Christy Ring and Sports Illustrated: When America was smitten by Ireland’s Babe Ruth

In 1954, Ring was placed in exhibition mode, a role he was deeply uncomfortable with, when Cork met New York at the city's Polo Grounds. The press pack were smitten

Christy Ring playing at the Polo Grounds in New York. "Ring breaks loose for score, racing at top speed, while tipping the ball on the hurley stick, the game's most difficult feat," added the caption writer. Picture: Sports Illustrated

In 1954, Ring was placed in exhibition mode, a role he was somewhat uncomfortable with, when Cork met New York at the city’s Polo Grounds. The press pack were smitten.

“Last Sunday, hurling’s greatest star showed New Yorkers why he is Babe Ruth of Ireland.

“Nicholas Christopher Michael Ring is a balding, 33-year-old Irishman with a broad back, strong legs and hands that could choke a bear. He is also the greatest practicing exponent of the ancient Irish game of hurling and, according to some, the greatest ever.”

New York City’s Irish Echo wrote; “If to do one thing supremely well is the hallmark of genius, then Christy Ring of Cork is one of the great geniuses of our time.

“What Ring does so well is play a game that at first glance looks like field hockey, but which resembles field hockey about as much as a Mercedes-Benz resembles a Baker Electric.

“Hurling is more like lacrosse played with axe handles or ice hockey with the puck continually in mid-air. It incorporates chip shots off the turf and fungo fly balls, but chip shots and fungos hit left-handed, right-handed or cross-handed on the dead run or in a crowd of fellow bat swingers. It is a game of bruising body contact, constant running and perfect eye-and-hand coordination.

“Christy Ring is by far the best of an exceptional group of fine athletes, because he possesses to an extraordinary degree the physical attributes of a great athlete, plus a competitive urge that, after 16 years of championship play, makes him leap in the air in glee when his team scores.”

The famed American sportswriter Red Smith wasn’t backward in his praise either: “He is to his game what (Babe) Ruth was to baseball, what Jack Dempsey was to boxing, Bobby Jones to golf, Bill Tilden to tennis, Jim Thorpe to football.

“Christy Ring is slightly bigger than a scupper of Guinness. He has small, compact features, bright blue eyes and thinning blond hair. He doesn’t talk much and when he does it’s well to listen sharply, for Cork softens and broadens his accents, blurring them for American ears.”

The Sports Illustrated magazine cover from 1954

Added Sports Illustrated: “Last week Ring’s team, County Cork, and the Gaelic football champions, County Mayo, were in New York to play teams of Irish-American all-stars. The New York footballers scored a stirring 10-9 win over Mayo, but the American hurlers never had a chance. Cork won 29-19, as Ring demonstrated his genius to the full satisfaction of 30,000 Irish-Americans in the Polo Grounds, which, praise be, nestles under Coogan’s Bluff.

“He scored eight points, set up other scores and was clearly the best man on the field. After it was over, a middle-aged Irishman said softly, “By God, he’s a great man is that Christy Ring.”

- You can purchase the Irish Examiner's 20-page special publication to mark the centenary of Christy Ring's birth with your Friday edition of the Irish Examiner in stores or from our epaper site.