All-Ireland senior hurling winner departs Tipperary panel

TIPPERARY ARE SET to have to plan without Kieran Bergin for this summer’s championship campaign after the Killenaule club man has departed the panel.

The42 understands that work commitments were a factor in Bergin’s decision.

The 31-year-old was an unused substitute in last Sunday’s Division 1 hurling league final loss to Galway and the semi-final win over Wexford on 16 April in Nowlan Park.

His last appearance came in late March when he started in the narrow defeat to Cork in Páirc Uí Rinn.

Earlier in the league campaign he had started in the victories over Dublin and Waterford in February before coming on as a substitute in the draw against Kilkenny.

Bergin was part of the Tipperary squad that lifted the Liam MacCarthy Cup last September with a thrilling final victory over Kilkenny.

He was brought on as a substitute in the second half of that success in Croke Park.

Kieran Bergin (second right) celebrates Tipperary's victory. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

Bergin was a latecomer to inter-county senior hurling. He won a Munster minor medal in 2003 with victory over Cork and then came on in the 2005 Munster U21 final loss to the Rebels.

The Killenaule man then moved to the USA for a few years and didn’t join the Tipperary senior hurling panel until April 2013.

Remarkably it was in a league final against Kilkenny that he made his debut in May 2013 in Nowlan Park before his championship debut came a month later against Limerick in a Munster semi-final defeat.

In 2014 Bergin started at wing-back in the All-Ireland drawn final and replay loss against Kilkenny, claiming an All-Star nomination at the end of that season for his performances.

Richie Power consoles Kieran Bergin after the 2014 All-Ireland senior hurling final replay Donall Farmer / INPHO Donall Farmer / INPHO / INPHO

He won his first Munster senior hurling medal in June 2015, starting in that final win over Waterford, and claimed his second last July when coming on as a substitute in the victory over the Deise at the Gaelic Grounds.

Kieran Bergin celebrates Tipperary's 2015 Munster hurling final victory Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO

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