Four Of The Leading Candidates To Be Young Hurler Of The Year

Cork and Tipperary will contest the All-Ireland hurling final for the first time on 20 July at Croke Park. It's been another thrilling year of small ball, and as the Tipp-Kilkenny game proved on Sunday, nothing in Irish sport can quite match hurling for drama.

While the likes of TJ Reid and Patrick Horgan - two of the greatest to ever play the game - have made a huge impact on this season, 2025 has also been defined by contributions from a number of fresh faces.

As was said online about Oisin O'Donoghue's remarkable goal yesterday, if you're good enough, you're old enough.

We hereby present four of the leading contenders for the Young Hurler of the Year award with just one fixture left on the intercounty hurling calendar.

The frontrunner for this award even if he won’t be involved in the All-Ireland semifinal or final. It’s been a whirlwind number of months for Adam English. He inspired Doon to their first Limerick SHC title in a century, won the Fitzgibbon with UL and then secured his place in the vaunted Limerick midfield for the Championship, at the expense of clubmate Darragh O’Donovan. English was at his most lethal in Limerick’s Munster round robin rout of Cork, where he scored 1-2. He was the standard-bearer for Limerick in the defeat to Dublin, scoring five from play.

Arguably Limerick’s most consistent performer this year and on 2025 Championship form, he could be Limerick’s sole All-Star as well.

It's been a fascinating season for the young man from Lisgoold. 'Dudsy' was Cork’s big find in their victorious 2025 League campaign, winning huge plaudits from Pat Ryan after the League final over Tipp. The MTU Cork student was used mostly as an impact sub throughout the round robin but started both the Munster final and the All-Ireland semi-final and didn't do much wrong.

Much is made of Cork's vaunted full forward line, but Cork's half forward line is deeper than any in the country. With Seamus Harnedy likely to come back into the fifteen, and Declan Dalton in the form of his life, it remains to be seen if Healy will be in the parade in two weeks time, but it's certain he'll play some role in the game. Considering it's his first season playing senior, and Cork's strength in depth, that's quite a statement.

Tipp’s revival in 2025 has been made possible thanks to the enormous contributions of a corps of U20 stars. Five players from the U20 All-Ireland winning squad are involved in the Tipp seniors. Two of them are in are worthy contenders for the Young Hurler of the Year prize.

After captaining the U20s to the All-Ireland, O’Farrell has been one of the most consistent performers in 2025 for Liam Cahill's reborn Premier side. The Nenagh Éire Ogs player is the only Tipp man to ever captain All-Ireland winning sides at minor and U20 level, and he plays like a future Tipp captain in the making.

O’Donoghue has been used mostly as an impact sub in this Championship but what an impact he's made. He scored goals against Waterford and Galway but even if he never played another game of hurling, he'll always be remembered for what he did on Sunday. The 19-year-old's ridiculous goal into the Hill to send Tipp into the All-Ireland final was true Roy of the Rovers stuff. Last autumn, O'Donoghue was known as the player who hit an own point in a club match. No longer.

Based on his body of work, it'd be hard for any of the contenders for overturn English in the race for this trophy, but should O'Donoghue reach back into his bag of magic tricks in the All-Ireland final, he might have a chance.