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Christy Ring

Personal information
Sport	Hurling
Irish Name	Críostóir Ó Rinn
Date of Birth	12 October 1920
Date of Death	2 March 1979
Place of birth	Cork, Ireland
Nickname(s)	Ringey
Club information
Club	Cloyne Glen Rovers
Position	Forward
Club(s)*
Club	Years	Apps (scores)
Cloyne St. Enda's Glen Rovers
Inter County
County	Cork
Position	Half-forward
Inter County(ies)**
County	Years	Apps (scores)
Cork	1939-1962	64 (33-208)
Inter County Titles
Munster Titles	9
All-Ireland	8
* club appearances and scores correct as of {{{clupdate}}}. **Inter County team apps and scores correct as of {{{icupdate}}}.

Nicholas Christopher "Christy" Ring (12 October 1920 - 2 March 1979) was a famous Irish sportsman who played hurling for Cork in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He is regarded by many as the greatest player of all time. Over the course of his career he won a record 8 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship titles with Cork. He was named in the right half-forward position on the Gaelic Athletic Association's "Hurling Team of the Millennium."

Contents 1 Early life 2 Hurling career 2.1 Munster Championship 2.2 Railway Cup 2.3 Final years 3 Retirement 4 Tributes 5 Quotes 6 Winning Teams 7 Honours 8 References 9 See also

Christy Ring was born less than a mile from the small village of Cloyne in County Cork, Ireland in 1920. He was very close to his parents, Nicholas and Mary, and it was his father, a former Cloyne hurler, who instilled a passion for the game in his young son. As a boy Ring's father would take him to big hurling matches in Cork city, making the 18-mile journey by bicycle with his son on the cross-bar. He was educated at the local national school in Cloyne, where he was noted as a quiet but diligent pupil. As was common at the time Ring didn't go onto further education and left school at the age of fourteen. His first job was as an apprentice mechanic in Midleton and later moved to Cork city where he worked with Shell Oil as a delivery man.

In the 1930s the Gaelic Athletic Association in Cloyne evolved, with Ring and his brothers playing in local street leagues. As a fourteen-year old he played in goal for Cloyne's junior team, however, due to the absence of a minor team in Cloyne he joined a team in nearby Midleton. As a player with the St. Enda's club Ring was spotted by the Cork minor selectors and quickly made the inter-county team. Subsequently, Ring won his first All-Ireland medal in 1938. After moving to Cork city he joined the local Glen Rovers hurling club in 1941, winning a County Cork Championship medal in that year.

Ring made his senior debut with the Cork hurlers in the autumn of 1939, playing in a National League game. In 1941 the Cork senior hurlers won their first All-Ireland title in ten years, with Ring playing at right half-forward. The following year Cork defeated Tipperary in the Munster Final and later claimed a second All-Ireland title, with Ring playing a key role in both games. Further All-Ireland wins for Cork in 1943 and 1944 meant that Ring had won four All-Ireland medals by the age of twenty-five. In 1946 the Cork senior hurlers were back in the final to play Kilkenny, this time with Ring as captain of the team. After half-time Cork were down by a few points when Ring, playing at centre half-forward, made a great solo run and scored a goal which turned the game in Cork's favour. A fifth All-Ireland medal was the result for Ring. In 1947 the Cork hurlers once again met Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final. The match itself is often considered one of the greatest games of all time, however, on that occasion Ring was only awarded a runners-up medal.

In 1952 Ring was chasing his sixth All-Ireland hurling medal, meeting Dublin's hurlers yet again. Cork had an easy victory over "the Dubs" and later qualified for yet another All-Ireland final in 1953, this time facing Galway. Ring was captain of the senior hurlers for a second time as Cork claimed their 18th title and Ring claimed his seventh All-Ireland medal. The game was clouded in controversy due to the injury to the Galway captain, Mick Burke. After the match at the Gresham Hotel in Dublin a fight broke out when another Galway player struck Ring. The following morning another fight broke out when another member of the Galway panel attempted to hit Ring. The fights, however, ended just as quickly as they had started. In 1954 Cork were playing in their third consecutive All-Ireland final, this time facing Wexford. In front of a then record attendance of nearly 85,000 Ring, as captain, won a record eighth All-Ireland medal.

In 1956 Ring was back for his tenth and last appearance in an All-Ireland final. He was also chasing his ninth All-Ireland medal, only to be denied by the Wexford goalkeeper, Art Foley, who saved Ring's brilliant shot with his hurl, in the dying minutes. The ball was then quickly played up the field where Nicky Rackard scored the winning goal for Wexford. In spite of Cork's loss Nick O'Donnell and Bobby Rackard, in an amazing display of sportsmanship, raised Ring onto their shoulders and carried him off the field. It was to be the end of the glory days for Ring and the Cork hurlers.

In spite of winning several All-Ireland medals the Munster Championship still remained special to Ring. Matches were renowned for their ferocity, particularly when he came up against the famous Tipperary back line known as 'Hell's Kitchen' featuring teak-tough defenders, John Doyle and Mickey 'Rattler' Byrne who have often acknowledged Ring's greatness. Alluding to Tipp's perennial difficulty in containing him, Byrne's famous quip to Ring "Christy, I think we'll have to shoot you" and the equally famous retort "Ye've tried everything else" was typical of their off-field camaraderie. Many regard Ring's great individual display in the 1951 Munster Senior Hurling Championship final when he switched to midfield as his best ever performance for Cork. In the Munster final of 1954 he displayed his heroics in beating three defenders to set up the winning goal. Other famous scoring feats included Ring scoring three goals in a four minute spell in the 1956 Munster final to claw back victory from Limerick, and scoring three goals and four points in the 1961 Munster semi-final against Waterford.

Ring's relationship with the Railway Cup competition was a remarkable one for its longevity as well as its success rate. While he enjoyed the rivalry with the other counties during the Munster Championship he felt honoured to be on the same team as the great players from Tipperary, Limerick, Waterford and Clare. Over the years he set yet another record winning 18 Railway Cup medals with Munster. No other player in the history of the Gaelic Athletic Association has gone into double figures in terms of the amount of medals won. Ring was noted for giving exceptional displays on Railway Cup days. In the 1957 final he scored three goals and five points and in the 1959 final at Croke Park Ring scored a remarkable four goals and five points.

Twenty-three years after making his senior debut for Cork, Ring played in his last championship match in 1962. There was even speculation in 1966 that Ring, at the age of 45, would come out of retirement to play for Cork who reached the All-Ireland hurling final that year. This never happened however. Free from the pressures of inter-county hurling Ring continued to play for his beloved Glen Rovers in Cork. After a County Championship quarter-final against UCC in June 1967 Ring decided to bow out of hurling completely.

Ring's record at all levels of the game speaks for itself. During his career he won 8 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship medals (1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1946, 1952, 1953, 1954) and 4 National Hurling League medals (1940, 1941, 1948 and 1953) with Cork. He won 18 Railway Cup medals with Munster, appearing in 22 finals between 1942 and 1963. At club level Ring won 14 county championship medals with Glen Rovers and a football championship medal with St. Nick's. He was top scorer in the league in 1959, when he became the only player to average over ten points a game, 1961 and in 1962, when he shared the honours with Jimmy Doyle of Tipperary. Furthermore, by the time of his retirement, Ring's status as the greatest hurler of all time had been established.

Although Ring had retired from playing the game that he loved he soon joined the background team of Glen Rovers as a selector, before becoming a selector on the Cork senior hurling team. As a selector he was instrumental in helping the team achieve a famous three-in-row between 1976 and 1978. The 1978 All-Ireland Hurling Final was to be Ring's last visit to Croke Park.

Christy Ring died suddenly at the age of 58 on 2 March 1979. The news of his death came as a great shock to the people of Ireland, and particularly the people of Cork. His funeral was one of the biggest ever seen in Cork with up to 60,000 people lining the streets. Ring's graveside oration was delivered by a former team-mate and the then Taoiseach, Jack Lynch. Lynch finished by claiming that:

'As long as young men will match their hurling skills against each other on Ireland's green fields, as long as young boys swing their camáns for the sheer thrill of the feel and the tingle in their fingers of the impact of ash on leather, as long as hurling is played the story of Christy Ring will be told. And that will be forever.'

• A film about Ring's life was produced by Gael-Linn in 1964 and Val Dorgan wrote his biography in 1981, both works entitled "Christy Ring".

• He has also been commemorated by a life-size statue in his native village of Cloyne, and the "Christy Ring Bridge" over the river Lee in Cork remembers his achievements. One of Cork city's principal GAA stadia, Páirc Uí Rinn (Ring Park in English), is named in his honour.

• In 2005 the GAA commemorated Ring by creating the Christy Ring Cup, a hurling award for the tier 2 winning team. The inaugural Christy Ring Cup final was played on Sunday, August 14, 2005 between Down and Westmeath. The score was Westmeath 1-23, Down 2-18.

• 'I always liked to do the impossible.'^{[citation needed]}

• 'Let no one say the best hurlers belong to the past, they're with us now and better yet to come.'^{[citation needed]}

	Cork - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1941 (12th title)
1 J. Buttimer | 2 W. 'Long Puck' Murphy | 3 B. Thornhill | 4 A. Lotty | 5 W. Campbell | 6 C. Cottrell | 7 D.J. Buckley | 8 J. Barrett | 9 J. Lynch | 10 C. Ring | 11 C. Buckley (Capt.) | 12 J. Young | 13 J. Quirke | 14 T. O'Sullivan | 15 M. Brennan | Subs: P. O'Donovan | B. Ring |

	Cork - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1942 (13th title)
1 N. Porter | 2 W. 'Long Puck' Murphy | 3 B. Thornhill | 4 C. Murphy | 5 A. Lotty | 6 D.J. Buckley | 7 J. Young | 8 J. Lynch (Capt.) | 9 P. O'Donovan | 10 C. Ring | 11 S. Condon | 12 M. Kennefick | 13 C. Tobin | 14 J. Quirke | 15 D. Beckett | Subs: J. Buttimer |

	Cork - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1943 (14th title)
1 T. Mulcahy | 2 W. 'Long Puck' Murphy | 3 B. Thornhill | 4 C. Murphy | 5 A. Lotty | 6 D.J. Buckley | 7 J. Young | 8 J. Lynch | 9 C. Cottrell | 10 S. Condon | 11 C. Ring | 12 M. Kennefick (Capt.) | 13 J. Quirke | 14 T. O'Sullivan | 15 M. Brennan | Subs: P. O'Donovan | B. Murphy |

	Cork - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1944 (15th title)
1 T. Mulcahy | 2 W. 'Long Puck' Murphy | 3 B. Thornhill | 4 D.J. Buckley | 5 P. O'Donovan | 6 C. Murphy | 7 A. Lotty | 8 J. Lynch | 9 C. Cottrell | 10 C. Ring | 11 S. Condon (Capt.) | 12 J. Young | 13 J. Quirke | 14 J. Morrison | 15 J. Kelly |

	Cork - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1946 (16th title)
1 T. Mulcahy | 2 W. 'Long Puck' Murphy | 3 C. Murphy | 4 D.J. Buckley | 5 P. O'Donovan | 6 A. Lotty | 7 J. Young | 8 J. Lynch | 9 C. Cottrell | 10 P. Healy | 11 C. Ring (Capt.) | 12 C. Murphy | 13 M. O'Riordan | 14 G. O'Riordan | 15 J. Kelly |

	Cork - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1952 (17th title)
1 D. Creedon | 2 G. O'Riordan | 3 J. Lyons | 4 T. O'Shaughnessy | 5 M. Fuohy | 6 V. Twomey | 7 S. O'Brien | 8 J. Twomey | 9 G. Murphy | 10 W. Griffin | 11 W.J. Daly | 12 C. Ring | 13 P. Healy | 14 L. Dowling | 15 P. Barry (Capt.) |

	Cork - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1953 (18th title)
1 D. Creedon | 2 G. O'Riordan | 3 J. Lyons | 4 T. O'Shaughnessy | 5 M. Fuohy | 6 D. Hayes | 7 V. Twomey | 8 J. Twomey | 9 G. Murphy | 10 W.J. Daly | 11 J. Hartnett | 12 C. Ring (Capt.) | 13 T. O'Sullivan | 14 L. Dowling | 15 P. Barry |

	Cork - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1954 (19th title)
1 D. Creedon | 2 G. O'Riordan | 3 J. Lyons | 4 T. O'Shaughnessy | 5 M. Fuohy | 6 V. Twomey | 7 D. Hayes | 8 W. Moore | 9 G. Murphy | 10 W.J. Daly | 11 J. Hartnett | 12 C. Ring (Capt.) | 13 J. Clifford | 14 E. Goulding | 15 P. Barry |

	GAA Hurling Team of the Century (1984)
1 Tony Reddin | 2 Bobby Rackard | 3 Nick O'Donnell | 4 John Doyle | 5 Jimmy Finn | 6 John Keane | 7 Paddy Phelan | 8 Lory Meagher | 9 Jack Lynch | 10 Christy Ring | 11 Mick Mackey | 12 Jim Langton | 13 Jimmy Doyle | 14 Nicky Rackard | 15 Eddie Keher |

	GAA Hurling Team of the Millennium (2000)
1 Tony Reddin | 2 John Doyle | 3 Nick O'Donnell | 4 Bobby Rackard | 5 Paddy Phelan | 6 John Keane | 7 Brian Whelahan | 8 Lory Meagher | 9 Jack Lynch | 10 Christy Ring | 11 Mick Mackey | 12 Jim Langton | 13 Eddie Keher | 14 Ray Cummins | 15 Jimmy Doyle |

	Munster Hurling Team of the Millennium (2000)
1 Tony Reddin | 2 John Doyle | 3 Brian Lohan | 4 Denis Murphy | 5 Jimmy Finn | 6 John Keane | 7 Jackie Power | 8 Jack Lynch | 9 Phil Grimes | 10 Jimmy Doyle | 11 Mick Mackey | 12 Christy Ring | 13 Jimmy Smyth | 14 Ray Cummins | 15 Paddy Barry |

Competition	No.	Years
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championships	8	1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1946, 1952, 1953, 1954
Munster Senior Hurling Championships	9	1942, 1943, 1944, 1946, 1947, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956
National Hurling Leagues	4	1940, 1941, 1948, 1953
All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championships	2	1937, 1938
Railway Cups	18	1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963
Cork Senior Hurling Championships	14	1941, 1944, 1945, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1967
Cork Senior Football Championships	1	1954
Cork Junior Hurling Championships	1	1939
East Cork Junior Hurling Championships	2	1938, 1939
Texaco Hurler of the Year	1	1959

Preceded by Seán Condon	Cork Senior Hurling Captain 1946	Succeeded by Seán Condon
Preceded by John Maher (Tipperary)	All-Ireland Hurling Final winning captain 1946	Succeeded by Dan Kennedy (Kilkenny)
Preceded by Paddy Barry	Cork Senior Hurling Captain 1953-1954	Succeeded by Vincie Twomey
Preceded by Paddy Barry (Cork)	All-Ireland Hurling Final winning captain 1953	Succeeded by retained
Preceded by incumbent	All-Ireland Hurling Final winning captain 1954	Succeeded by Nick O'Donnell (Wexford)
Preceded by Tony Wall (Tipperary)	Texaco Hurler of the Year 1959	Succeeded by Nick O'Donnell (Wexford)

• Dorgan, Val, Christy Ring, (1980).

• List of people on stamps of Ireland