Cork hurling All-Stars: Darragh Fitzgibbon and Eoin Downey head list of 10 nominees

Cork’s Darragh Fitzgibbon and Eoin Downey have been nominated for individual honours and are among ten Cork nominees for GAA/GAA All-Star Awards.

Charleville man Fitzgibbon, who produced a number of strong performances at midfield during Cork’s run to the All-Ireland SHC final and was named player of the month for May, is one of three on the shortlist for the hurler of the year award. Also chosen are Clare’s Shane O’Donnell and Limerick’s Kyle Hayes.

Meanwhile, 21-year-old Downey, of Glen Rovers, who made the full-back spot on Pat Ryan’s team his own during the campaign, has been selected as one of the three in line for the young hurler of the year accolade. The other players in the running for that award are Adam Hogan of Clare and Cathal O’Neill of Limerick.

Cork’s haul of 10 All-Star nominees is the most since 2005, the last year the county won the All-Ireland – on that occasion, 11 Rebels were in the mix. In both 2013 and 2021 – Cork’s last two final appearances before this year – there were nine nominees.

In that latter year, Cork infamously became the first beaten finalists not to receive any All-Star award and so Patrick Horgan in 2019 remains the last player from the county to win one.

Goalkeeper Patrick Collins was one of those nominated in 2021 and he is again in the running, with Nickie Quaid of Limerick and Clare’s Eibhear Quilligan. While early Munster SHC defeats to Waterford and Clare led to criticism, the Ballinhassig man’s puckouts played a big part in the win over Limerick in May and he improved from there, making some key saves as well.

Eoin Downey is one of three Cork backs nominated, along with his brother Robert. The older sibling was nominated in 2021 after showing up well in the number 3 jersey but he excelled at centre-back this year. While injury meant Joyce missed the wins over Limerick and Tipperary and he lined out at midfield against Offaly, his performances back in the half-back line against Dublin, Limerick and Clare earned him a call.

Fitzgibbon scored 0-24 from play across Cork’s eight-game campaign in the championship and his fine performances are made all the more impressive given the array of midfield partners he had.

Tim O’Mahony was the fifth player to start at midfield alongside Fitzgibbon after Tommy O’Connell, Ethan Twomey, Joyce and Luke Meade but such were his displays in the All-Ireland semi-final and final that he has made the cut.

In attack, Patrick Horgan is in line for a fifth award while Séamus Harnedy, who already has two to his name, is nominated, too. Brian Hayes, whose 1-4 in the semi-final win over Limerick was the highlight of a breakthrough year, is also nominated and so is Shane Barrett, who piece together a series of superb performances.

Alan Connolly can count himself not to be included among the 18 attackers shortlisted, having scored a total of 4-9 in the championshipa.

Goalkeepers: 

Eibhear Quilligan (Clare), Patrick Collins (Cork), Nickie Quaid (Limerick); 

Defenders: 

Adam Hogan, Conor Cleary, Conor Leen, Diarmuid Ryan, David McInerney, John Conlon (all Clare), Ciarán Joyce, Eoin Downey, Robert Downey (all Cork), Barry Nash, Dan Morrissey, Kyle Hayes (all Limerick), David Blanchfield, Huw Lawlor (both Kilkenny), Calum Lyons, Tadhg de Búrca (both Waterford), Paddy Burke (Antrim), Chris Crummey (Dublin); 

Midfielders: 

Tim O'Mahony, Darragh Fitzgibbon (both Cork), Tony Kelly (Clare), Cathal O'Neill (Limerick), Cian Kenny (Kilkenny), Conor Burke (Dublin); 

Forwards: 

Aidan McCarthy, David Fitzgerald, David Reidy, Mark Rodgers, Peter Duggan, Shane O'Donnell (all Clare), Brian Hayes, Patrick Horgan, Séamus Harnedy, Shane Barrett (all Cork), Aaron Gillane, David Reidy, Gearóid Hegarty, Tom Morrissey (all Limerick), Lee Chin, Rory O'Connor (both Wexford), John Donnelly (Kilkenny), James McNaughton (Antrim).

Hurler of The Year nominees: 

Shane O’Donnell (Clare), 

Darragh Fitzgibbon (Cork), 

Kyle Hayes (Limerick).

Young Hurler of The Year nominees:

Adam Hogan (Clare), 

Eoin Downey (Cork), 

Cathal O’Neill (Limerick).