Club Achievements

Achievements:

North Tipp Senior Hurling: 1992, 1993, 1998
County Senior Hurling: 1995
All Ireland Senior: 1989, 1991
Munster Senior: 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991
National Hurling League: 1987/1988
Ford Open Draw: 1985
North Tipp Centenary Cup: 1984
North Tipp Senior League: 1988
Munster U/21 Hurling: 1983
North and County U/21 Hurling: 1981, 1982
North Tipp Junior Hurling: 1999, 2000
County Junior Hurling: 2000
North and Co Intermediate Football: 1988 , 1997
North and County Junior Football: 1986
North Junior Football: 1985
North U/21 Football: 1981, 1983
South Limerick Junior & Minor Hurling: 1977
1987 Guardian Player of the Year
1987 Tipperary Hurler of the Year
All Star nominee 1987, 1988, 1989
Interprovincials played with Munster in 1987,1988 & 1989

Conor’s school achievements include:
Limerick Colleges U/16
2 Limerick Colleges U/19
All Ireland B. Colleges
Corn Phadraig
Kinnane Cup

Little did Conor O'Donovan think when he was growing up in Effin, Co Limerick, that the town of Nenagh would provide him with the base for a glittering hurling career. Ironically, he was following in the footsteps of his uncle Terry Moloney (himself an All Ireland winner with Tipperary in 1958) who transferred to Nenagh and helped Eire Og to North victory in 1964 at full forward.

No surprise then that Conor was born into a strong hurling culture, where the greatest influences on his hurling career were his father Patrick O'Donovan and a near neighbour Mike Carroll. Immersed in hurling blood, Conor went on to play underage for Limerick (Conor played minor against Tipperary), but it was his move to Nenagh that sparked the upward curve and he made his Tipperary inter-county debut at U21 level poignantly enough against Limerick (1982) as a strong, skilful and aggressive centre forward.

Conor made his senior debut for Tipperary in a League match against Cork in 1984. In addition to winning All Ireland senior medals in 1989 and 1991, Conor also won Munster medals in 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1991 and a national league medal in 1988. Conors' greatest year was 1987, when he played a huge part in bringing the Munster title back to Tipperary after “the famine years”. One of his personal memories is the drawn 1987 Munster final against Cork in Thurles which he rates as his best game in the blue and gold. Indicative of his performances that year was that fact he was awarded Tipperary Hurler of the year and Guardian player of the year. 1998 was also great year for Conor, although, he ranks the loss of the All Ireland final that year as one of his major disappointments.

While Conor will be remembered in Tipperary as an outstanding fullback, he made his senior club debut for Nenagh in 1981 against Lorrha at centre forward. For a number of years he led the forward line with aplomb whilst his skill and strength ensured that he was consistently one of the clubs leading scorers. A reliable free taker, Conor showed his versatility when switched to the backline where he continued to perform to the highest standard from centre back and then full back. Without hesitation Conor acknowledges that his greatest honour in a long and distinguished career for “the Blues” was in captaining the club to win their first county final in 1995. Interestingly, he rates the county semi final win that year against Cashel as his best game for Nenagh. However, it was a loss at the semi-final stage of the North Championship in 1989 to Lorha which was his greatest disappointment in the Nenagh colours. Conor’s personal memories include winning a county junior hurling medal in 2000 following which he retired and his remaining sporting ambition would be to coach Nenagh to go the whole way and win and all Ireland club final. As a true "blue" Conor always prepared the night before Tipperary matches by discussing Eire Og's chances of winning a North Final with other members of the Eire Og Tipperary contingent.

As a player Conor O Donovan will be remembered for his excellent skill and his tight marking in defence. As a teak tough defender, he was a totally dedicated player who maintained a high level of fitness (ironically many teammates recall that Conors' best performances frequently came when he was carrying an injury) and passion throughout his playing career. His level of consistency allied to his exemplary sportsmanship mark him out as a person whose name will always come to the fore whenever hurling is talked about in Nenagh.

Like himself, Conor’s boyhood hero was another legendary full back, Pat Hartigan. Perhaps harking back to his glory days in the forward line, his favorite present day players are all forwards and include Eoin Kelly, Dan Shanahan and Henry Shefflin. Not surprisingly then, favourite players from the past include another pair of renowned forwards, Eddie Keher and Tony Doran. Conor concedes that Christy Heffernan from Kilkenny was his toughest ever opponent - a real battle of the giants when this pair clashed. Conor has continued to coach young teams in Eire Og and his advice to young players is to spend more time practicing on their weaker side to ensure they have two strong sides' ; to study the top players and try and learn new skills that improve their technique.