Frank Cummins

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Frank Cummins

Personal information
Sport	Hurling
Date of Birth	1947
Place of birth	County Kilkenny, Ireland
Club information
Club	Blackrock
Position	Half-back
Club(s)*
Club	Years	Apps (scores)
Blackrock	1960s-1970s
Inter County
County	Kilkenny
Position	Midfield
Inter County(ies)**
County	Years	Apps (scores)
Kilkenny	1967-1984	49
Inter County Titles
Leinster Titles	10
All-Ireland	8
All-Stars	4
* club appearances and scores correct as of . **Inter County team apps and scores correct as of .

Frank Cummins (born 1947) is a former Irish sportsperson who played hurling with Blackrock and Kilkenny between the 1960s and 1980s.

Frank Cummins was born in County Kilkenny in 1947. He was educated locally at Stoneyford National School, where he first started playing hurling at the age of five, and later attended Belcamp College in Dublin. While studying here he played both hurling and football and the team reached the Colleges Final in 1965. Although never winning minor or under-21 medals Cummins made his senior debut with Kilkenny in an Oireachtas game in 1966. The following year he was a substitute on the Kilkenny team that beat Tipperary in the All-Ireland final. Cummins didn’t establish himself on the team until the All-Ireland final of 1969 when Cork were defeated. From then until his retirement he was a regular feature at midfield, his career coinciding with one of Kilkenny’s greatest hurling eras. In 1971 Cummins won his first Railway Cup title with Leinster. It was the first of five such victories in-a-row. He added a sixth Railway Cup title in 1977. Kilkenny reached another All-Ireland final later that same year, however, victory went to Tipperary on this occasion. In spite of this loss he was still named on the inaugural All-Star team.

Cummins, in spite of being a Kilkenny native, played all of his club hurling with Blackrock in Cork. He finished off the year of 1971 by winning a Cork County Championship as well as a Munster Club Championship title. The latter victory was converted into an All-Ireland Club Championship title at the beginning of 1972. Kilkenny reached the All-Ireland final again and were victorious in a thrilling game against Cork. It was Cummins’s second All-Ireland medal as a full member of the team and his championship performance was rewarded with a second All-Star. In 1973 Cummins’s side were defeated by Limerick in their third consecutive All-Ireland final. He ended the year on a successful note, however, winning a second Cork County title and a second Munster Club Hurling title with Blackrock. These victories were once again translated into an All-Ireland club title at the beginning of 1974. That year Kilkenny gained revenge over Limerick by defeating them in the All-Ireland final. Kilkenny captured back-to-back All-Ireland titles by defeating Galway in the 1975 final. This brought Cummins’s All-Ireland medal tally up to five. Kilkenny set a record by making their fifth All-Ireland final appearance in-a-row. No other team in the history of the championship had appeared in more than four consecutive All-Ireland finals. Cummins finished off the year on a successful note again by claiming his third Cork County and Munster Club Championship titles.

In 1976 Kilkenny’s dominance in the Leinster Championship was broken by Wexford. Cummins did have some consolation by winning a National Hurling League title. The “Cats” were back in 1978 but lost out to Cork who won their third All-Ireland hurling title in-a-row. Cummins had some consolation with his Blackrock club at the end of the year when he won his fourth Cork County and Munster Club Championships. These victories were converted into Cummins’s third All-Ireland club title at the beginning of 1979. Later that year he won his sixth All-Ireland medal with a victory over an up and coming Galway side. Offaly emerged as a new hurling force at the start of the 1980s, however, Kilkenny were back in 1982 and 1983 winning back-to-back National League and All-Ireland titles, as well as being honoured with back-to-back All-Star awards. This brought Cummins’s All-Ireland medal total up to eight, a record he shares with John Doyle and Christy Ring. His performance in the 1983 championship earned him the accolade of “Hurler of the Year.” Cummins retired from hurling after the being defeated by Offaly in the 1984 Leinster Championship. He continued his club hurling with Blackrock, winning another Cork County Championship in 1985.

Preceded by Noel Skehan (Kilkenny)

Texaco Hurler of the Year 1983

Succeeded by John Fenton (Cork)

[edit] Teams

	Kilkenny - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1969 (17th title)
1 O. Walsh | 2 T. Carroll | 3 P. Dillon | 4 J. Treacy | 5 W. Murphy | 6 P. Henderson | 7 M. Coogan | 8 F. Cummins | 9 M. Lawler | 10 C. Dunne | 11 P. Delaney | 12 E. Keher (Capt.) | 13 J. Millea | 14 M. Brennan | 15 T. Murphy | Subs: P. Kavanagh | S. Buckley | P. Moran |

	Kilkenny - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1972 (18th title)
1 N. Skehan (Capt.) | 2 P. 'Fan' Larkin | 3 P. Dillon | 4 J. Treacy | 5 P. Lawlor | 6 P. Henderson | 7 E. Morrissey | 8 F. Cummins | 9 L. 'Chunky' O'Brien | 10 M. Crotty | 11 P. Delaney | 12 J. Kinsella | 13 N. Byrne | 14 K. Purcell | 15 E. Keher | Subs: M. Murphy | M. Coogan | P. Moran | Manager: Fr. T. Maher

	Kilkenny - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1974 (19th title)
1 N. Skehan | 2 P. 'Fan' Larkin | 3 N. Orr (Capt.) | 4 J. Treacy | 5 P. Lawlor | 6 P. Henderson | 7 T. McCormack | 8 L. 'Chunky' O'Brien | 9 F. Cummins | 10 M. Crotty | 11 P. Delaney | 12 B. Fitzpatrick | 13 M. Brennan | 14 K. Purcell | 15 E. Keher | Manager: Fr. T. Maher

	Kilkenny - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1975 (20th title)
1 N. Skehan | 2 P. 'Fan' Larkin | 3 N. Orr | 4 B. Cody (Capt.) | 5 P. Lawlor | 6 P. Henderson | 7 T. McCormack | 8 L. 'Chunky' O'Brien | 9 F. Cummins | 10 M. Crotty | 11 P. Delaney | 12 B. Fitzpatrick (Capt.) | 13 M. Brennan | 14 K. Purcell | 15 E. Keher | Manager: Fr. T. Maher

	Kilkenny - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1979 (21st title)
1 N. Skehan | 2 P. 'Fan' Larkin | 3 P. Prendergast | 4 J. Henderson | 5 R. Reid | 6 G. Henderson | 7 N. Brennan | 8 J. Hennessy | 9 F. Cummins | 10 G. Fennelly (Capt.) | 11 B. Fitzpatrick | 12 L. 'Chunky' O'Brien | 13 M. Brennan | 14 M. Crotty | 15 M. Ruth | Subs: D. O'Hara | K. Fennelly | Managers: P. Henderson | E. Keher

	KIlkenny - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1982 (22nd title)
1 N. Skehan | 2 J. Henderson | 3 B. Cody (Capt.) | 4 D. O'Hara | 5 N. Brennan | 6 G. Henderson | 7 P. Prendergast | 8 J. Hennessy | 9 F. Cummins | 10 R. Power | 11 G. Fennelly | 12 K. Brennan | 13 B. Fitzpatrick | 14 C. Heffernan | 15 L. Fennelly | Manager: P. Henderson

	KIlkenny - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1983 (23rd title)
1 N. Skehan | 2 J. Henderson | 3 B. Cody | 4 D. O'Hara | 5 J. Hennessy | 6 G. Henderson | 7 P. Prendergast | 8 F. Cummins | 9 G. Fennelly | 10 R. Power | 11 K. Brennan | 12 L. Fennelly | 13 B. Fitzpatrick | 14 C. Heffernan | 15 H. Ryan | Sub: P. Lannon Manager: P. Henderson

	All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship - Silver Jubilee Team (1971-1996)
1 Niall Patterson | 2 Tony Maher | 3 Conor Hayes | 4 John Horgan | 5 Joe Hennessy | 6 Frank Cummins | 7 Denis Coughlan | 8 Gerald McCarthy | 9 Joe Cooney | 10 Francis Loughnane | 11 Ray Cummins | 12 Ger Fennelly | 13 Charlie McCarthy | 14 Tony Doran | 15 Liam Fennelly |