Michael Keating (hurler)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Michael 'Babs' Keating

Personal information
Sport	Hurling
Irish Name	Micheál Céitinn
Date of Birth	17 April 1944
Place of birth	Ardfinnan, County Tipperary
Nickname(s)	Babs
Club information
Club	Ballybacon-Grange
Position	Forward
Club(s)*
Club	Years	Apps (scores)
Inter County
County	Tipperary
Position	Forward
Inter County(ies)**
County	Years	Apps (scores)
Tipperary	1963-1975
Inter County Titles
Munster Titles	4
All-Ireland	2
All-Stars	2 Cú Chulainn awards 1 All Star award
* club appearances and scores correct as of . **Inter County team apps and scores correct as of .

Michael 'Babs' Keating (born 17 April 1944) is a famous Irish sportsperson. He played hurling and football with Tipperary in the 1960s and 1970s. He later became a very successful manager and is currently in charge of the Tipperary senior hurling team.

Contents 1 Early & private life 2 Playing career 2.1 Club 2.2 Inter-county 3 Managerial career

[edit] Early & private life

Michael Keating was born in Ardfinnan, County Tipperary in 1944. The youngest member of a large family, he received the nickname 'Babs' when he went to school where he was the youngest of three Michael Keatings in the school. The nickname has remained with him into adult life and he is almost always exclusively referred to as Babs. As well as his sporting career, Keating has worked for many years for the petroleum oil company Esso. He is married to Nancy Maher and his son-in-law is Irish jockey Johnny Murtagh, who is married to his daughter Orla.

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Club

Keating showed skill at Gaelic Games in his youth and he quickly joined his local clubs. He played hurling with Ballybacon and football with Ardfinnan. He had little success at county level with Ballybacon, however, he won five Tipperary SFC titles with Ardfinnan.

[edit] Inter-county

Keating was a dual player in his early playing career, however, he later decided to concentrate solely on hurling. 1964 proved to be a very successful year in his career. He began the year by winning his first National Hurling League title with Tipperary. Keating later went on to win his first Munster title, before defeating Kilkenny to win his first All-Ireland medal. Keating finished off the year by winning an All-Ireland medal with Tipp’s under-21 hurlers.

In 1965 Keating was off the team when Tipperary claimed further Munster and All-Ireland honours. In 1967 he captured his second Munster title, however, Tipp were defeated by Kilkenny in the ALL-Ireland final. 1968 began well with Ketaing winning his second National League medal. He later collected his third Munster title, however, Tipp were once again defeated in the All-Ireland final, this time by Wexford. By 1971 Keating had come to be regarded as one of the great full-forwards of his era. That year he won his fourth Munster title before subsequently claiming his second All-Ireland medal following a huge win over Kilkenny. The game itself will surely be remembered for the image of Keating discarding his worn-out boots and playing the last few minutes of the match in his bare feet. This moment was listed as one of RTÉ‘s Top 20 GAA Moments in a special television programme in 2005.

Keating retired from hurling without further success in the mid-1970s. His other honours include four Railway Cup medals with Munster and an All-Star Award in 1971.

[edit] Managerial career

Micheal Keating

Inter County Management
County		Years
Tipperary Offaly		1987-1994 1998
Achievements
County	All Ireland	Province	League
Tipperary	2	5	2

In retirement from inter-county hurling Keating maintained a key interest in the game as a selector and a manager. During his managerial career he has often courted controversy because of his outspoken and extrovert nature, ready to deliver a comment or a quip at a moment's notice. He first turned his hand to management in the late 1970s when he took charge of Galway. He guided them to an All-Ireland final in 1979, however, they were comprehensively defeated by Kilkenny. In 1987 Keating took charge of Tipperary. Having had nothing but sixteen years of defeat Keating immediately guided them to three successive Munster titles. In 1989 he coached Tipp to an All-Ireland title, their first since 1971.

In 1990 when Tipperary played in the highly anticipated Munster Final against Cork Keating chided the Cork team before the game by saying "You can't win derbies with donkeys [Cork]." Tipp lost, and Cork went on to win the All-Ireland. When Keating retired as Tipp manager in 1994 he had steered the team to five provincial titles and two All-Ireland titles. In 1997 Keating moved to Leinster to become manager of Laois, however, he had little success and left after just one season.

In 1998 he took charge of Offaly, however, his tenure at the helm was once again controversial. Following a Leinster Final loss to Kilkenny Keating criticised his own Offaly team by describing them as "sheep in a heap". He subsequently resigned, however, Offaly later went on to win the All-Ireland final.

In October 2005, Keating was appointed manager of the Tipperary senior hurling team for the 2006 Championship. He got off to a winning start by defeating Limerick and Waterford, however, Tipp subsequently lost the Munster Final to Cork. Following this game he sensationally dropped the Captain Ger 'Redser' O'Grady for the remainder of the championship. Tellingly, the County Board took charge of the public relations surrounding this incident and the damage limitation was expertly handled. Tipp were later knocked out of the championship by Waterford.

Preceded by Pat McDonnell (Cork)	Texaco Hurler of the Year 1971	Succeeded by Eddie Keher (Kilkenny)
Preceded by Tony Wall	Tipperary Senior Hurling Manager 1987-1994	Succeeded by Fr. Tom Fogarty
Preceded by Cyril Farrell (Galway)	All-Ireland Hurling Final winning manager 1989	Succeeded by Fr. Michael O'Brien (Cork)
Preceded by Fr. Michael O'Brien (Cork)	All-Ireland Hurling Final winning manager 1991	Succeeded by Ollie Walsh (Kilkenny)
Preceded by ?	Laois Senior Hurling Manager 1997	Succeeded by Pádraig Horan
Preceded by John McIntyre	Offaly Senior Hurling Manager 1998	Succeeded by Michael Bond
Preceded by Ken Hogan	Tipperary Senior Hurling Manager 2006-present	Succeeded by Incumbent

	Tipperary - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1964 (20th title)
1 J. O'Donoghue | 2 John Doyle | 3 M. Maher | 4 K. Carey | 5 M. Burns | 6 T. Wall | 7 M. Murphy (Capt.) | 8 T. English | 9 M. Roche | 10 Jimmy Doyle | 11 L. Kiely | 12 M 'Babs' Keating | 13 D. Nealon | 14 J. 'Mackey' McKenna | 15 S. McLoughlin | Subs: L. Devaney | M. Lonergan |

	Tipperary - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1971 (22nd title)
1 P. O'Sullivan | 2 L. King | 3 J. Kelly | 4 J. Gleeson | 5 T. O'Connor (Capt.) | 6 M. Roche | 7 L. Gaynor | 8 P.J. Ryan | 9 S. Hogan | 10 F. Loughnane | 11 N. O'Dwyer | 12 D. Ryan | 13 J. Flanagan | 14 R. Ryan | 15 M 'Babs' Keating | Subs: J. Doyle | P. Byrne |

	Tipperary - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1989 (23rd title)
1 K. Hogan | 2 J. Heffernan | 3 C. O'Donovan | 4 Noel Sheehy | 5 Conal Bonnar | 6 B. Ryan (Capt.) | 7 J. Kennedy | 8 Colm Bonnar | 9 D. Carr | 10 J. Leahy | 11 D. Ryan | 12 M. Cleary | 13 P. Fox | 14 Cormac Bonnar | 15 N. English | Subs: J. Hayes | D. O'Connell | A. Ryan | Manager: M 'Babs' Keating |

	Tipperary - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1991 (24th title)
1 K. Hogan | 2 P. Delaney | 3 N. Sheehy | 4 M. Ryan | 5 Colm Bonnar | 6 B. Ryan | 7 Conal Bonnar | 8 D. Carr (Capt.) | 9 A. Ryan | 10 M. Cleary | 11 D. Ryan | 12 J. Leahy | 13 P. Fox | 14 Cormac Bonnar | 15 N. English | Subs: C. Stakelum | D. O'Connell | Manager: M 'Babs' Keating |

	Tipperary Senior Hurling Team 2006
1 B. Cummins | 2 D. Fanning | 3 P. Curran | 4 P. Ormonde | 5 É. Corcoran | 6 C. O'Mahoney | 7 H. Maloney | 8 P. Kelly | 9 S. McGrath | 10 J. Carroll | 11 F. Devaney | 12 J. O'Brien | 13 L. Corbett | 14 D. FitzGerald | 15 E. Kelly | 16 É. Buckley | 17 S. Butler | 18 B. Dunne | 19 K. Dunne | 20 D. Egan | 21 P. Maher | 22 J.B. McCarthy | 23 C. Morrissey | 24 W. Ryan | 25 J. Woodlock | 26 M. Webster | 27 R. O'Dwyer | 28 P. Bourke | 29 T. Stapleton | 30 A. Burns | 31 C. O'Brien | 32 D. O'Hanlon | 33 S. Maher | 34 T. Scroope | 35 G. 'Redser' O'Grady | Manager: M. 'Babs' Keating