Christy Ring birthdate later than first thought

The Irish Examiner will publish a special supplement to mark the centenary of Ring’s birth at the end of this month

Christy Ring pictured in action for Glen Rovers against Blackrock in the 1956 Cork SHC final at Cork Athletic Grounds.

Researchers working on a major documentary film on the life of Christy Ring have definitively established the birthdate of the hurler as October 30th, 1920.

Uncertainty as to whether the Cloyne native was born on the 12th or the 30th has been clarified by Ring’s birth certificate, which gives the latter date - thus establishing the centenary of his birth as a century ago at the end of this month.

Regarded as the greatest hurler of all time, Ring won eight All-Ireland senior hurling medals on the field of play, including four in a row from 1941 to 1944 inclusive as well as three in a row from 1952 to 1954.

At club level, Ring won 14 county senior hurling titles with Glen Rovers between 1941 and 1967, while he also collected a senior football medal with St Nicholas in 1954.

He won 18 Railway Cup medals at a time when that competition was far more competitive and enjoyed a far higher profile, and as a selector, he was a pivotal figure in Cork’s three All-Ireland hurling titles in a row, won between 1976 and 1978.

In a national poll conducted by RTÉ in 2009 to determine Ireland’s greatest sportsperson, Ring was voted into eighth place (the two poll-toppers, Padraig Harrington and Brian O’Driscoll, were both born years after Ring had finished playing).

In 1964, the filmmaker Louis Marcus directed ‘Christy Ring’, a combination of documentary and coaching film for Gael Linn which featured the hurler.

Ring is now the subject of a major new RTÉ documentary film due to air this winter. The Irish Examiner will also publish a special supplement to mark the centenary of Ring’s birth at the end of this month.