gave Kavanagh his sixth All-Ireland medal.^[3] A fourth All-Star award soon followed.

At the start of 2009 Kilkenny proved that their status as possibly the greatest team of all-time was well-deserved when they cruised into the final of the National League. Tipperary provided the opposition and attacked and harassed 'the Cats' from the throw-in. The Munster men stormed into a decisive lead as they took the game by the scruff of the neck; however, ‘the Cats’ clawed their way back into the game. At the end of normal time both sides were level. A period of extra-time followed, however, in spite of a 2-26 to 4-17 defeat, Tipp were widely lauded for their performance. It was Kavanagh's fifth winners' medal in hurling's secondary competition.^[4] The subsequent championship campaign went to plan, with Kilkenny reaching yet another provincial final. Dublin, the new kids on the block, were the opponents and another test of Kilkenny took place. 'The Cats' kept a clean-sheet once again and a 2-18 to 0-18 victory gave Kavanagh a remarkable eleventh Leinster winners' medal in twelve seasons.^[5] An exciting semi-final victory over Waterford allowed KIlkenny to advance to a fourth consecutive All-Ireland final and the chance to achieve hurling immortality. That game was a replay of the National League final, with Tipperary providing the opposition. For much of the match it looked as if Tipp would pull off a shock and deny 'the Cats' a record-equaling four-in-a-row. Goalkeeper P. J. Ryan gave a remarkable display of his often under-appreciated goalkeeping skills and denied Tipperary four goal chances. The game was characterised by tit-for-tat scores, however, two quick goals, one from a Henry Shefflin penalty and one from play by Martin Comerford, sealed a 2-22 to 0-23 victory. With that Kilkenny became the second team to capture four All-Ireland titles in-a-row in hurling.^[6] It was Kavanagh's seventh All-Ireland winners' medal on the field of play, just one away from the all-time record held by Christy Ring and John Doyle.

On September 8, 2010 it was announced that Kavanagh alongside his team-mate James Ryall were retiring from Inter-county following the defeat by Tipperary however, it was later confirmed that Kavanagh retirement news was considered to be misquoted.

Inter-provincial

Kavanagh has also won three Railway Cup medals with Leinster.

Honours

Team awards

Kilkenny

• All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship:
  • Winner (8): 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
  • Runner-up (4): 1998, 1999, 2004, 2010
• Leinster Senior Hurling Championship:
  • Winner (12): 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
• National Hurling League:
  • Winner (5): 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009
  • Runner-up (2): 2007, 2011
• Walsh Cup:
  • Winner (4): 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009

References

1. ^ "Kilkenny panel championship appearance's and scores". Kilkenny GAA. http://kilkennygaa.ie/index.php?page=championshipappearances.php. Retrieved 2009-09-08. 
2. ^ "RTÉ Sport: Kilkenny 2-19 Limerick 1-15, by Tomás McCarthy". RTÉ Sport. 2007-09-03. http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2007/0903/tomamccarthy.html. Retrieved 2008-09-17. 
3. ^ "Kilkenny 3-30 Waterford 1-13 matchtracker". RTÉ Sport. 2008-09-07. http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2008/0907/kilkenny_waterford_tracker.html. Retrieved 2008-09-17. 
4. ^ "RTÉ Sport GAA Championship: Kilkenny 2-26 Tipperary 4-17 (AET)". RTÉ Sport. 2009-05-03. http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2009/0503/kilkenny_tipperary.html. Retrieved 2009-07-29. 
5. ^ "RTÉ Sport: GAA - Kilkenny 2-18 Dublin 0-18". RTÉ Sport. 2009-07-07. http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2009/0705/kilkenny_dublin.html. Retrieved 2009-09-07. 
6. ^ "RTÉ Sport: GAA - As it Happened: Kilkenny 2-22 Tipperary 0-23". RTÉ Sport. 2009-09-06. http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2009/0906/matchtracker.html. Retrieved 2009-09-07. 

Achievements
Preceded by Andy Comerford (Leinster)	Railway Cup Hurling Final winning captain 2003	Succeeded by Ollie Fahy (Connacht)

Teams

Persondata
Name	Kavanagh, Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	6 April 1979
Place of birth	Freshford
Date of death
Place of death