Tomorrow evening, the hurlers of Donegal & Ulster University will contest the 2023 Conor McGurk Cup Final at the Dub Arena – the sixth year that the tournament will be played under the official regulation of Ulster GAA, having supported it since the inaugural competition in 2015.
The competition is named to honour the memory of Queen’s University Hurling Club Past Member, Conor McGurk, who passed away suddenly in 2014. Conor read sciences at Queen’s and was an active member of the university hurling club. He played in two Fitzgibbon finals and was twice picked as goalkeeper on combined University teams, the highest accolade in Higher Education hurling.
Queen’s established and have ran the tournament as an invitational event for universities and counties at the Dub throughout January and this season, ten teams participated in the competition – two university sides, Ollscoil na Ríona and Ollscoil Uladh, alongside Aontroim, Ard Mhacha, An Cabhán, An Dún, Dún na nGall, Fear Manach & Muineachán & An Lú.
For Conor, life was to be celebrated, especially on the sports field. The friendships he made playing hurling, at St Mary’s, in Queen’s, on the Combined Universities sides and with St John’s GAC, he maintained throughout his life. He loved nothing better than to get together with former team mates to celebrate past glories and to encourage them to support the next generation of hurlers.
Conor McGurk was a great leader for Hurling at Queen’s for many years and the continuation of this tournament is a fantastic legacy of his great contribution to the development of the sport.
By Sinéad Breen Donegal PRO Wed 1st Mar
