Hurl your way home to Ringy’s birthplace

Tommy Barker says Cork hurler Christy Ring’s home looks a lot different from when he was born there in 1920.

IT took a TG4 film crew turning up on the door of Kilcrone Cottage, near Cloyne in east Cork, to let the current owner know her home was none other than the birthplace of the late, great hurler, Christy Ring back in October 1920.

Though best associated with Cloyne village, where his family lived on Spittal Street, Christy Ring’s actual birthplace had been at Kilboy Cross, a mile or so out in the country: the local myth is that Christy walked out of the house, aged six months or so, to make the family move to Cloyne. TG4’s recent documentary on Christy Ring starts with a loving, lens-eye on Kilcrone Cottage, and the rest is sporting lore.