Seán O'Leary (25 February 1952 – 1 December 2021) was an Irish hurler who played as a left corner-forward at senior level for the Cork county team.
[1] Born in Youghal, County Cork, Munster, O'Leary first played competitive hurling whilst at school at St. Colman's College.
He arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of seventeen when he first linked up with the Cork minor team, before later joining the under-21 side.
O'Leary was a member of the Munster inter-provincial team on a number of occasions, however, he ended his career without a Railway Cup medal.
[5][6] In 1969 O'Leary was still eligible for the minor grade when he was a member of Youghal's top team that qualified for the final of the intermediate championship.
In 1971 O'Leary's underage run of success continued when he collected his first Munster medal in the under-21 grade following a 5–11 to 4–9 defeat of Tipperary.
O'Leary made his senior championship debut as a substitute on 4 July 1971 in a 2–16 to 2–14 Munster semi-final defeat by Limerick.
Kilkenny's great scoring threat Eddie Keher was deployed closer to goal and finished the game with 2–9.
[8][9] Championship success eluded Cork over the next few years, however, O'Leary won a second league medal in 1974 following a 6–15 to 1–12 defeat of Limerick.
Wexford had a two-point lead with ten minutes to go, however, three points from Jimmy Barry-Murphy, two from Pat Moylan and a kicked effort from Ray Cummins gave Cork a 2–21 to 4–11 victory.
Cork faced Clare in the provincial decider in 1977, on a day when armed robbers made away with the takings from the gate of £24,579 during the second half of the game.
Clare conceded an early penalty but they fought back to take the lead until a contentious red card for full back Jim Power turned the tide for Cork and they fought on to win by 4–15 to 4–10, with O'Leary collecting a fourth winners' medal.
In spite of this injury, O'Leary scored the decisive goal for Cork as the game entered the last quarter, while Martin Coleman brought off a match-winning save from Christy Keogh to foil the Wexford comeback.
He fought back to regain his place on the championship starting fifteen as Cork defeated Waterford in the Munster semi-final.
Cork secured a first three-in-a-row of All-Ireland titles for the first time in over twenty years, as a Jimmy Barry-Murphy goal helped the team to a 1–15 to 2–8 victory over Kilkenny.
Cork's quest for a fourth successive All-Ireland title ended with a semi-final defeat by Galway.
A record-breaking sixth successive provincial championship eluded Cork that year, however, O'Leary won a fourth league medal in 1981 as Offaly were defeated by 3–11 to 2–8.
A decisive 5–21 to 3–6 defeat of Waterford in the provincial decider, with O'Leary scoring four goals, gave him a fifth Munster medal.
Kilkenny surprised many on the day,[citation needed] with Christy Heffernan scoring two goals in a forty-second spell just before the interval.
Cork came back with goals by Tomás Mulcahy and O'Leary, however, at the full-time whistle Kilkenny had won by 2–14 to 2–12.
After a John Fenton free reduced the deficit, a goal from substitute Tony O'Sullivan brought the sides level.
A subsequent O'Sullivan point attempt was batted away by John Sheedy, however, O'Leary was on hand to send the sliotar to the net for the winning goal.
Fenton added a pointed free and Cork had won the game by 4–15 to 3–14, with O'Leary picking up a sixth winners' medal.
[16] Cork subsequently faced Offaly in the centenary year All-Ireland decider at Semple Stadium on 2 September 1984.
The game was a triumph for Cork, who won by 3–16 to 1–12 courtesy of second-half goals by Kevin Hennessy and two by O'Leary.
The following season proved to be even more successful, with Cork claiming the Munster title following a 1–15 to 0–14 defeat of three-in-a-row hopefuls Clare.
Cork responded through Joe Deane, Ben O'Connor and Seánie McGrath, scoring five unanswered points.
[21] After facing a narrow 3–16 to 1–21 defeat by Waterford in the 2004 Munster final, Cork worked their way through the qualifiers and lined out against Kilkenny in the All-Ireland decider on 12 September 2004.