Offaly hurling stalwart and all-time leading scorer Shane Dooley has brought the curtain down on his 17-year inter-county career.

Son of three-time All-Ireland SHC winner Joe and nephew of Billy and Johnny, Shane’s career coincided with a much leaner spell for the Faithful County, but he still amassed a whopping 22-237 in 53 Championship appearances and 35-480 in 81 National League appearances. The 37-year-old also played 25 times in the Walsh Cup.

Dooley made his National League debut against Cork in February 2007 and played his last competitive game against Carlow in this summer’s Joe McDonagh Cup final extra-time defeat to Carlow at Croke Park. He captained Tullamore to their first Offaly SHC title in 45 years in 2009, won an Inter-provincial medal with Leinster in 2012 and also represented his country in the Hurling / Shinty series against Scotland.

Also a talented footballer, Dooley won two Offaly SFC medals with Tullamore in 2013 and 2021, and lined out in two O’Byrne Cup games for Offaly before opting to concentrate on hurling.

Paying tribute to Dooley, Offaly GAA chairman Michael Duignan said: “Shane Dooley has given outstanding service to Offaly during a lengthy playing career.

"In his prime, Shane was rightly regarded as one of the country's top forwards, who was very skilful and deadly accurate from both play and placed balls.

"This was reflected in his selection for Leinster in the Railway Cup and Ireland in the Shinty Internationals. We thank him for his dedication and commitment to the jersey and we wish Shane and his wife Anne-Marie the very best for the future."

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