DCU GAA - Hurling Club

Hurling Club

The Hurling club currently fields a Fresher and Senior team and plans are afoot to field an Intermediate side for the 2010/2011 season. As well as competing in the various CA competitions, the Senior side also take part in the Leinster Council's Kehoe Cup were they have beaten the likes of Fingal & Mayo over the last few years. During the 1990s D.C.U. competed in the Fitgibbon Cup before being demoted to the second-tier Ryan Cup owing to some heavy defeats and the emegence of new 3rd-Level Hurling king-pins in the form of Waterford and Limerick I.T. Throughout the 2000s the club reached the Ryan Cup finals, which is hosted as part of the Fitzgibbon Cup weekend, on numerous occasions and went on to claim the title in 2002. Poor league performances however ensured the hurling side remained in the 2nd Division and in the shadow of the football sides success at senior level.

In the last 3/4 years however the club has emerged from the doldrums and in 2010/2011 will comptete at the top level in both Senior (Division 1 & Fitzgibbon Cup) and Fresher (Division 1 League & Championship) for the first time in the clubs history. Much of this recent success is built on the back of successive Division 2 All-Ireland Fresher Championship title wins in 07/08 and 08/09. The 07/08 fresher side was managed by Colm Coughlan & captained by Diarmuid Horan (both Offaly Seniors).They beat Tralee I.T. in the championship final & also reached the League Final where they were well beaten by University of Limerick. The 08/09 freshers matched their predecessors by reaching the League Final before Christmas where once again they were narrowly defeated by U.L. In 2009,the Championship was retained after a 1-13 to 0-11 victory over Mary I. Managed by students Gearóid Devitt and Ciaran O'Connor the side overcame Queens, N.U.I. Maynooth and Athlone I.T. on their way to the final. Brian Flaherty (All-Ireland Minor Winner with Galway in 2009) captained the side.

These back-to-back triumphs led to promotion for the Fresher side who acquitted themselves well during their first league campaign in late 2010. Following their league campaign, the team reached the Semi Final in the first Division 1 Championship campaign in DCU Freshers hurling history, falling to a solid Cork IT side after impressive wins against St. Patricks College/Mater Dei and Galway-Mayo IT. The team was captained by Aidan Moran (Kilkenny) and managed by Seamus Kelly(Carlow) with the assistance of Bill McCormack(Tipperary), Quentin Lynch (Galway) and Joe Cullen (Wexford). Due to his free-scoring exploits for the Freshers side as well as his consistent performances for the Senior side, Walter Walsh (Kilkenny) was nominated for Best Club Fresher at the end of year DCU Clubs and Societies Awards, losing out to GAA Club-mate, Fresher Footballer . In late 2009 the senior side, reaping the rewards of the freshers success claimed the CA Division 2 All-Ireland League Title, defeating N.U.I. Maynooth in Maynooth in the final. This victory ensured promotion to the top tier for next season. In the Ryan Cup, we qualified for the Weekend, where we overcame NUI Maynooth in the Semi Final before losing out to Carlow IT in the Final. The senior side is currently managed by Sean O'Laoire.

In 2010, the DCU Hurling Club are back competing in the Fitzgibbon Cup and are currently competing in the league section. The freshers again are under the management of Seamus Kelly with new selection team of Micheal Downey, Kieran Sheridan,JJ Lennon & John Whelan with the hope of bettering the achievements of the season gone.