Galway may have been on the wrong end of a hammering in July’s All-Ireland hurling final, but the county had something to celebrate at the RDS in Dublin on Friday night. Athenry’s Jason Rabbitte was named PwC GAA/GPA Young Hurler of the Year and was one of three Galway players selected on the 2026 hurling All-Star team.
The night’s biggest prizes went to Limerick’s Gearóid Hegarty, named Hurler of the Year for the second time, and Mayo’s Ryan O’Donoghue, who was crowned Footballer of the Year after starring in his county’s All-Ireland win over Kerry.
Galway’s three All-Stars and a family affair
Rabbitte, from the Naomh Mhuire club in Athenry, beat off competition from his Galway team-mate Cillian Trayers and Cork’s William Buckley for the young player award. According to RTÉ, he is the first Galway player to win it since Conor Whelan in 2017. There is a family thread too: his father, Joe, won All-Stars in 1993 and 2000.
Rabbitte, picked at corner-forward, credited Galway manager Micheál Donoghue with giving the young players confidence. He was joined on the team by full-back Darren Morrissey, collecting his first All-Star, and midfielder Tom Monaghan.
Three awards is a decent return for a county beaten 1-29 to 1-18 by Limerick in the All-Ireland final at Croke Park on 19 July. But it also underlines the size of the gap. The champions claimed nine of the 15 places, according to the official GAA list, with Cork taking two and Clare’s Peter Duggan the other.
Hegarty joins an elite club
Hegarty, of St Patrick’s in Limerick, first won Hurler of the Year in 2020. Collecting the award again, along with his fifth All-Star, he said he was very proud. He saw off Limerick team-mate Diarmaid Byrnes and Cork’s Brian Hayes, who was nominated for the second time.
RTÉ noted that Hegarty becomes only the third player to win the GAA/GPA award more than once since it was launched in 1995. The other two are Henry Shefflin, who won it three times, and Cian Lynch, a two-time winner.
The rest of Limerick’s haul read like a roll call of a dynasty: goalkeeper Nickie Quaid, Barry Nash, Byrnes, William O’Donoghue, Kyle Hayes, Adam English, Aidan O’Connor and Cathal O’Neill. Cork’s Niall O’Leary won his first All-Star alongside Hayes. The Irish Times reported that Kyle Hayes now has six All-Stars and Byrnes five.
Mayo’s big night after All-Ireland glory
In football, the night belonged to Mayo. The Belmullet forward O’Donoghue, man of the match in the 1-20 to 1-17 All-Ireland final win over Kerry in July, beat three-time winner David Clifford and his own team-mate Jack Carney to the top award. He told RTÉ it still had not sunk in. He is Mayo’s third Footballer of the Year, after Lee Keegan in 2016 and Andy Moran in 2017.
Claremorris’s Darragh Beirne made it a Mayo double as Young Footballer of the Year, ahead of Mayo’s Kobe McDonald and Louth’s Dara McDonnell. Beirne credited his manager, saying it was all down to Andy for giving the players freedom to express themselves.
Mayo took six places on the football team, according to The Irish Times, with Kerry winning three and one each for Westmeath, Louth, Armagh, Tyrone, Monaghan and Dublin. McDonald, at 18, became the youngest football All-Star, the paper reported, though he will not play inter-county football next year as he is joining AFL club St Kilda. Armagh’s Jarly Óg Burns, son of GAA president Jarlath Burns, was also honoured.
One famous name was missing. The Irish Times noted that Kilkenny’s seven-time All-Star TJ Reid was not selected, and that he has announced his retirement from inter-county hurling.
What happens next
With the awards handed out, the focus returns to the clubs. In Galway, Tommy Larkins and Loughrea meet in the county senior hurling final at Pearse Stadium on Sunday, and the provincial and All-Ireland club campaigns run through the winter. For Galway’s inter-county hurlers, the Allianz League in the new year is the next chance to start closing that gap on Limerick.
Sources
- GAA.ie: PwC Hurling All-Stars and Players of the Year named (30 October 2026)
- RTÉ Sport: Hegarty and O’Donoghue win Player of the Year awards (30 October 2026)
- The Irish Times: All Stars ceremony: Limerick win nine hurling All Stars – as it happened (30 October 2026)
- Balls.ie: In Pictures: GAA stars shine on red carpet at 2026 All-Stars gala (30 October 2026)
- HoganStand: Terrific Treaty men triumph over Galway to 13th All-Ireland SHC crown (19 July 2026)
- Wikipedia: 2026 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final (accessed 31 October 2026)
Featured image: All-Ireland Hurling final replay 2014 by Florian Christoph from Dublin, Ireland, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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