Shane Dooley retires from inter-county hurling

Offaly forward Shane Dooley has retired from inter-county hurling, officially concluding a senior career that spanned 17 seasons.

One of the longest serving inter-county GAA players of the modern era, Shane steps away after earning the distinction of being Offaly hurling’s all-time top scorer.

He made his League debut for the Faithful County against Cork in February 2007 and his last competitive game came this summer in the Joe McDonagh Cup final versus Carlow at Croke Park.

Shane’s 159 Senior Hurling appearances for Offaly comprised 53 in the Championship, 81 in the National League and 25 in the Walsh Cup.

His scoring exploits included 22-237 in the Championship and 35-480 in the National League.

Shane followed in the footsteps of his father Joe and uncles Billy and Johnny by wearing the tri-colour jersey with distinction. He also represented Leinster in the Interprovincial series (winning a medal in 2012) and Ireland in Hurling-Shinty games against Scotland.

In addition, Shane had the honour of captaining Tullamore to a famous Offaly Senior Hurling Championship title in 2009, and was selected as Offaly Hurler of the Year in 2009 and 2010. An underage dual player for his county, he also won Offaly Senior Football Championship titles with Tullamore and lined out in two O’Byrne Cup football games for Offaly before opting to concentrate on hurling at inter-county level.

On behalf of Offaly GAA, Co. Board Chairperson, Michael Duignan said: “Shane Dooley has given outstanding service to Offaly during a lengthy playing career. In his prime, Shane was rightly regarded as one of the country’s top forwards who was very skilful and deadly accurate from both play and placed balls. This was reflected in his selection for Leinster in the Railway Cup and Ireland in the Shinty Internationals. We thank him for his dedication and commitment to the jersey and we wish Shane and his wife Anne Marie the very best for the future.”