| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Irish name | Micheál Ó Fionnalaigh | ||
| Sport | Hurling | ||
| Position | Midfield | ||
| Born |
28 February 1985 Ballyhale, County Kilkenny, Ireland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||
| Occupation | Lecturer | ||
| Club(s) | |||
| Years | Club | ||
2003–2020 | Ballyhale Shamrocks | ||
| Club titles | |||
| Kilkenny titles | 8 | ||
| Leinster titles | 6 | ||
| All-Ireland Titles | 5 | ||
| Colleges(s) | |||
| Years | College | ||
2003–2007 | Cork Institute of Technology | ||
| College titles | |||
| Fitzgibbon titles | 0 | ||
| Inter-county(ies)** | |||
| Years | County | Apps (scores) | |
2006–2017 | Kilkenny | 35 (1–31) | |
| Inter-county titles | |||
| Leinster titles | 9 | ||
| All-Irelands | 8 | ||
| NHL | 5 | ||
| All Stars | 3 | ||
| **Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 16:20, 3 December 2018. | |||
Michael Fennelly (born 28 February 1985) is an Irish hurling manager and former player. His league and championship career at senior level with the Kilkenny county team lasted twelve seasons from 2006 until 2017.[1][2] He managed the Offaly senior hurling team between 2019 and 2022.
Born in Ballyhale, County Kilkenny, Fennelly was brought up in a family that had a strong association with hurling. His grandfather, Kevin Fennelly Snr, played with Kilkenny in the 1940s, while his uncles - Brendan, Ger, Kevin, Jnr, Liam and Seán - all played for Kilkenny from the 1970s until the 1990s
Fennelly first played competitive hurling at juvenile and underage levels with the Ballyhale Shamrocks club. After much success in these grades he later won three All-Ireland medals with the club's senior team. He has also won four Leinster medals and six county senior championship medals.
Fennelly made his debut on the inter-county scene at the age of eighteen when he was selected for the Kilkenny minor team. He enjoyed one championship season with the minor team, culminating with an All-Ireland medal. Fennelly subsequently joined the Kilkenny under-21 team, winning All-Ireland medals in 2004 and 2006. By this stage he had also joined the Kilkenny senior team, making his debut during the 2006 league. Over the course of the next twelve seasons, Fennelly won eight All-Ireland medals, including a record-equalling four championships in-a-row from 2006 to 2009, followed by back-to-back triumphs in 2011 and 2012 and a final two championships in 2014 and 2015. The All-Ireland-winning captain of 2009, he was denied a ninth All-Ireland medal in September 2016. Fennelly also won nine Leinster medals, five National Hurling League medals and was named All-Star and Texaco Hurler of the Year in 2011. He was later joined on the Kilkenny team by his brother Colin. Fennelly announced his retirement from inter-county hurling on 29 December 2017 and from club hurling on 28 May 2020.[3]