The Very Reverend Canon Michael O'Brien (July 15, 1922-July 22, 2012) was an Irish Catholic priest and a hurling manager.
O'Brien was born in Imogeela Parish, Castlemartyr, County Cork, then in the Irish Free State, on July 15, 1922. He entered the Maynooth Seminary to study for the priesthood for the Diocese of Cloyne, and was ordained in 1946. He proceeded to serve in a number of parishes of the diocese, until his final appointment in 1990 as the parish priest of Buttevant. He was elected as a member of the cathedral chapter in 1992.
O'Brien retired from the active ministry in 1996 and died on July 22, 2012.
O'Brien served as the coach of the Cork senior hurling team on several occasions, guiding the team to All-Ireland titles in 1984 and 1990. Before the 1990 Munster final, Tipperary manager Babs Keating remarked "donkeys don't win derbies", which O'Brien exploited to motivate his players to victory. At club level he also managed UCC to Fitzgibbon Cup titles, and later managed Blackrock. He also helped coaching Coláiste Chríost Rí.
Famous quotes containing the word michael:
“While Michael Angelo’s Sistine roof,
His “Morning” and his “Night” disclose
How sinew that has been pulled tight,
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Yet be but sinew.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)