John Allen (born 1955) is an Irish former hurler and Gaelic footballer who played as a forward in both codes for the Cork senior teams.
[1] A dual player at the highest level, Allen spent three season with the Cork senior hurling team.
In 1977 Allen won his first county hurling championship medal following a 1–17 to 1–5 trouncing of reigning All-Ireland champions Glen Rovers.
[4] Rathnure from Wexford provided the opposition in the subsequent All-Ireland decider, however, a 2–7 to 0–9 score line gave "the Barr's" the title.
After missing the Munster hurling decider, Allen was back on the team for the 1981 All-Ireland final against Ballyhale Shamrocks.
In spite of missing the provincial hurling showpiece, Allen secured another Munster club football medal.
After surrendering their titles in 1981, St. Finbarr's returned the following year with Allen winning a fourth county football championship medal.
He also won an all Ireland medal defeating Kilkenny in the final[7] By this stage Allen had already joined the Cork senior hurling team.
In 1978 Cork, having secured the provincial crown for a fourth successive year, played Kilkenny in the All-Ireland decider.
The following year Allen was still a selector when Cork lost their Munster crown but won the All-Ireland title following a victory over Kilkenny.
In late October 2004 Allen succeeded Dónal O'Grady as the Cork manager for a two-year term and was immediately charged with the task of guiding the team to a second consecutive All-Ireland title for the 2005 Championship.
[11] Allen's appointment as manager brought a level of continuity to the Cork senior hurling set-up.
[15] Shortly after his first defeat in ten championship games Allen announced, after much speculation, that he was not seeking another term as Cork manager.
[16] After a five-year absence from the inter-county scene, Allen was confirmed as the new Limerick senior hurling manager on 11 October 2011 on a two-year contract, succeeding Dónal O'Grady.
[17][18][19] On 14 July 2013, Allen guided Limerick to a first Munster final appearance in six years, with his own native Cork providing the opposition.
An even first half culminated with Cork's Patrick Horgan receiving a red card for striking Limerick wing-back Paudie O'Brien on the helmet under a high ball.