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Alan Connolly
Personal information
Irish name	Ailéon Ó Conghaile
Sport	Hurling
Position	Full-forward
Born	19 July 2001 (age 23); Blackrock, Cork, Ireland
Occupation	Student
Club(s)*
Years	Club
2019–present	Blackrock
Club titles
Cork titles	1
Colleges(s)
Years	College
2020–present	MTU Cork
College titles
Fitzgibbon titles	0
Inter-county(ies)**
Years	County
2020–present	Cork
Inter-county titles
Munster titles	0
All-Irelands	0
NHL	0
All Stars	0
	* club appearances and scores correct as of 21:08, 8 October 2024.; **Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 22:05, 7 July 2024.

Alan Connolly (born 19 July 2001) is an Irish hurler. At club level he plays with Blackrock and at inter-county level with the Cork senior hurling team. He usually lines out at full-forward.

Early life

Born and raised in Blackrock, Barrett first played hurling to a high standard as a student at St Francis College in Rochestown. He progressed through the various age grades before joining the school's senior team. Connolly was top scorer with 0-07 when St Francis College beat Hamilton High School by 1-13 to 0-14 to claim the All-Ireland PPS SBHC title.^[1] He was a Dr O'Callaghan Cup runner-up in February 2020 after a 3-24 to 1-15 defeat by Midleton CBS, in what was his last game for Rochestown College.^[2] Connolly later studied at Munster Technological University Cork and was added to their Fitzgibbon Cup panel in 2023.^[3]

Club career

Connolly began his club career at juvenile and underage levels with the Blackrock club, before progressing to the club's senior team. He made his championship debut in a 1–25 to 2–16 defeat by Newtownshandrum in August 2019.^[4] Connolly won a Cork SHC medal in October 2020 after top-scoring with 0-13 in the 4-26 to 4-18 extra-time defeat of Glen Rovers in the final.^[5] He also claimed the man of the match award and was the championship's top scorer with 5-52.

Inter-county career

Connolly first played for Cork as a member of the minor team during their unsuccessful Munster MHC campaign in 2018.^[6] ^[7] After a year with no inter-county activity, he joined Cork's under-20 team in 2020. Success in this grade was immediate with Connolly claiming Munster and All-Ireland U20HC medals in 2020 after respective defeats of Tipperary and Dublin.^[8]^[9]

Connolly had one more year of under-20 hurling, however, his inclusion on the senior team in 2021, after being an unused substitute the previous year, made him ineligible for the grade.^[10]^[11] He made his senior debut in May 2021 when he scored two goals after coming on as a substitute for Shane Barrett in a 5–22 to 1–27 National Hurling League defeat of Waterford.^[12] Connolly was part of the matchday panel when Cork suffered a 3-32 to 1-22 defeat by Limerick in the 2021 All-Ireland final.^[13]

Connolly was at full-forward when Cork lost the 2022 National League final to Waterford.^[14] He missed the entire 2023 season with a shoulder injury, before a hamstring injury further delayed his return.^[15]

Personal life

Connolly's uncles, Tom and Jim Cashman, won six All-Ireland SHC medals with Cork between 1977 and 1990. His grandfather, Mick Cashman, was a substitute on Cork's 1952–1954 three-in-a-row team, while his granduncle, Jimmy Brohan, also lined out with that team.^[16]

Career statistics

Club

As of 6 October 2024.

Team	Year	Cork PSHC
Team	Year	Apps	Score
Blackrock	2019	1	0-01
	2020	6	5–52
	2021	5	5–31
	2022	6	1–39
	2023	0	0-00
	2024	5	5-32
Career total		23	16–155

Inter-county

As of 7 July 2024

Team	Year	National League			Munster		All-Ireland		Total
Team	Year	Division	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score
Cork	2020	Division 1A	0	0-00	0	0-00	0	0-00	0	0-00
	2021		5	4-02	1	0-00	2	0-02	8	4-04
	2022		5	1-05	3	4-02	2	0-02	10	5-09
	2023		0	0-00	0	0-00	—		0	0-00
	2024		3	6-04	4	4-09	3	0-03	10	10-16
Total			13	11-11	8	8-11	7	0-07	28	19-29