J. J. Delaney

J. J. Delaney (born 6 March 1982) is an Irish hurler who currently plays as a right wing-back for the Kilkenny senior team. He joined the team during the 2001 championship and immediately became a regular member of the starting fifteen.

Delaney is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation. He has won eight All-Ireland winners' medals, ten Leinster winners' medals and six National League winners' medal. He has ended up as an All-Ireland runner-up on two occasions.

Delaney has a number of personal achievements. He has won five All-Star awards and was included on the GPA Hurling Team of the Year on two occasions. In 2003 he made a clean sweep of all the top individual awards, winning the All-Star, Texaco and GPA Hurler of the Year awards. In 2009 he was chosen on the Leinster team of the past twenty-five years.

At club level Delaney plays with Fenians, one of the top club teams during the seventies, however, during Delaney's playing days the team have failed to reach the summit of club hurling.

Delaney is a member of a prolific hurling dynasty. His uncles, Billy Fitzpatrick and Pat Delaney, won nine All-Ireland medals between them throughout the 1970s and 1980s, while his father, Shem Delaney, shared in one of these All-Ireland successes as a non-playing substitute. His first cousin, P. J. Delaney, won an All-Ireland medal in 1993, while his younger brother, also P. J. Delaney, joined him on the Kilkenny senior team in 2006.