6. Lining out in the underage ranks with Shane Long
Bergin first played for the Tipperary minor hurlers in 2003 and won a Munster medal playing midfield at that grade.
His teammates on that side included current senior players Paddy Stapleton and James Woodlock and Irish soccer international Shane Long.
They defeated Cork by 2-12 to 0-16 in that provincial decider but lost out 2-19 to 2-16 to Galway in that year’s All-Ireland semi-final.
The following year Bergin was denied a second Munster minor medal when a late goal by Cork’s Eoin Murphy saw the Rebels defeat Tipperary by 2-13 to 3-8. In August 2004, Bergin was at midfield as Tipperary lost the All-Ireland minor semi-final to Kilkenny – who featured Kieran Joyce and Richie Hogan in their ranks – by 1-8 to 0-10
In 2005, Bergin came on as a substitute as Tipperary lost to Cork by 4-8 to 0-13 in the Munster U21 hurling final. Conor O’Mahony, Shane McGrath and Conor O’Brien were part of that Tipperary U21 side.
5. Family Sporting Heritage
In 2006 Bergin’s younger brother Niall won an All-Ireland minor medal on a Tipperary panel that contained a plethora of current senior stars – Michael Cahill, Padraic Maher, Brendan Maher, Thomas Stapleton, John O’Keeffe, Gearoid Ryan, Pa Bourke and Seamus Callanan.
Kieran’s uncles Liam and Jack captained the Tipperary senior hurlers in 1983 and 1985 respectively while Jack was a selector when Tipperary won the 2001 All-Ireland senior title. Another one of his uncle’s Jimmy Leahy won Munster minor and U21 medals and an All-Ireland minor medal in 1980.
Former Galway footballer Joe Bergin, who won an All-Ireland senior medal in 2001, is a first cousin of Kieran’s.
Niall Bergin in action for Tipperary in the 2006 All-Ireland minor final.
Pic: INPHO/Lorraine O’Sullivan
4. Moving Stateside
After the conclusion of that 2005 U21 campaign, Bergin moved to the United States where he lived for spells in New York and San Francisco. He continued to play hurling and featured alongside several well-known inter-county players during his time there.
In 2009 he was part of a Tipperary New York side that contained Galway’s Joe Canning and Ger Mahon, Limerick’s Ollie Moran and Gavin O’Mahony, and Dublin’s Tomas Brady and Oisin Gough. He also played for the Naomh Padraig club in San Francisco. Bergin returned home to Killenaule in South Tipperary shortly before Christmas 2011.
3. Gaelic Football
On the back of some strong displays for his club in last year’s county senior football championship, Bergin was drafted in to the Tipperary senior football squad at the start of this year by manager Peter Creedon.
He was only involved briefly but did line out during the McGrath Cup in January when he came on as a substitute against Cork in Páirc Uí Rinn, a game which Tipperary triumphed in by 2-9 to 1-9.
2. Fitzgibbon recognition
Bergin’s displays for Dublin IT in the Fitzgibbon Cup this year were instrumental in fast-tracking his progress to the inter-county senior stage. He excelled at half-back on a team that included Dublin seniors Liam Rushe and David Treacy, that notably defeated UL in the group stages before losing their quarter-final to Mary Immaculate College.
In April, Bergin was brought on to the Tipperary senior panel and a month later was parachuted into the starting line-up for his first ever senior competitive game against Kilkenny in the league final.
Kieran Bergin in action for Dublin IT against UL’s Michael Fennelly
Pic: INPHO/Lorraine O’Sullivan
1. Championship bow
Now at 27, Bergin will play in a senior championship game for the first time after being selected to start against Limerick on Sunday. He may be a late developer – as evidenced by the fact that he is older than eight of the other players in the Tipperary starting line-up but manager Eamonn O’Shea feels he is up to the task.
“You can’t beat a bit of life experience to see you through. I have great time for him and have no doubts about him at all. We knew that whatever happened he would give a good account of himself (against Kilkenny)”.
Pic: INPHO/Ryan Byrne
