Tommy Dunne

Tomás Dunne (born 21 May 1974) is an Irish hurling coach and former player who is from Toomevara, County Tipperary in Ireland.

He is the current coach of the Tipperary senior hurling team.

Dunne enjoyed a distinguished playing career with Toomevara GAA club and at inter-county level with Tipperary.

Dunne first came to prominence on the inter-county scene in the early 1990s as a member of the Tipperary minor hurling team.

He won a Munster title in this grade in 1991 following a 3–13 to 1–5 demolition of Limerick.

Dunne later lined out in the All-Ireland final with Kilkenny providing the opposition.

'The Cats' were superior on that occasion and won the game by 0–15 to 1–10.

Dunne subsequently joined the Tipperary under-21 hurling team and enjoyed more success.

Dunne first tasted victory in 1992 when 'Toome' defeated the mighty Thurles Sarsfields after a replay to take their first senior county title since 1960.

He was a midfielder on the latter team from 1993 until 2005 and collected one All-Ireland title as captain, two Munster titles, three National Hurling League titles and three All-Star awards.

Immediately after retiring from inter-county and club activity, Dunne became involved in team management.

1993 also brought success for Dunne as he collected a second county championship title following a one-point win over Nenagh Éire Óg.

Toomevara later represented Tipp in the provincial club championship with Dunne playing a key role in the club's 0–15 to 0–7 defeat of Sixmilebridge in the provincial decider.

It was his first Munster club title.

Toomevara later reached the All-Ireland club final with Sarsfield's of Galway providing the opposition.

He made his senior championship debut in a Munster semi-final victory over Kerry in 1993.

Tipp later captured the Munster title, however, Dunne found it difficult to break onto the team.

Dunne captured a third county title in-a-row in 1994 following a defeat of Cashel King Cormac's, however, Toomevara later surrendered their Munster club title to Kilmallock.

At the start of 1994 Dunne enjoyed his first success at senior level when he came on as a substitute in Tipp's National Hurling League victory over Galway.

Tipperary, however, enjoyed little success in the championship.

He won a Munster title in this grade in 1995 after a 1–17 to 0–14 defeat of Clare.

Once again, Dunne later lined out in the All-Ireland final and, once again, Kilkenny were the opponents.

An exciting game developed with Dunne playing a key role in the 1–14 to 1–10 victory for Tipp.

Not only did Dunne collect an All-Ireland under-21 medal but his performance in that game earned him the RTÉ Man of the Match award.

By this stage Dunne had already joined the Tipperary senior hurling team.

After defeat after a draw and a replay in the Munster final of 1996, Dunne lined out in a second consecutive provincial decider in 1997.

After a brief hiatus more success followed for Dunne when he won four county titles in-a-row between 1998 and 2001.

A fifth consecutive county championship triumph proved beyond Toomevara's reach, however, Dunne won further back-to-back county titles in 2003 and 2004.

This latter victory was later converted into a second Munster club title following a narrow 1–14 to 1–13 victory over Mount Sion of Waterford.

Toomevara later fell to Athenry in the All-Ireland semi-final.

In 2006 Dunne won his tenth and final county championship winners' medal with Toomevara, this time as captain of the side.

He subsequently captured his third Munster club title, however, his side lost in the All-Ireland club semi-final with Dunne being controversially sent off after a straightforward punch to the guts.

This event became the spark which Ballyhale Shamrocks needed to ignite their passions and, coupled with the inability of the selectors to see what was happening in front of them, brought about Toomevara's downfall.

Following this defeat Dunne decided to retire from club hurling.

He was a selector on the Tipperary minor team that captured the All-Ireland title in that grade in 2007.

Dunne later served as coach, under the management of Ken Hogan, to the Tipperary under-21 team that captured the All-Ireland title in 2010.

Dunne played his club hurling with his local club in Toomevara and enjoyed much success.

His playing days coincided with a great upturn in fortunes for the club.

Toomevara scored key goals in the 13th, 29th and 44th minutes to take a three-point lead coming into the final stage of the game.

Sarsfield's fought back to win by 1–14 to 3–6.