# Conor Whelan

Conor Whelan (born 31 October 1996) is an Irish hurler who plays as a right corner forward for club side Kinvara and at senior level for the Galway county team.

## Playing career
### University of Galway

As a student at the University of Galway, Whelan has been a regular player on the university's senior hurling team in the Fitzgibbon Cup.

### Kinvara

Whelan joined the Kinvara club at a young age and played in all grades at juvenile and underage levels before joining the club's intermediate team.

### Galway
#### Minor and under-21

Whelan first played for Galway as a member of the minor hurling team on 28 July 2013. He made his first appearance in a 1-19 to 0-13 All-Ireland quarter-final defeat of Laois. On 8 September 2013, Whelan was at right corner-forward in Galway's 1-21 to 0-16 defeat by Waterford in the All-Ireland final at Croke Park.
Whelan's second and final season with the Galway minor team ended with a 1-27 to 2-09 All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Limerick on 17 August 2014.
As a member of the Galway under-21 hurling team, Whelan made his first appearance on 22 August 2015 in a 1-20 to 0-17 All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Limerick.
On 10 September 2016, Whelan scored two points in a 5-15 to 0-14 defeat by Waterford in the All-Ireland final.
Whelan ended the 2017 championship by being named on the Bord Gáis Energy Team of the Year.

#### Intermediate

On 1 July 2015, Whelan made his first appearance for the Galway intermediate hurling team. He later won a Leinster Championship medal following Galway's 1-20 to 0-11 defeat of Wexford in the final.

#### Senior

Whelan made his debut for the Galway senior team on 26 July 2015, scoring 1-02 from play in a 2-28 to 0-22 All-Ireland quarter-final defeat of Cork. On 6 September 2015, Whelan scored two points from right wing-forward in a 1-22 to 1-18 defeat by Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final.
On 23 April 2017, Whelan scored five points from play when Galway defeated Tipperary by 3-21 to 0-14 to win the National Hurling League. Later that season he won his first Leinster Championship medal after Galway's 0-29 to 1-17 defeat of Wexford in the final. On 3 September 2017, Whelan started for Galway at right corner-forward when they won their first All-Ireland in 29 years after a 0-26 to 2-17 defeat of Waterford in the final. He ended the season by winning an All-Star award as well as being named All Stars Young Hurler of the Year.
On 8 July 2018, Whelan won a second successive Leinster Championship medal following Galway's 1-28 to 3-15 defeat of Kilkenny in the final. On 19 August 2018, he scored a goal from right corner-forward in Galway's 3-16 to 2-18 All-Ireland final defeat by Limerick.

## Career statistics

    As of match played 8 July 2023.
| Team | Year | National League | National League | National League | Leinstser | Leinstser | All-Ireland | All-Ireland | Total | Total |
| Team | Year | Division | Apps | Score | Apps | Score | Apps | Score | Apps | Score |
| Galway | 2015 | Division 1A | 0 | 0-00 | 0 | 0-00 | 3 | 1-06 | 3 | 1-06 |
| Galway | 2016 | Division 1A | 6 | 0-06 | 3 | 1-05 | 2 | 0-02 | 11 | 1-13 |
| Galway | 2017 | Division 1B | 7 | 3-12 | 3 | 0-12 | 2 | 0-05 | 12 | 3-29 |
| Galway | 2018 | Division 1B | 5 | 2-05 | 6 | 2-13 | 3 | 1-06 | 14 | 5-24 |
| Galway | 2019 | Division 1B | 5 | 1-07 | 4 | 1-10 | — | — | 9 | 2-17 |
| Galway | 2020 | Division 1A | 5 | 3-06 | 2 | 0-06 | 1 | 0-01 | 8 | 3-13 |
| Galway | 2021 | Division 1A | 5 | 2-11 | 1 | 1-02 | 1 | 0-03 | 7 | 3-16 |
| Galway | 2022 | Division 1A | 4 | 0-07 | 5 | 1-13 | 2 | 1-04 | 11 | 2-24 |
| Galway | 2023 | Division 1A | 4 | 1-04 | 6 | 6-11 | 2 | 1-07 | 12 | 8-22 |
| Total | Total | Total | 41 | 12-58 | 30 | 12-72 | 16 | 4-34 | 87 | 28-164 |

## Honours
### Galway

* All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (1): 2017
* Leinster Senior Hurling Championship (2): 2017, 2018
* National Hurling League Division 1 (2): 2017, 2021
* Leinster Intermediate Hurling Championship (1): 2015

### Club

* Galway Intermediate Hurling Championship (1): 2019

### Awards

* All Stars Young Hurler of the Year (1): 2017
* GAA GPA All Stars Awards (2): 2017, 2023
* The Sunday Game Team of the Year (2): 2017, 2023