Niall Ó Ceallacháin is the new Dublin manager
Niall Ó Ceallacháin is the new Dublin senior hurling manager. A statement from the county board revealed that he was the candidate identified by a sub-committee tasked with finding a replacement for Mícheál Donoghue, who stepped down after two years in charge.
The Na Fianna clubman is currently overseeing the club’s bid to win back-to-back senior county titles. It is Ó Ceallacháin’s first managerial brief with a Dublin county team.
He heads an all-Dublin management outfit, which also contains David Curtin from Ballyboden and Kilmacud Crokes’ Donal McGovern. Nigel O’Hara, who has been involved with the Kildare hurlers for the past three years and previously worked with Na Fianna, completes the setup.
They have been appointed on a three-year term.
Two former Westmeath managers, Shane O’Brien and Joe Fortune – both Dublin-based and ex Dublin Under 20/21 managers – were understood to have been interested in taking over the job following Donoghue’s decision not to take on a third season.
Each had assembled strong backroom teams, with O’Brien thought to be keen on linking up again with Derek McGrath, whom he worked with the Dublin Under 20s two years ago.
Eddie Brennan was another to be linked, although it had been strongly felt that Dublin would appoint a home-grown manager for the first time since Pat Gilroy in 2018.
Paul O’Brien, who managed the Dublin Under 20s to an All-Ireland final in 2021 and also DCU to a Fitzgibbon Cup final, was also in contention.
Ó Ceallacháin has been a key figure in Na Fianna’s rise as a hurling powerhouse in Dublin. Having come through a period of sustained success at underage, last year they won a first Dublin senior hurling title in the club’s history.
They were narrowly beaten in the Leinster decider by O’Loughlin Gaels. The previous year they were beaten in the decider by Kilmacud Crokes, whom McGovern jointly-manages.
Na Fianna and Crokes are the two favourites for this year’s Dublin SHC.
