Jimmy Doyle

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**Jimmy Doyle**
Personal information
Sport	Hurling
Irish Name	Séamus Ó Dúil
Date of Birth	1939
Place of birth	{{{placeofbirth}}}, {{{countryofbirth}}}
Club information
Club	Thurles Sarsfields
Position	[[Gaelic football and Hurling positions#{{{clposition}}}\|{{{clposition}}}]]
Club(s)*
Club	Years	Apps (scores)
{{{clubs}}}	{{{clyears}}}	{{{clapps(points)}}}
All-Stars	3 Cú Chulainn Awards
* club appearances and scores correct as of {{{clupdate}}}.

(James) "Jimmy" Doyle (born 1939) is a former Irish sportsperson. He played hurling for Tipperary in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s and is regarded as one of the all-time greatest players of the game.

1 Early life
2 Inter-county career
3 Retirement
4 Honours
5 See also

[edit] Early life

Jimmy Doyle was born in Thurles, County Tipperary in 1939, just around the corner from Thurles Sportsfield, one of the premier venues for Munster hurlers and now known as Semple Stadium. He was born into a family that had a strong association with the game of hurling. Doyle's father Gerry had been the substitute goalkeeper on Tipperary's successful 1937 All-Ireland winning team, while his uncle was the famous Tommy Doyle who won 5 All-Ireland Senior Medals with Tipp. Jimmy Doyle had a phenomenally successful club career with Thurles Sarsfields. In a club career that lasted until 1975 Doyle won ten County senior hurling medals with 'the Blues', captaining the side to victory on two occasions.

[edit] Inter-county career

Doyle's talent and skill at hurling were evident from a young age. At the age of 15 he was chosen on the Tipperary minor hurling team for the 1954 championship. He started as the goalkeeper for the minor team but later switched positions on the team to becaome a forward. During his four years on the minor team he won 3 All-Ireland medals and also played a leading part in the success of his school, Thurles CBS, in the 1956 Harty Cup. Doyle's skill as a minor hurler brought him to the attention of the senior selectors who elevated him onto the senior hurling team in 1957. He went on to win his first National League medal later that same year, before making his championship debut against Cork in the Munster Championship semi-final.

The following year Doyle won his first All-Ireland senior medal and emerged as the leading scorer in the championship with 2-23 to his name. He was to be the top scorer again on a further four occasions in 1960, 1961, 1962 and 1964. Following All-Ireland success in 1958 Waterford regained the Munster title in 1959 but Tipp were back as a major force in 1960 even though Doyle had the disappointing experience of losing the All-Ireland final to Wexford. Earlier in the year he had picked up his third successive Railway Cup medal and his second National League medal.

Jimmy won his second All-Ireland medal in 1961 in somewhat tortuous circumstances. He sustained a serious injury in the course of the Munster final win over Cork but played on, and it wasn’t until he was x-rayed in Limerick that he discovered that his ankle was fractured in two places. There were no semi-finals at the time but he still faced a battle to be fit for the clash with Dublin in the final. A series of pain-killing injections before the match, and again at half-time, enabled him to take his place and he finished with a total of 0-9 in his team's dramatic one point win, 0-16 to 1-12. Doyle also had the honour of captaining Tipperary to two All-Ireland victories in 1962, and ’65, altthough on the former occasion his team-mate Tony Wall had to accept the Liam McCarthy Cup on Doyle's behalf as he was unable to do so due to injury. In all he won 5 All-Ireland senior medals in 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965 and 1971. He is one of only a handful of players to have won All-Ireland medals over three decades.

As well as these honours Doyle secured 9 Munster Championship medals and 7 National League medals. A series of injuries led to him playing a supporting rather than a central role with Tipp from 1969 onwards. Though he retired in 1970, he was back again to play in the 1971 Munster Final win over Limerick but injury ensured that it was as a substitute that he contributed to Tipp's All-Ireland victory. After this game Doyle retired for a second time, although he made a brief reappearance for Tipperary in the 1973 Munster championship first round match against Waterford in Semple Stadium, when he played as a goalkeeper due to the unavailability of Roscrea's Tadhg Murphy who was to return for subsequent matches. After this game Doyle retired completely from hurling.

[edit] Retirement

Jimmy Doyle, shy and retiring by nature, is generally regarded as perhaps the greatest forward to have played for Tipperary and one of the greatest hurlers of all-time. He was honoured by being named in the right corner-forward position on the Gaelic Athletic Association's "Hurling Team of the Century" and the "Hurling Team of the Millennium." His scoring prowess has also earned Doyle a place on the top ten list of all-time scoring greats.

[edit] Honours

Competition	No.	Years
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championships	6	1958, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1971
Munster Senior Hurling Championships	9	1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1971
National Hurling Leagues	7	1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1968
All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championships	3	1955, 1956, 1957
Munster Minor Hurling Championships	4	1954, 1955, 1956, 1957
Railway Cups	8	1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1966, 1969, 1970
Tipperary Senior Hurling Championships	10	1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1974

Preceded by: John Doyle (Tipperary)	Texaco Hurler of the Year 1965	Succeeded by: Justin McCarthy (Cork)

	GAA Hurling Team of the Millennium
1 Tony Reddin \| 2 John Doyle \| 3 Nick O'Donnell \| 4 Bobby Rackard \| 5 Paddy Phelan \| 6 John Keane \| 7 Brian Whelehan \| 8 Lory Meagher \| 9 Jack Lynch \| 10 Christy Ring \| 11 Mick Mackey \| 12 Jim Langton \| 13 Eddie Keher \| 14 Ray Cummins \| 15 Jimmy Doyle \|