LAST UPDATE | 10 Dec 2021
LIMERICK’S CIAN LYNCH and Tyrone’s Kieran McGeary have been announced as the PwC GAA-GPA Player of the Year award winners for 2021.
It is a landmark moment for Lynch as he wins the award for the second time, after being previously honoured in 2018.
Kilkenny great Henry Shefflin is the only other player to have won Hurler of the Year more than once, since this GAA scheme was established in 1995, with Shefflin winning it on three occasions.
Lynch saw off Limerick team-mates Sean Finn and Kyle Hayes, the other nominees for the hurling award this year. The Patrickswell man also won his third All-Star award for his exploits this season. It’s the second successive year a Limerick player has landed the top award after Gearoid Hegarty succeeded for his 2020 displays.
In football, McGeary has won the Player of the Year honour for the first time, in the same year that he won his first All-Ireland senior medal and won his first All-Star.
Tyrone team-mate Conor Meyler and Mayo defender Lee Keegan were also nominated. It is the fourth time a Tyrone player has secured this accolade after Peter Canavan (1995), Stephen O’Neill (2005) and Sean Cavanagh (2008) were previous winners.
Mayo’s Oisin Mullin and Kilkenny’s Eoin Cody have collected the Young Player of the Year awards for their displays in the 2021 GAA championships.
It is the second season in a row, where this duo have landed the young player honours, previously awarded last February after their 2020 performances.
AFL-bound Mullin, who is set to join up with Geelong to play Aussie Rules, also won an All-Star in 2020. Galway’s Matthew Tierney and Tyrone’s Darragh Canavan were the other nominees here.
It is the seventh time a Mayo player has won the young footballer award after Keith Higgins (2006), Cillian O’Connor (2011 and 2012), Diarmuid O’Connor (2015 and 2016) and Mullin last year were previous recipients.
Cody won out against the claims of Cork’s Shane Barrett and Clare’s Aidan McCarthy, who were also on the shortlist.
It is the fourth time a Kilkenny player has won this award, all members of the Ballyhale Shamrocks club with Cody preceded by James ‘Cha’ Fitzpatrick in 2006 and Adrian Mullen in 2019.
