Pat Fleury
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| Pat Fleury | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sport | Hurling | |
| Irish Name | Pádraig Ó Fíobhra | |
| Full name | Pat Fleury | |
| Date of birth | May 18, 1956 | |
| Place of birth | Drumcullen , County Offaly | |
| Club information | ||
| Club | Drumcullen | |
| Position | Corner-back | |
| Inter-County | ||
| County | Offaly | |
| Position | Corner-back | |
| Inter-County(ies)** | ||
| County | Years | Apps (scores) |
| Offaly | 1975-1986 | |
| Senior Inter-County Titles | ||
| Leinster Titles | 4 | |
| All-Ireland | 2 | |
|
* club appearances and scores |
||
Pat Fleury (born 18 May 1956 in Drumcullen, County Offaly) is a retired Irish hurling manager and former player. He played hurling with his local club Drumcullen and with the Offaly senior inter-county team from 1975 until 1986. Fleury later served as manager of the Offaly senior inter-county team from 1999 until 2000.
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[edit] Early life
Pat Fleury was born in the parish of Drumcullen, County Offaly in 1956. He was educated locally and later attended the Presentation School in Birr where his hurling skills were developed under the guidance of the religious brothers in the school. His first hurling success was with in 1973 when the school won the All-Ireland Senior ‘B’ Colleges title. Fleury later studied at University College Galway where he played on the college hurling team. He won a Fitzgibbon Cup medal with the college in 1977 on a team that featured Cyril Farrell, Joe Connolly, Conor Hayes, Frank Holohan and Kieran Brennan. Amazingly, three members of the team would later go on to captain their native-counties to All-Ireland success in the 1980s. Fleury subsequently worked as a teacher.
[edit] Playing career
[edit] Club
Fleury played his club hurling with his local club Drumcullen.
[edit] Inter-county
Fleaury first came to prominence on the inter-county scene while still attending university. He palyed for Offaly at both minor and under-21 levels, however, he had little success. Fleury made hiss enior debut for his native-county in a Walsh Cup game against Kilkenny in 1975. At the time Offaly had to play second fiddle to Wexford and Kilkenny in the Leinster Championship. All this changed in 1980 with the appointment of Dermot Healy as manager. Offaly later went on to win the Leinster title and Fleury collected his first provincial medal. It was Offaly’s first senior success, however, the county was later defeated by Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final. In spite of this Fleury won a second Leinster title in 1981, a victory which allowed the team to advance diretly to a first-ever All-Ireland final appearance. Galway provided the opposition, however, in spite of a controversial goal by Johnny Flaherty Offaly emerged as the winners and Fleury won a first All-Ireland medal.
Three years later in 1984 Offaly were back after two years of Kilkenny dominance in Leinster. Fleury, who was now the captain of the side, won a third provincial title before lining out against Cork in a special centenary year All-Ireland final at Semple Stadium in Thurles. Unfortunately, Offaly were beaten on that day in their first-ever championship meeting with Cork. The team bounced back in 1985 with Fleury picking up a fourth Leinster medal. For the third time in six years Offaly reached the All-Ireland final and for the second time Galway would provide the opposition. The game was an exciting affair with Offaly winning by two points in the end. With that Fleury, as captain, collected the Liam McCarthy Cup and a second All-Ireland medal. In 1986 Offaly lost their provincial crown to Kilkenny and were knocked out of the championship. With that Fleury retired from inter-county hurling.
[edit] Post-playing career
All through his life Fleury has been dedicated to the coaching and training of various hurling teams. His first stint as a coach began when he was in second year in University College Galway. Fleury coached the first-year hurling team to both league and championship success. When he graduated as a teacher he worked in Limerick CBS and trained the school hurling team. The school reached the Harty Cup final in 1984, however, his side lost. Success was slow in coming, however, in 1993 Fleury’s side won the title.
In 2000 Fleury took charge of the Offaly senior hurling team. His term in charge had some good results, however, the season ultimately ended in failure. Offaly were defeated by Kilkenny in the Leinster final, however, they later defeated reigning All-Ireland champions Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final to set up an All-Ireland final meeting with Kilkenny. The game, however, was one of the most one sided championship deciders in modern times as ‘the Cats’ powered to victory on a score line of 5-15 to 1-14. Fleury subsequently resigned as manager.
Fleury also works as a hurling pundit for TG4 and he also trained the Underdogs team for the TG4 programme of the same name.
| Preceded by Pat Carroll |
Offaly Senior Hurling Captain 1984-1985 |
Succeeded by ' |
| Preceded by John Fenton (Cork) |
All-Ireland Hurling Senior Final winning captain 1985 |
Succeeded by Tom Cashman (Cork) |
| Preceded by Michael Bond |
Offaly Senior Hurling Manager 1999-2000 |
Succeeded by Michael Bond |
[edit] Teams
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