Galway hurling loses rising star

SIX foot tall defender Niall Donohue – who passed away tragically two days short of his 23rd birthday last week – was seen as one of the brightest young stars of Galway hurling and a strong candidate to take over the maroon number three jersey for many years to come.

The Kilbeacanty man stood out at club level from an early age and provided immense pride to his rural South Galway community when he played a key role in delivering a coveted All-Ireland Under 21 title to the county in September 2011.

Niall was immense that night down in Semple Stadium, turning in an outstanding performance at the heart of the Galway defence as the young Tribesmen overcame a highly regarded Dublin side on a scoreline of 3-14 to 1-10.

His rock solid performance at full-back made him a clear candidate to break into the county senior team and he was one of nine players on the Thurles pitch that night who made up for their humbling 25 point defeat to Tipperary in the U-21 decider 12 months earlier.

Niall had been one to watch from an early age and was right wing back on the Galway minor side who should have won the All-Ireland title in 2008, only to be rocked by a cruel late goal for Kilkenny which saw the Leinster champions steal the title on a 3-6 to 0-13 scoreline.

He had been an outstanding talent on underage teams for his beloved Kilbeacanty before the club amalgamated with neighbours Beagh to form the Michael Cusack’s club, with whom he competed in three consecutive U-21 championships while also playing intermediate hurling for his club.

His talent shone through from an early stage, and he won a county national school hurling title with Ballyturn NS before winning three Connacht colleges titles, at various grades, with Gort Community School. Niall also excelled during his student days at Athlone IT.

As centre back, he was the key man in the Kilbeacanty intermediate side who reached the county quarter-finals this year, beating Killimor, Gort, and Rahoon-Newcastle on their way to the last eight of the championship.

Niall produced what many regarded as his best ever performance for the club in the 0-10 to 0-9 defeat to Kilnadeema-Leitrim last month.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.