JOHN DOYLE: JOHN DOYLE, who has died at the age of 80, will be remembered in Tipperary as the county's most iconic hurler. At a national level, his achievement equalled that of the great Christy Ring – eight All-Ireland medals.
Doyle is widely regarded as one of the greatest hurlers in the history of the game and is one of only a handful of players who won All-Ireland medals in three decades.
He played hurling with his local Holycross-Ballycahill club from the 1940s until the 1970s and was a member of Tipperary’s senior intercounty team from 1949 until 1967.
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) family from all over the country turned out in force in Holycross for the funeral of a man known simply as “The Legend”, who won eight All-Ireland senior hurling medals on the field of play in an illustrious career.
In addition, Doyle won 10 Munster senior medals, 11 National League titles, six Railway Cup medals for Munster and an All-Ireland minor hurling championship crown.
The mourners at Doyle’s funeral were led by GAA president Christy Cooney and four of his predecessors – Nickey Brennan, Sean Kelly, Sean McCague and Joe McDonagh.
President Mary McAleese was represented by her aide-de-camp, Comdt Michael Walsh, while the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, Senator Pat Moylan, was also in the congregation.
It was poignant that on the last day of the year in which Tipperary captured a 26th All-Ireland senior hurling crown, the Premier County bade farewell to one of its famous hurling sons, as Doyle was buried on December 31st.
Friend and foe alike from the hurling field also gathered for the funeral of a player who had the distinction of being chosen on both the GAA’s hurling team of the century and the team of the millennium and who served as a Fianna Fáil Senator from 1969 to 1973.
John Doyle was born an only child in 1930 and his mother died six weeks after his birth. He was raised by his father on the family farm in Holycross and educated at the local St Michael’s national school.
He later attended Thurles CBS and from an early age, he showed a great interest in hurling. At secondary school, his skills were further nurtured and developed by the Christian Brothers.
Doyle was famed for his dependable, close defensive play and would go on to leave a lasting legacy in the corner back position.
Tipperary’s GAA presidential candidate Con Hogan reflected: “John was one of the true legends of the game of hurling, an iconic figure to us in our youth.
“John made up part of the famous Tipp full-back line with Mick Maher and Kieran Carey (known as Hell’s Kitchen), on arguably one of the greatest teams of all time in the 1960s.
“I will remember him with great affection as he was a great character off the field as well as on it. And his two sons – Johnny and Michael – also played for Tipperary.
“ It is the passing of a legend and he was one of only two players to win eight All-Ireland medals on the field,” Mr Hogan continued.
“He was always very humble about that and he often said that Christy Ring won them for Cork but that Tipperary won them for him.
“But in fact, John Doyle was a very fine hurler and played a lot of his time at wing back for Tipperary. That’s a fact not always portrayed about him.
“The caricature of him is as a tough, uncompromising, stopping hurler but he was a very fine player.”
Doyle holds a unique record in that he was never substituted in 19 years of inter-county championship and National League hurling.
At club level, Doyle helped Holycross-Ballycahill to a first Tipperary senior hurling championship title in 1948. He added further championship successes in 1951 and 1954 for the mid-Tipperary team.
He considered retirement in 1957 as he found the game of hurling demanding and time-consuming, while also attempting to combine his career and raise a young family.
Having been persuaded to continue, Doyle starred in the next decade alongside some of the finest Tipperary hurlers of all time.
After he retired from intercounty hurling, Doyle continued to work on his farm in Holycross. In later years, he entered politics and stood unsuccessfully as a Fianna Fáil candidate at the 1969 general election in the Tipperary North constituency.
Doyle was subsequently elected to Seanad Éireann on the agricultural panel and served until 1973, when he lost his seat.
Many of hurling’s top names came to pay their final respects to Doyle at a crowded Holycross Abbey outside Thurles.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen was among those who paid tribute. He described Doyle as “an immense hurler and an incredibly decent man. His love of the GAA was matched by his concern for his country and his own community. He was a Tipperary legend and a proud Irishman.”
Doyle was buried at Holycross Abbey and is survived by his wife Ann, sons Michael and Johnny; daughters Margaret, Colette, Liz, Sandra and Anne Marie; 16 grandchildren, great-grandchildren and other relations.
John Doyle: born February 12th, 1930; died December 28th, 2010.