He played with a number of clubs, including Castlelyons, Castlegar and Oranmore-Maree, divisional side Imokilly and was also a member of the Cork senior hurling team.
Fitzgerald played schoolboy hurling with St Colman's College in Fermoy on a team that won consecutive Harty Cup titles and an All-Ireland Colleges Championship title in 1997.
[1][2] He later lined out with the University of Limerick and won a Fitzgibbon Cup title in 2002.
At club level, Fitzgerald first lined out with Castlelyons in the juvenile and underage grades and was just 17-years-old when he won a Cork JAHC title with the team in 1997.
A broken collarbone ruled him out of the 2003 championship, however, he returned to the panel for the 2004 league.