Eddie Brennan

Edward Joseph Brennan (born 2 October 1978) is an Irish hurling manager and former player.

On 7 October 1996, he scored a decisive 44th-minute goal when the club defeated Dunnamaggin by 2-10 to 0-11 to win the Kilkenny Minor Championship.

The following year his underage success continued when he won a Kilkenny Under-21 Championship medal after an 0-11 to 0-06 defeat of Rower–Inistioge in the final.

Brennan subsequently joined the Graigue–Ballycallan junior team, however, he found it difficult to break onto the club's senior team.

On 23 March 1997, he scored a point from right wing-forward in a 2-11 to 0-14 Leinster final defeat by Good Counsel College from New Ross.

Brennan joined the Graigue-Ballycallan club at a young age and played in all grades at juvenile and underage levels.

In spite of this he won a Kilkenny Senior Championship medal as a non-playing substitute on 1 November 1998 after a 1-14 to 0-12 defeat of Fenians.

He won an All-Ireland medal in this grade in 1999.

He made his first appearance for the team on 23 June 1999, scoring two points in a 2-14 to 1-09 Leinster Championship semi-final defeat of Dublin.

He later won a provincial winners' medal after a 1-17 to 1-06 defeat of Offaly in the final.

On 19 September 1999, Brennan scored a decisive goal in Kilkenny's 1-13 to 0-14 All-Ireland final victory.

It was his last game in the under-21 grade.

His league and championship career with the Kilkenny senior team lasted twelve seasons from 2000 until 2011.

Brennan eventually made the break onto the Graigue–Ballycallan senior team and won a Leinster medal in 2000, having earlier won a county senior championship medal.

Brennan made his debut on the inter-county scene at the age of twenty when he was selected for the Kilkenny under-21 team.

He made his senior debut during the 2000 league.

Over the course of the following twelve seasons Brennan won eight All-Ireland medals, beginning with a lone triumph in 2000, back-to-back titles in 2002 and 2003, a record-equalling four championships in-a-row from 2006 to 2009 and a final winners' medal in 2011.

He also won eleven Leinster medals and five National Hurling League medals.

On 15 October 2000, Brennan scored two points from play when Graigue–Ballycallan won a second Kilkenny Championship in three years after a 0-16 to 0-09 defeat of O'Loughlin Gaels in the final.

Later that season he won a Leinster Championship medal at left corner-forward after a 0-14 to 1-08 defeat of University College Dublin in the decider.

Brennan made his senior debut for Kilkenny on 26 March 2000, scoring 2-03 in a 2-14 to 2-09 National Hurling League defeat of Tipperary.

Later that season he made his first appearance in the Leinster Championship against Wexford before coming on as a substitute for Henry Shefflin in the final in a 2-21 to 1-13 defeat of Offaly.

On 10 September 2000, Brennan played in his first All-Ireland final when he was introduced as a 61st-minute substitute for Canice Brennan.

He scored Kilkenny's fifth goal of the game in stoppage time before claiming his first All-Ireland medal after a 5-15 to 1-14 defeat of Offaly.

On 16 April 2001, Brennan scored four points from play in Graigue–Ballycallan's 3-24 to 2-19 extra-time defeat by Athenry in the All-Ireland final.

Brennan later played for Graigue–Ballycallan in the Kilkenny Intermediate Championship after the team was relegated, before lining out for the club's second team in the Kilkenny Junior Championship.

Having never played minor hurling, Brennan first played for Kilkenny at under-21 level.

On 8 July 2001, Brennan won a second consecutive Leinster Championship medal after being introduced as a second-half substitute for Denis Byrne in 2-19 to 0-12 defeat of Wexford in the final.

After being chosen on the Leinster inter-provincial team for the first time in 2002, Brennan was a regular on the starting fifteen at various times until 2009.

During that time he won four Railway Cup medals.

In retirement from playing Brennan combined his policing career with a new position as a sports broadcaster.

As one of the most prolific goal-scorers of the decade, he won four All Star Awards, three Gaelic Players' Awards and was a nominee for Hurler of the Year in 2008.

Brennan was named as one of the 125 greatest stars of the GAA as part of the GAA 125 celebrations in 2009, the same year he was selected at right corner-forward on the Leinster team of the past twenty-five years.

During his schooling at St Kieran's College in Kilkenny, Brennan was overlooked for the college's senior hurling team until his final year.

Brennan played his last game for Kilkenny in September 2011 and announced his retirement on 14 January 2012.

His media career began with RTÉ in 2012, where he started as a studio analyst with the flagship programme the Sunday Game.

Even during his playing days Brennan came to be recognised as one of the greatest players of his era.

Brennan was the manager of the Laois senior hurling team from 2019 to 2020.

Brennan played competitive hurling in his final year at St Kieran's College, having earlier come to prominence as a dual player at minor levels with the Graigue–Ballycallan club.

He won dual championship medals with the minor and under-21 teams, before later joining the club's junior team.