Christy Ring
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Nicholas Christopher "Christy" Ring (December 12, 1920 - March 2, 1979) was a famous Irish sportsperson who played hurling for Cork in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He is regarded by a legion of admirers as the greatest player of all time, an accolade generally not contested by his rivals and opponents on the field of play. Over the course of his career he won a record 8 All-Ireland titles with Cork. He was named in the right half-forward position on the Gaelic Athletic Association's "Hurling Team of the Millennium."
Christy Ring was born in the small village of Cloyne, County Cork, Ireland in 1920. Ring's first hurling success came when he won a County Junior championship medal with the Cloyne Club in 1939, and later winning a record 11 county senior medals with the Glen Rovers GAA club. He made his senior début with Cork in 1939 and shares with John Doyle of Tipperary the distinction of winning eight All-Ireland medals, from 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1946, 1952, 1953 and 1954. He was deprived of a ninth by Wexford goalkeeper, Art Foley, who saved his brilliant shot at the end of the 1956 final.
Ring's individual display in the 1951 Munster final when he switched to midfield is rated by many as his best ever performance in a red jersey. Other famous scoring feats include three goals in a four minute spell in the 1956 Munster final against Limerick, three goals and five points in the 1957 Railway Cup final and three goals and four points in the 1961 Munster semi-final against Waterford.
Throughout his career Ring won a record 18 Railway Cup medals with Munster between 1942 and 1963, appearing in 22 finals in all. He also won four National Hurling League medals with Cork (1940, 1941, 1948 and 1953) and was top scorer in the game three times (1959, when he became the only player to average over ten points a game, 1961 and 1962, when he shared the honours with Jimmy Doyle of Tipperary). There was speculation in 1966 that Ring, at the age of 45, would come out of retirement to play for Cork who reached the All-Ireland final that year. This didn't happen however.
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 sculpture 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 principle GAA stadia, Páirc Uí Rinn, is named in his honour. Ring was also honoured by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2000 when he was named on the "Hurling Team of the Millennium."
Christy Ring died suddenly at the age of 58 on March 2, 1979. In an interview about his hurling exploits shortly before his death Ring said, "I always liked to do the impossible." Ring's graveside oration was delivered by a former team-mate and the then Taoiseach, Jack Lynch. It is often speculated that the sudden death of Ring came as so much of a shock to Lynch that it contributed to his own resignation as Taoiseach in December 1979. In his closing remarks Lynch said;
"As long as young boys swing the camán for the sheer thrill of the tingle in their fingers of the impact on ash of leather, as long as hurling is played, the story of Christy Ring will be told.......and that will be forever."
In 2005 the GAA commemorated Ring by creating the Christy Ring Cup, a hurling award for the division 2 teams. The winner of this cup goes on to play for the Liam McCarthy Cup the following year. 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.