It is not just on the pitch that many Gaelic games players excel but also in their lives outside of sport. We've put together XV of camogie, football and hurling players who have won PwC All-Stars and are also involved in running businesses.
READ HERE: 13 Counties Included As GAA Football All-Star Nominees Announced
READ HERE: Seven Counties Included As Hurling All-Star Nominees Announced
The Camogie, Gaelic Football And Hurling Business All-Star XV
1. Charlie Nelligan (Kerry, football)
The two-time All-Star (1980 and 1987) and seven-time All-Ireland winner ran a coffee shop and bakery with his wife Collette in Tralee for 30 years. It closed in 2014. The family also have a bakery, cafe and deli in Nelligan's home town of Castleisland.
2. Philly McMahon (Dublin, football)
McMahon won two All-Stars (2015 and 2016) to go with his seven All-Ireland football medals.
He runs Be.Do7 Fitness clubs and co-owns ready meal brand NutriQuick. He also recently opened Wobble Cafe in Finglas.
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3. Padraic Maher (Tipperary, hurling)
The Thurles Sarsfields man, who retired from inter-county action in 2022, is a six-time All-Star winner. He also won three All-Ireland hurling titles with Tipperary.
Two years ago, he opened the Heyday Coffee House in Thurles along with Tipperary teammate Seamus Callanan.
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4. Brendan Maher (Tipperary, hurling)
The three-time All-Star (2010, 2014 and 2019) founded LEAP Fitness in his home village of Borrisleigh in 2019. He is also the co-founder of The Pilates Programme with his wife Aoife Hannon.
1 November 2019; Tipperary hurler Brendan Maher with his PwC All-Star award during the PwC All-Stars 2019 at the Convention Centre in Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
5. Kevin Cassidy (Donegal, football)
The Gaoth Dobhair man, an All-Star in 2002 and 2011, runs the Teach Mhicí pub in Derrybeg. The establishment also hosts team bonding trips for GAA clubs.
"That's part of the bar at home, we have accommodation upstairs," Cassidy told Balls in 2019.
"About three or four years ago, we started getting teams down. It's going really well. They come down, play a challenge match and then I might take them for a coaching session or go for a night out. It's going well."
The @TeachMhici team bonding weekends keep delivering 😁 Massive congrats to St Mary’s back in Div 1 in Dublin after a ten year absence. A perfect example of committing to the cause and getting your reward. Delighted for you all fair play 💪💪💪 pic.twitter.com/MpsRCliVo1
— Kevin Cassidy (@KCASS7) October 9, 2023
6. William O'Donoghue (Limerick, hurling)
The Na Piarsaigh man, an All-Star in 2021, is the co-founder, along with his sister Kylie, of FemFuelz. The company sells nutrition products formulated specifically for women. FemFuelz was launched in 2020 and its products are now sold online and in supermarkets around Ireland.
"It just became very demanding to the point that me and Kylie both decided that we had to leave our jobs if we're to do this properly, and we're to run this like the business we want it to be and not a garage business," O'Donoghue told Balls last year.
"That's another daunting task. I was in an aircraft leasing company, Kylie worked in Dell.
1 November 2019; Limerick hurler William O’Donoghue with Gemma Cowen upon arrival at the PwC All-Stars 2019 at the Convention Centre in Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
"Once we did that, the company went from strength to strength because there was no longer a handbrake on. Things just happened much easier then because you're both in the room for eight hours a day. You're getting through stuff, coming up with better ideas, better solutions. Us leaving [our jobs] led to where it could be a full-time sustainable business that was on an upward trajectory."
7. Ken McGrath (Waterford, hurling)
The Deise legend won All-Stars as a forward (2002), midfielder (2004) and as a back (2007).
He runs Mean Bean Coffee along with his brother Eoin, the founder of the company, who was also an inter-county hurler with Waterford.
"It’s a cultural change," Ken told the Irish Examiner in 2022.
"Eoin and myself played hurling for Waterford for 15 years. If somebody asked me back in 2000, ‘I’ll meet you for coffee’, you’d be giving them a look. Coffee is favoured by strength and conditioning coaches. It’s an acceptable social thing too, to sit down for a couple of hours. If it was 30 years ago, it would be pints."
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8. Sean Cavanagh (Tyrone, football)
The five-time All-Star (2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2013) and three-time All-Ireland winner is the founder and managing director of SCC Chartered Accountants.
The firm opened its Moy office in 2017 and it now also has premises in Armagh, Belfast, Cookstown, Dundalk and London.
9. Conor Glass (Derry, football)
The Derry midfielder opened Cafe 3121 along with his girlfriend Niamh O’Donnell in his hometown of Maghera last year. It was a venture inspired by his time playing in the AFL with Melbourne-based club Hawthorn. During his early time in the city - which has a vibrant coffee shop culture - Glass began taking notes.
"I had a book called Coffee Startup and I had written out a business plan with where I wanted the cafe to go and all the things that's associated with a café startup. All the main points: footfall, parking, having a theme to the business," Glass told Balls last year.
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READ HERE: The 2013 All-Star Hurling Team: Where Are They Now?
10. Aisling Maher (Dublin, camogie)
The former Dublin camogie player, an All-Star winner in 2017, co-founded Mooze Vegan in 2020. She did so with Monaghan footballer Stephen O'Hanlon and former Dublin teammate Faye McCarthy.
16 July 2022; Aisling Maher of Dublin in action against Laura Murphy of Kilkenny during the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Senior Camogie Quarter Final match between Kilkenny and Dublin at Semple Stadium in Thurles, Tipperary. Photo by George Tewkesbury/Sportsfile
“The two guys are vegan so they were acutely aware of a gap in the market around high protein, grab and go products for vegans, which got us thinking about designing a product which would fill that gap or meet that need,” Maher told Balls last year.
11. Joe Canning (Galway, hurling)
The five-time All-Star (2008, 2009, 2012, 2017 and 2018) runs several bars and restaurants. Those include Curleys Bar in Portumna and Maisie's Bar in Athlone.
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12. TJ Reid (Kilkenny, hurling)
The seven-time All-Ireland winner and six-time All-Star (2012, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020 and 2022) founded TJ Reid Health and Fitness in 2017. The 15,000sq ft facility is based on the outskirts of Kilkenny city.
Reid said earlier this year that "the business is flying".
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13. Patrick Horgan (Cork, hurling)
The four-time All-Star (2013, 2017, 2018 and 2019) set up ProHurling last year. It was called Ireland's first online hurling coaching academy.
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14. Michael Murphy (Donegal, football)
The three-time All-Star (2012, 2014 and 2019) runs Michael Murphy Sports and Leisure, a sports shop in Letterkenny, along with former Donegal teammate Neil Gallagher.
The business, which was established in 2014, also sponsors the football championships in Donegal.
15. Andy Moran (Mayo, football)
The 2017 PwC Footballer of the Year, and two-time All-Star (2011 and 2017) founded The Movement gym in Castlebar, along with his wife Jennifer, in 2015.
3 November 2017; Mayo footballer Andy Moran pictured with his Footballer of the Year and PwC All Star awards during the PwC All Stars 2017 at the Convention Centre in Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
"When I came back from my knee [injury], my back was a big issue," Moran told Balls in 2017 about switching careers from sales rep to gym owner.
"I couldn't get my body in line. If you're sitting in a car for three or four hours a day, you just can't do it.
"I didn't think I was giving my best to that job and I didn't think I was giving myself a chance on the football field. So something had to change and it's made a big difference to me."
See Also: The 1998 GAA All-Star Football Team: Where Are They Now?
