GAA/GPA Young Hurler of the Year

The Gaelic Athletic Association/Gaelic Players Association Young Hurler of the Year (known for sponsorship reasons as the PwC GAA/GPA Young Hurler of the Year, or simply the Young Hurler of the Year) is an annual award given to the player aged 21 or under at the start of the season who is adjudged to have been the best during the All-Ireland Championship.^[1] The award has been presented since the 1996 All-Ireland Championship and the winner is chosen by a vote amongst the members of the players' trade union, the Gaelic Players Association (GPA).^[2] The first winner of the award was Limerick defender Mark Foley. The current holder is Adrian Mullen, who won the award for Kilkenny GAA in 2019. The only 2 players to ever win the award twice are Eoin Kelly, who won it in both 2001 and 2002 and Eoin Cody, 2020 and 2021.

GAA/GPA Young Hurler of the Year

Sport	Hurling
Competition	All-Ireland Senior Championship
Country	Ireland
Presented by	GAA and GPA
History
First award	1996
Editions	23
First winner	Mark Foley
Most recent	Adam Hogan

A shortlist of nominees is published in September and the winner of the award, along with the winners of the GAA/GPA's other annual awards, is announced at a gala event in Dublin in November. The players themselves consider the award to be highly prestigious, because the winner is chosen by his peers.

Winners

The award has been presented on 24 occasions as of 2019, with 23 different winners. The table also indicates where the winning player also won one of the other major "hurler of the year" awards, namely the GAA/GPA Hurler of the Year award (HOTY).

Diarmuid O'Sullivan was Cork's first award-winner in 1999.

Setanta Ó hAilpín.

Joe Canning was Galway's first award-winner in 2008.

Year		Player	County	Also won	Notes
1996		Mark Foley	Limerick
1997		Eugene O'Neill	Tipperary
1998		Stephen Byrne	Offaly
1999		Diarmuid O'Sullivan	Cork
2000		Noel Hickey	Kilkenny
2001		Eoin Kelly	Tipperary
2002		Eoin Kelly	Tipperary
2003		Setanta Ó hAilpín	Cork
2004		Brian Murphy	Cork
2005		David Collins	Galway
2006		James Fitzpatrick	Kilkenny
2007		Séamus Hickey	Limerick
2008		Joe Canning	Galway
2009		Noel McGrath	Tipperary		[3]
2010		Brendan Maher	Tipperary		[4]
2011		Liam Rushe	Dublin		[5]
2012		Johnny Coen	Galway		[6]
2013		Tony Kelly	Clare	HOTY	[7]
2014		Cathal Barrett	Tipperary		[8]
2015		Tadhg de Búrca	Waterford		[9]
2016		Austin Gleeson	Waterford	HOTY	[10]
2017		Conor Whelan	Galway		[11]
2018		Kyle Hayes	Limerick		[12]
2019		Adrian Mullen	Kilkenny
2020		Eoin Cody	Kilkenny
2021		Eoin Cody	Kilkenny
2022		Mikey Butler	Kilkenny
2023		Mark Rodgers	Clare		[13]
2024		Adam Hogan	Clare		[14]

Breakdown of winners

County	Number of wins	Winning years
Tipperary	6	1997, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2014
Kilkenny	6	2000, 2006, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
Galway	4	2005, 2008, 2012, 2017
Limerick	3	1996, 2007, 2018
Cork	3	1999, 2003, 2004
Waterford	2	2015, 2016
Clare	3	2013, 2023, 2024
Offaly	1	1998
Dublin	1	2011

References

1. "GAA Player of the Year shortlist revealed". RTÉ News. 3 October 2007. Archived from the original on 31 March 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
2. "GAA players should pick All-Star award winners". Archived from the original on 17 November 2007. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
3. Slattery, Will (19 August 2019). "From cancer battle to possible Hurler of the Year: Noel McGrath adds another chapter to amazing Tipperary story". Irish Independent. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
4. "Corbett & Brogan named Players of the Year". RTÉ News. 16 October 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
5. "Brogan and Fennelly honoured as players of year". Breaking News. 21 October 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
6. Fennessy, Paul (26 October 2012). "Shefflin and Lacey win individual GAA All-Star awards". The 42. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
7. O'Rourke, Steve (8 November 2013). "Tony Kelly wins Hurler and Young Hurler of the Year awards". The 42. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
8. "Here's the GAA GPA hurling All-Star team for 2014". Joe website. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
9. Cahill, Jackie (6 November 2015). "O'Connor and De Búrca claim Young Footballer and Hurler of the Year honours". The 42. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
10. "Austin Gleeson wins both Hurler and Young Hurler of the Year Awards". GAA website. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
11. "Andy Moran is Footballer of the Year, Joe Canning is Hurler of the Year". RTÉ Sport. 4 November 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
12. Moran, Seán (2 November 2018). "Limerick sweep the boards with six All Star and both Hurlers of the Year". Irish Times. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
13. McMahon, Páraic (2 November 2023). "Rodgers named young hurler of the year". Clare Echo. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
14. "Conroy and O'Donnell scoop Player of the Year awards". RTÉ News. 1 November 2024. Retrieved 2 November 2024.

External links

• The official website of the Gaelic Players Association