Tomás Ryan

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Tomás Ryan (born 1944) is an Irish retired hurler who played as a right wing-forward for the Cork senior team.

Ryan joined the team during the 1968 championship and was a regular member of the starting fifteen until he left the panel after the 1970 championship. During that time he won one All-Ireland medal, two Munster medals and two National League medals. Ryan was an All-Ireland runner-up on one occasion.

At club level Ryan was a one-time junior championship medalist with Inniscarra.

Playing career[]

Club[]

Ryan played his club hurling with Inniscarra and enjoyed some success during a lengthy career.

In 1975 Inniscarra reached the junior championship decider after winning the divisional crown. Ryan was at wing-forward as Ballymartle provided the opposition. After leading by 2-2 to 1-2 at half-time, Inniscarra went on to score a further three goals after the interval. A 5-7 to 3-8 victory gave Ryan a junior championship medal.^[1]

Inter-county[]

Ryan first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Cork senior hurling team in 1968. He made his debut in the provincial decider that year as Cork were defeated by Tipperary.

In 1969 Cork bounced back. A 3-12 to 1-14 defeat of Wexford in the decider gave Ryan his first National Hurling League medal. The subsequent provincial decider pitted Cork against reigning champions Tipperary. A 4-6 to 0-9 victory gave Cork a first defeat of Tipp since 1957 while it also gave Ryan a first Munster medal. This victory paved the way for an All-Ireland showdown with Kilkenny, however, the team suffered a setback before the game when midfielder Justin McCarthy broke his leg in a motorcycle accident. In spite of this Cork led at the interval and looked a good bet for the victory, particularly after Kilkenny forward Pat Delaney left the field on a stretcher. The Rebels were still to the good coming into the last quarter, however, Kilkenny scored five unanswered points in the last seven minutes to win by 2-15 to 2-9.

In spite of the All-Ireland defeat, Cork regrouped during the 1969-70 National League. It was a successful campaign for the Rebels as an aggregate 5-21 to 6-16 defeat of New York gave Ryan his second National Hurling League medal. The subsequent championship campaign saw Ryan win his second Munster medal as Tipperary were accounted for by 3-10 to 3-8. Cork later qualified for the All-Ireland final with Wexford providing the opposition in the very first eighty-minute championship decider. The game saw a record 64-point score line for both teams as Cork's Eddie O'Brien scored a hat-trick of goals to give Cork a considerable lead. At the full-time whistle Cork were the winners by 6-21 to 5-10, giving Ryan his first All-Ireland medal.^[2]

Political career[]

Following in the footsteps of his uncle, Mick Ryan, Tomás was a Fine Gael Councillor on Cork County Council for many years and served a term as chairman of Cork County Council.^[3]

References[]