Tadhg Lyne

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Tadhgie Lyne (died 2002) was an Irish Gaelic footballer with Kerry. Called 'the Prince of Forwards'[1], Lyne was one of the finest scoring forwards of his time.

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[edit] Early Life

Tadhgie Lyne grew up on High Street, Killarney, only half a mile from the famous Kerry ground of Fitzgerald Stadium. His football talent apparent from an early age, and he spent hours daily practising the skills of the game with a ball suspended from the rafters of his father's house. Nevertheless, despite being called for trials for the Kerry All-Ireland Minor Football Championship for two years in succession he could not make the panel, with contemporaries such as Jerome O'Shea and Seán Murphy outshining him.

[edit] Playing Career

Lyne's county career only began after his club, the Dick Fitzgeralds, won the 1951 Kerry Senior Football Championship. Lyne kicked 1-5 from right-half forward in the final against Dingle. He became a fixture in the Kerry team for a decade. In 1953, Lyne played at wing-forward on the Kerry team that won the Munster Senior Football Championship and went on to play in his first All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final, giving a man-of-the-match display with six points as Kerry beat Armagh 0-13 to 1-6 [2].

Kerry won Munster and reached the All-Ireland final again in 1954, but Meath beat them by 1-13 to 1-7. In 1955, Lyne might have been lost to football, but he turned down the offer of a professional soccer contract with Glasgow Celtic to play with Kerry. Kerry were Munster champions for the third consecutive time that year. They progressed to face Cavan in the All-Ireland semi final. Lyne scored 1-6 and punched a goal in the last moments to earn Kerry a draw. They went on to win the replay and faced Dublin. Lyne kicked a fine point in the first minute and notched five more as Kerry won by 0-12 to 1-9. The game is remembered as 'Tadhgie Lyne's All-Ireland". He was the championship's top marksman that year with five goals and forty-two points, and was named Footballer of the Year.

Lyne won another Munster senior medal in 1958, when he came on as a replacement in the final. However, Kerry were beaten in the All-Ireland semi-final. The 'Prince of Forwards' gained his third and final All-Ireland in 1959[3]. Kerry won the Munster championship and went on to qualify for the All-Ireland final, in which they beat Galway by nine points.

[edit] Later life

Tadhg Lyne died at his home on Killarney Road, Castleisland on 31 May 2002.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Weeshie Fogarty's Weekly Article - March / 1
  2. ^ Weeshie Fogarty's Weekly Article - March / 1
  3. ^ Roscommon Herald - 2006/03/01: Great All-Ireland finals
  4. ^ Weeshie Fogarty's Weekly Article - March / 1

[edit] External Links