Conor Whelan

Conor Whelan (born 31 October 1996) is an Irish hurler who plays as a right corner forward for club side Kinvara and at inter-county level for the Galway senior hurling team.

Conor Whelan

Personal information
Irish name	Conchúir Ó Faoláin
Sport	Hurling
Position	Right corner-forward
Born	(1996-10-31) 31 October 1996 (age 28) Kinvara, County Galway, Ireland
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Nickname	Whelo
Occupation	Student
Club(s)
Years	Club
2013–present	Kinvara
Club titles
Galway titles	0
Colleges(s)
Years	College
	University of Galway
College titles
Fitzgibbon titles	0
Inter-county(ies)*
Years	County	Apps (scores)
2015–present	Galway	44 (16-106)
Inter-county titles
Leinster titles	2
All-Irelands	1
NHL	2
All Stars	2
*Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 21:29, 3 September 2023.

Playing career

University of Galway

As a student at the University of Galway, Whelan has been a regular player on the university's senior hurling team in the Fitzgibbon Cup.^[1]

Kinvara

Whelan joined the Kinvara club at a young age and played in all grades at juvenile and underage levels before joining the club's intermediate team.^{[citation needed]}

Galway

Minor and under-21

Whelan first played for Galway as a member of the minor hurling team on 28 July 2013. He made his first appearance in a 1-19 to 0-13 All-Ireland quarter-final defeat of Laois.^[2] On 8 September 2013, Whelan was at right corner-forward in Galway's 1-21 to 0-16 defeat by Waterford in the All-Ireland final at Croke Park.^[3]

Whelan's second and final season with the Galway minor team ended with a 1-27 to 2-09 All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Limerick on 17 August 2014.^[4]

As a member of the Galway under-21 hurling team, Whelan made his first appearance on 22 August 2015 in a 1-20 to 0-17 All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Limerick.^[5]

On 10 September 2016, Whelan scored two points in a 5-15 to 0-14 defeat by Waterford in the All-Ireland final.^[6]

Whelan ended the 2017 championship by being named on the Bord Gáis Energy Team of the Year.^[7]

Intermediate

On 1 July 2015, Whelan made his first appearance for the Galway intermediate hurling team.^[8] He later won a Leinster Championship medal following Galway's 1-20 to 0-11 defeat of Wexford in the final.^[9]

Senior

Whelan made his debut for the Galway senior team on 26 July 2015, scoring 1-02 from play in a 2-28 to 0-22 All-Ireland quarter-final defeat of Cork.^[10][11] On 6 September 2015, Whelan scored two points from right wing-forward in a 1-22 to 1-18 defeat by Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final.^[12]

On 23 April 2017, Whelan scored five points from play when Galway defeated Tipperary by 3-21 to 0-14 to win the National Hurling League.^[13] Later that season he won his first Leinster Championship medal after Galway's 0-29 to 1-17 defeat of Wexford in the final.^[14] On 3 September 2017, Whelan started for Galway at right corner-forward when they won their first All-Ireland in 29 years after a 0-26 to 2-17 defeat of Waterford in the final.^[15] He ended the season by winning an All-Star award as well as being named All Stars Young Hurler of the Year.^[16]

On 8 July 2018, Whelan won a second successive Leinster Championship medal following Galway's 1-28 to 3-15 defeat of Kilkenny in the final.^[17] On 19 August 2018, he scored a goal from right corner-forward in Galway's 3-16 to 2-18 All-Ireland final defeat by Limerick.^[18]

Career statistics

As of match played 8 July 2023.

Team	Year	National League			Leinstser		All-Ireland		Total
		Division	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score
Galway	2015	Division 1A	0	0-00	0	0-00	3	1-06	3	1-06
	2016		6	0-06	3	1-05	2	0-02	11	1-13
	2017	Division 1B	7	3-12	3	0-12	2	0-05	12	3-29
	2018		5	2-05	6	2-13	3	1-06	14	5-24
	2019		5	1-07	4	1-10	—		9	2-17
	2020	Division 1A	5	3-06	2	0-06	1	0-01	8	3-13
	2021		5	2-11	1	1-02	1	0-03	7	3-16
	2022		4	0-07	5	1-13	2	1-04	11	2-24
	2023		4	1-04	6	6-11	2	1-07	12	8-22
Total			41	12-58	30	12-72	16	4-34	87	28-164

Honours

Galway

• All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (1): 2017
• Leinster Senior Hurling Championship (2): 2017, 2018
• National Hurling League Division 1 (2): 2017, 2021
• Leinster Intermediate Hurling Championship (1): 2015

Club

• Galway Intermediate Hurling Championship (1): 2019

Awards

• All Stars Young Hurler of the Year (1): 2017
• GAA GPA All Stars Awards (2): 2017, 2023
• The Sunday Game Team of the Year (2): 2017, 2023

References

1. Cormican, Eoghan (1 February 2018). "Fitzgibbon Cup previews". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
2. Cahill, Jackie (29 July 2013). "Whelan strike turns tide as Tribesmen march on". Irish Independent. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
3. Fennessy, Paul (8 September 2013). "Waterford end 65-year wait for All-Ireland minor title". The 42. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
4. Kelly, Liam (18 August 2014). "Limerick's power surge shuts down outclassed Tribesmen". Irish Independent. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
5. "Limerick too good for Galway in Under-21 semi-final". Irish Times. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
6. "All-Ireland U21 HC final: dazzling Deise surge past Tribesmen". Hogan Stand. 10 September 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
7. O'Toole, Fintan (2 October 2017). "Gillane the star man as Limerick, Kilkenny, Galway and Cork players make U21 team of the year". The 42. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
8. McDonald, Brian (1 July 2015). "Michael Rice returns - but it's first blood for Galway in a big week against Kilkenny". The 42. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
9. Dwyer, Michael (16 July 2015). "Senior stars shine in historic Leinster title win for Galway against the champions". The 42. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
10. Fallon, John (25 July 2015). "Galway hand debut to Whelan for Cork clash". Irish Independent. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
11. Fogarty, John (26 July 2015). "Galway untroubled by lacklustre Cork performance". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
12. Moran, Seán (6 September 2015). "Clinical Kilkenny retain All-Ireland hurling title". Irish Times. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
13. Moran, Seán (24 April 2017). "Tipperary shellshocked as Galway storm to 10th league title". Irish Times. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
14. Clerkin, Malachy (2 July 2017). "Galway put down the Wexford revolution". Irish Times. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
15. "Emotions run high as Tribe end agonising 29-year wait". Irish Examiner. 4 September 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
16. "Andy Moran and Joe Canning are football and hurler of the year". Irish Examiner. 3 November 2017. Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
17. Fogarty, John (8 July 2018). "Galway hold their nerve against Kilkenny in Leinster final replay". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
18. McGoldrick, Seán (19 August 2018). "Limerick are All Ireland hurling champions for the first time in 45 years following epic victory over Galway". Irish Independent. Retrieved 20 August 2018.