Our own Cyril Donnellan has confirmed he will retire from inter county hurling. Now 32, he has been involved with the Tribesmen since 2008 and was part of this year’s All Ireland winning squad. Donnellan made 36 championship appearances for Galway, scoring 6-33 in 10 seasons. He finishes with one All-Ireland, two Leinster titles, two National League titles and a Fitzgibbon Cup to his name.
Cyril made his debut for Galway and score 0-3 in the first round qualifier against Antrim in Belfast in July 2008. He played at centre forward in a game Ger Loughnane’s side won by 6-21 to 1-10. Another easy win over Laois in Pearse Stadium followed, before Galway were knocked out of the championship in the next round when they lost out to Cork 0-23 to 2-15 in Thurles. It was also the year Joe Canning made his debut and ended up Young Hurler of the Year. The following year Galway were admitted to the Leinster Championship where Cyril opened his scoring account for Galway with 0-3 in the quarter final win over Laois. Now under John McIntyre, Galway lost out to Kilkenny 2-20 to 3-13 in the Leinster semi final and despite qualifier wins over Clare in Ennis, where Cyril scored his first senior championship goal, and Cork in Thurles, they eventually lost out by a point to Waterford in the All Ireland quarter final.
2010 saw Galway again fall to Kilkenny in the Leinster final, before a heart breaking 1 point defeat to Tipperary in the All Ireland quarter final. Cyril started the first two championship games that year but struggled to hold on to a starting berth after drawing with Offaly in the Leinster semi final. In 2011, Cyril began the year with a bang as he scored a hat-trick against Westmeath in the Leinster quarter final, but a six point defeat to Dublin in the semi final was a huge set back and despite qualifier wins over Clare and Cork, against whom he scored his 5th championship goal, another crushing All Ireland quarter final defeat to Waterford spelt the end for the John McIntyre era.
2012 saw the appointment of Anthony Cunningham and it would prove to be a great year for Galway as they won their first Leinster Championship title with a morale boosting win over Kilkenny in the final. Cyril scored 0-5 in a tour de force in the Leinster final and scored 1-9 in total in the provincial championship that year. He started the drawn All Ireland final against Kilkenny but was sent off in the replay in a match Galway eventually lost by 11 points. The following year was a real hangover as despite reaching the provincial final again, a heavy defeat to Dublin was followed by a 6 point reversal against eventual champions Clare in the All Ireland quarter final.
Article first published on Galway Bay FM website.
CYRIL’S WITH GALWAY 2008-2017Played 36, Scored 6-33
2008:Galway 6-21 Antrim 1-10 (scored 0-3)Galway 1-20 Laois 0-9Cork 0-23 Galway 2-15
2009Galway 5-29 Laois 0-17 (scored 0-3)Kilkenny 2-20 Galway 3-13 (scored 0-1)Galway 2-18 Clare 1-11 (scored 1-2)Galway 1-19 Cork 0-15Waterford 1-16 Galway 0-18
2010Galway 2-22 Wexford 1-14Galway 2-19 Offaly 3-16Replay: Galway 3-16 Offaly 2-18Kilkenny 1-19 Galway 1-12 (scored 0-1 sub)Tipperary 3-17 Galway 3-16
2011Galway 4-17 Westmeath 2-14 (scored 3-1)Dublin 0-19 Galway 2-7Galway 4-25 Clare 0-20 (sub)Galway 2-23 Cork 1-14 (scored 1-0)Waterford 2-23 Galway 2-13 (sub)
2012Galway 5-19 Westmeath 4-12 (scored 1-1)Galway 5-23 Offaly 3-15 (scored 0-3)Galway 2-21 Kilkenny 2-11 (scored 0-5)Galway 0-22 Cork 0-17 (sub)Galway 2-13 Kilkenny 0-19Replay: Kilkenny 3-22 Galway 3-11
2013Galway 2-17 Laois 1-13Dublin 2-25 Galway 2-13Clare 1-23 Galway 2-14 (scored 0-1)
2014Galway 1-22 Laois 0-23Galway 5-16 Kilkenny 3-22; Kilkenny 3-19 Galway 1-17 replayTipperary 3-25 Galway 4-13
2015Galway 1-17 Dublin 0-20 (scored 0-3)Galway 5-19 Dublin 1-18 (scored 0-1)Galway 3-28 Laois 1-14Kilkenny 1-25 Galway 2-15 (scored 0-3)Galway 2-28 Cork 0-22 (scored 0-2)Galway 0-26 Tipperary 3-16Kilkenny 1-22 Galway 1-18 (scored 0-1)
2016Galway 3-27 Westmeath 0-19Galway 2-19 Offaly 2-9 (scored 0-1 sub)Kilkenny 1-26 Galway 0-22 (sub)Galway 2-17 Clare 0-17 (scored 0-1 sub)Tipperary 2-19 Galway 2-18 (sub)
2017Galway 2-28 Dublin 1-17Galway 0-33 Offaly 1-11Galway 0-29 Wexford 1-17Galway 0-22 Tipperary 1-18Galway 0-26 Waterford 2-17