Brian Hayes (dual player)

Brian Hayes (born 2001^[1]) is an Irish Gaelic footballer and hurler who plays for club side St Finbarr's and at senior level with the Cork county hurling team. He usually lines out as a forward.

Brian Hayes

Personal information
Irish name	Brian Ó hAodha
Sport	Hurling
Position	Left wing-forward
Born	2001 Cork, Ireland
Height	13 ft 17 in (4.39 m)
Occupation	Operations analyst
Club(s)*
Years	Club	Apps (scores)
2019– 2019–	St Finbarr's (SH) St Finbarr's (SF)	20 (8–37) 25 (5–31)
Club titles
	Football	Hurling
Cork titles	1	1
Munster titles	1	0
Colleges(s)
Years	College
2020-2024	University College Cork
College titles
Fitzgibbon titles	0
Inter-county(ies)**
Years	County	Apps (scores)
2021–2022 2022–	Cork (SF) Cork (SH)	3 (0–0) 18 (8-22)
Inter-county titles
Munster titles	1
All-Irelands	0
NHL	1
All Stars	0
* club appearances and scores correct as of 22:46, 2 August 2024. **Inter County team apps and scores correct as of match played 20 July 2025.

Early life

Born and raised in Cork, Hayes played hurling and Gaelic football to a high standard as a student at Presentation Brothers College (PBC). He was captain of the PBC senior football team in 2019.^[2] Hayes later studied at University College Cork and was part of their Fitzgibbon Cup panel.^[3][4]

Club career

Hayes began his club career at juvenile and underage levels as a dual player with the St Finbarr's club, before progressing to adult level in 2019. It was as a Gaelic footballer that he claimed his first silverware when, in 2021, he won a Cork PSFC medal as midfield partner to Ian Maguire after a one-point defeat of Clonakilty in the final.^[5] This was followed by a Munster Club SFC medal after a 2–09 to 1–10 defeat of Austin Stacks.^[6] Hayes was the St Finbarr's team's top scorer from play when they won the Cork PSHC title in October 2022 after a 2–14 to 1–07 defeat of Blackrock.^[7]

Inter-county career

Hayes never played for Cork at minor level but lined out as a dual player with the respective under-20 teams.^[8] He claimed his first All-Ireland U20HC medal in August 2021 after coming on as a substitute in the four-point win over Dublin in COVID-19-delayed 2020 All-Ireland U20 final.^[9] Hayes collected a second winners' medal when Cork retained the title after socring 1-02 from play in the 4-19 to 2-14 defeat of Galway in the 2021 All-Ireland U20 final.^[10] As a member of the under-20 football team, Hayes won a Munster U20FC medal after captaining Cork to a ten-point win over Tipperary in 2021.^[11]

Hayes was drafted onto the Cork senior football team for the 2022 season and made a number of appearances for the team, including the All-Ireland quarter-final loss to Dublin.^[12] He joined the Cork senior hurling team in December 2022.^[13]

Hayes lined out at left corner-forward for Cork's 3–29 to 1–34 extra-time defeat by Clare in the 2024 All-Ireland final.^[14] He ended the season by being names on the Sunday Game Team of the Year.^[15] Hayes claimed his first senior silverware in April 2025 when Cork won the National Hurling League title following a 3–24 to 0–23 win over Tipperary in the final.^[16] This was later followed by a Munster SHC medal after Cork's penalty shootout defeat of Limerick in the 2025 Munster final.^[17]

Personal life

Hayes's father, Paddy Hayes, was a member of the Cork senior football team that won the All-Ireland SFC title in 1990.^[18] His uncle, Ger Cunningham, won All-Ireland SHC titles with Cork in 1984, 1986 and 1990.^[19] His cousin, Ben Cunningham, has also lined out with the Cork senior team.^[20]

Career statistics

Club

As of 13 October 2024.

Team	Year	Cork PSHC		Munster		All-Ireland		Total		Cork PSFC		Munster		All-Ireland		Total
		Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score
St Finbarr's	2019	1	0–0	—		—		1	0–0	2	0–0	—		—		2	0–0
	2020	3	0–9	—		—		3	0–9	5	0–8	—		—		5	0–8
	2021	3	1–6	—		—		3	1–6	6	0–6	1	0–3	1	0–0	8	0–9
	2022	6	4–16	1	0–2	—		7	4–18	5	4–9	—		—		5	4–9
	2023	5	2–3	—		—		5	2–3	4	1–5	—		—		4	1–5
	2024	3	1–3	—		—		3	1–3	5	2–4	—		—		5	2–4
Career total		21	8–37	1	0–2	—		22	8–39	27	7–32	1	0–3	1	0–0	29	7–35

Inter-county

As of match played 20 July 2025

Team	Year	National League			Munster		All-Ireland		Total
		Division	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score
Cork	2023	Division 1A	6	0–06	3	1–00	—		9	1–06
	2024		4	1–06	4	0–05	4	2–08	12	3–19
	2025		7	5–08	5	3–07	2	2-02	14	10–17
Career total			17	6–20	12	4–12	6	4–10	35	14–42

Honours

St Finbarr's

• Munster Senior Club Football Championship: 2021
• Cork Premier Senior Hurling Championship: 2022
• Cork Premier Senior Football Championship: 2021

Cork

• Munster Senior Hurling Championship: 2025
• National Hurling League: 2025
• All-Ireland Under-20 Hurling Championship: 2020, 2021
• Munster Under-20 Hurling Championship: 2020, 2021
• Munster Under-20 Football Championship: 2021 (c)

Awards

• The Sunday Game Team of the Year: 2024, 2025