Andrew O'Shaughnessy

Andrew O'Shaughnessy (born 30 November 1984 in Kilmallock, County Limerick) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club Kilmallock and was a member of the Limerick senior inter-county team from 2002 to 2011.

Biography

Andrew O'Shaughnessy was born in Kilmallock, County Limerick in 1984. He was educated at his local primary school and later attended the famous St. Colman's College, Fermoy in Fermoy, County Cork, a virtual nursery for young hurling talent.

Here his hurling skills were first developed and he became a star on the college's various hurling teams. O'Shaughnessy enjoyed a very successful hurling career, beginning by capturing three Dean Ryan Cup titles in-a-row in 2000, 2001 and 2002. By this stage he was also a star on the St. Colman's senior hurling team. O'Shaughnessy won his first Dr. Harty Cup winners' medal in 2001. He later collected his first All-Ireland colleges' title when St. Colman's defeated Dublin Colleges in the final of that competition. O'Shaughnessy captured a second Harty Cup title in 2002 before later lining out in a second All-Ireland colleges' final. His scoring exploits in that game were spectacular. Gort CBS provided the opposition, however, O'Shaughnessy scored 2–8 of a total score of 2–10. It was his second All-Ireland winners' medal. 2003 saw O'Shaughnessy win a third consecutive Harty Cup winners' medal.

Playing career

Club

O'Shaughnessy plays his club hurling with his local Kilmallock club and has enjoyed success. As a member of the club's minor hurling team he captured three consecutive county titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002. The latter final saw O'Shaughnessy give a scoring exhibition once again. In that game they beat Na Piarsaigh by 4–11 to 2–11. Three of their 11 points were scored in a gripping last 10 minutes, the previous 4–9 had come from the hurley of Andrew O'Shaughnessy in a glorious 50-minute spell of individual brilliance. It was his O'Shaughnessy's first Munster under-21 winners' medal. For the third year in-a-row Limerick lined out in the All-Ireland final with Galway providing the opposition. O'Shaughnessy's side powered to a 3–17 to 0–8 victory. It was his first, and only, All-Ireland under-21 winners' medal.

Senior

In 2003 O'Shaughnessy made his senior championship debut in a Munster semi-final against Waterford. Both sides drew level on that occasion, however, Limerick lost the replay and continued their streak of bad luck that had lasted since 2001 when they were dumped out of the championship in the All-Ireland qualifiers. The next few years proved difficult for both O'Shaughnessy and for Limerick. In spite of coming close to creating some hurling upsets, defeat seemed to be Limerick's lot.

In 2006 Limerick remained unbeaten throughout the entire National Hurling League campaign and qualified for the final against Kilkenny. It was an unhappy day for Limerick as 'the Cats' won the game by 3–11 0–14. In spite of some success in the league, Limerick's championship form was still below par.

All this changed in 2007 when Limerick had one of their best seasons. That year Limerick faced near neighbours Tipperary in the semi-final of the Munster championship. That game ended in a draw with both sides scoring 1–19. The replay saw Limerick in arrears by ten points at half-time, however, Limerick rallied to level the game at the end of normal time. A period of extra time had to be played and O'Shaughnessy turned out to be the hero as he scored the equalising point which meant that the sides had to play for a third time. Once again, Limerick looked vulnerable at times during the game, however, they grinded out a victory with a score line of 0–22 to 2–13. It was Limerick's first win in the Munster championship since 2001. O'Shaughnessy later lined out against Waterford in the Munster final, however, they were defeated on a score line of 3–17 to 1–14. These two sides later met again in the All-Ireland semi-final, however, manager Richie Bennis had done his homework and masterminded a magnificent 5–11 to 2–15 victory over the Munster champions. This victory allowed O'shaughnessy's side to play Kilkenny in the championship decider. Unfortunately, Limerick got off to a bad start with goalkeeper Brian Murray letting in two goals by Eddie Brennan and Henry Shefflin in the first ten minutes. Limerick fought back, however 'the Cats' went on to win the game by seven points. In spite of this loss O'Shaughnessy was later presented with his first All-Star award, marking him out as one of the best players of the championship.

After the highs of the previous year, 2008 proved to be a difficult year for the Limerick hurlers. The team were beaten by 4–12 to 1–16 in opening game of the championship by Clare. The newly structured qualifier system pitted O'Shaughnessy's side against Offaly in a must-win game. Limerick, however, were out of sorts as they suffered a surprising 3–19 to 0–18 defeat. Limerick's involvement in the championship came to an end following this defeat. In late 2009 O'Shaughnessy was diagnosed with sclerosis but remained to feature during the league. In April 2011 just three days before the National Hurling League Division 2 final, O'Shaughnessy announced his retirement from Inter-County hurling.

Provincial

O'Shaughnessy has also lined out with Munster in the Railway Cup inter-provincial competition. He first lined out with his province in 2002, however, Munster were defeated by arch-rivals Leinster in the final. His inclusion on the team that year marks him out as the youngest Munster man to ever play for his province. It was 2006 before O'Shaughnessy played with Munster again. On that occasion Connacht were the victors in the semi-final of the competition. After an absence the following year O'Shaughnessy was back on the team in 2008. Once again Munster reached the final, however, Leinster were the winners on that occasion.

Honours Dr. Harty Cup (3): 2001, 2002, 2003 (c) Dr. Croke Cup (2): 2001, 2002 Munster Under-21 Hurling Championship (2): 2001, 2002 All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship (2): 2001, 2002 Limerick Senior Hurling Championsphip (3): 2010, 2012, 2014 Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship (1): 2014 Limerick Minor Hurling Championship (3) 2000, 2001, 2002 (c) Limerick Under-21 Hurling Championship (1) 2002

Championship appearances Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Match report 1 29 June 2002 Semple Stadium, Thurles Cork 0–0 1–15 : 1–16 Group stage Qualifier Irish Examiner 2 1 June 2003 Semple Stadium, Thurles Waterford 1–1 4–13 : 4–13 Munster Semi-final Irish Examiner 3 28 June 2003 Austin Stack Park, Tralee Kerry 0–1 0–24 : 1–14 Group stage Qualifier Breaking News 4 17 July 2003 Semple Stadium, Thurles Offaly 0–1 0–14 : 1–18 Group stage Qualifier Irish Examiner 5 30 May 2004 Gaelic Grounds, Limerick Cork 0–0 2–12 : 1–18 Munster Semi-final 6 26 June 2004 Gaelic Grounds, Limerick Tipperary 2–1 2–12 : 3–10 3rd round Qualifier Irish Examiner 7 15 May 2005 Semple Stadium, Thurles Tipperary 0–0 2–14 : 2–14 Munster Quarter-Final 8 21 May 2005 Gaelic Grounds, Limerick Tipperary 0–1 0–18 : 2–13 Munster Quarter-Final Replay 9 25 June 2005 Casement Park, Belfast Antrim 1–1 4–25 : 1–9 Group stage Qualifier 10 1 July 2005 O'Moore Park, Portlaoise Laois 0–2 2–15 : 1–9 Group stage Qualifier 11 9 July 2005 Gaelic Grounds, Limerick Galway 0–0 1–18 : 2–14 Group stage Qualifier 12 31 July 2005 Croke Park, Dublin Kilkenny 0–1 0–13 : 0–18 All-Ireland Quarter-Final www.hoganstand.com 13 14 May 2006 Semple Stadium, Thurles Tipperary 1–1 2–12 : 0–22 Munster Quarter-Final www.hoganstand.com 14 18 June 2006 Cusack Park, Ennis Clare 0–0 0–10 : 2–21 Group stage Qualifier www.hoganstand.com 15 1 July 2006 O'Connor Park, Tullamore Offaly 0–7 2–29 : 2–19 Group stage Qualifier www.hoganstand.com 16 9 July 2006 Gaelic Grounds, Limerick Dublin 0–4 2–16 : 1–13 Group stage Qualifier www.hoganstand.com 17 22 July 2006 Semple Stadium, Thurles Cork 0–5 0–18 : 0–19 All-Ireland Quarter-Final www.hoganstand.com 18 10 June 2007 Gaelic Grounds, Limerick Tipperary 0–6 1–19 : 1–19 Munster Semi-final www.hoganstand.com 19 16 June 2007 Semple Stadium, Thurles Tipperary 0–6 0–24 : 1–21 Munster Semi-final Replay 20 24 June 2007 Gaelic Grounds, Limerick Tipperary 0–6 0–22 : 2–13 Munster Semi-final 2nd Replay www.hoganstand.com 21 8 July 2007 Semple Stadium, Thurles Waterford 0–3 1–14 : 3–17 Munster Final www.hoganstand.com 22 29 July 2007 Croke Park, Dublin Clare 0–11 1–23 : 1–15 All-Ireland Quarter-Final www.hoganstand.com 23 12 August 2007 Croke Park, Dublin Waterford 2–7 5–11 : 2–15 All-Ireland Semi-final www.hoganstand.com 24 2 September 2007 Croke Park, Dublin Kilkenny 0–7 1–15 : 2–19 All-Ireland Final www.hoganstand.com 25 22 June 2008 Semple Stadium, Thurles Clare 0–6 1–16 : 4–12 Munster Semi-final www.hoganstand.com 26 12 July 2008 Gaelic Grounds, Limerick Offaly 0–4 0–18 : 3–19 3rd round Qualifier www.hoganstand.com 27 14 June 2009 Semple Stadium, Thurles 0–1 1-08 : 0–11 Munster Senior Hurling Championship