Phil Larkin

Phil 'Fan' Larkin (born 1941 in Kilkenny, Ireland) is a retired Irish hurling manager and former player.^[1] He played hurling his local club James Stephens and was a member of the Kilkenny senior inter-county team from 1963 until 1979. Larkin is regarded as one of Kilkenny's greatest-ever players.

Biography

Phil 'Fan' Larkin was born and raised in 'the village' area of Kilkenny in 1941. He was born into a family that was steeped in hurling tradition. His father, Paddy Larkin, had played in seven All-Ireland finals in the 1930s, finishing on the losing side on four occasions including as captain in 1936. He was also captain when Leinster won the Railway Cup title in 1936, the third of his inter-provincial successes. His brother Mick was a substitute on the victorious Kilkenny team in 1935. 'Fan' Larkin was educated locally and quickly followed in his father's footsteps as a hurling star with both club and county.

Larkin's son, Philly Larkin, also played with Kilkenny and won an All-Ireland medals in 2000 and 2003.

Philip Larkin has a cousin with an identical name. In order to avoid confusion, his middle name of Francis was abbreviated to Fan, hence the nickname of Phil 'Fan' Larkin.

Playing career

Club

Larkin played his club hurling with the famous James Stephens club in Kilkenny. He had some success at underage levels before winning his first senior county championship in 1969. Larkin won his second county title in 1975 before later converting this into a Leinster and an All-Ireland club medal. He won another county medal in 1976 before winning his fourth title in 1981. This final win was once again converted into a second Leinster club title. In May 1982 Larkin, at the age of 41, won his second All-Ireland club title following a memorable victory over Mount Sion.

Larkin also had club successes as a footballer. He won a junior county title in 1962 with Clann na nGael, before winning two senior county titles with the same club in 1963 and 1964. Larkin won a county football medal with James Stephens in 1976.

Inter-county

Larkin's hurling skills quickly brought him to the attention of the Kilkenny inter-county selectors and he joined the minor team in the late 1950s. In 1959 he played in the All-Ireland final, however, victory went to Tipperary on that occasion after Larkin was forced to retire early from the game with an injury. Larkin made his senior debut in 1962 in a National Hurling League game against Tipperary. The following year he won his first senior Leinster title. He subsequently won his first All-Ireland medal following a victory over Waterford.In 1964 Larkin claimed his second Leinster medal, but his side were defeated in the final by his old enemies of Tipperary. Kilkenny lost the Leinster final in 1965, but returned in 1966 with a side that didn't contain Larkin. He remained sidelined for five years, making a return at corner-back in 1971 and winning his third provincial title. He marked Michael 'Babs' Keating in the subsequent All-Ireland final, however, in spite of an outstanding display by Eddie Keher, Larkin ended up on the losing side.

In 1972 Larkin won a fourth Leinster title before helping Kilkenny to defeat Cork in the All-Ireland final. It was Larkin's second All-Ireland winners medal as a player, coming a full nine years after his first. 1973 saw Larkin win another Leinster medal, however, Kilkenny were defeated by Limerick in the All-Ireland final. The team quickly regrouped to win back-to-back Leinster and All-Ireland titles in 1974 and 1975. The 1975 final against Galway saw Larkin produce what many believe to have been his best ever display for Kilkenny. In 1976 Larkin captained Kilkenny to a National Hurling League title, however, the side later lost their provincial crown to Wexford. In 1978 Kilkenny were back as Leinster champions with Larkin winning his eighth provincial medal. Unfortunately for Kilkenny, Cork completed a three-in-a-row, winning the All-Ireland final by 1-15 to 2-8.

In 1979 Larkin won another provincial championship, before going on to claim his fifth All-Ireland medal at the age of 38. It was his last big occasion at Croke Park as he retired from inter-county hurling shortly afterwards. Larkin also won six Railway Cup medals with Leinster and four All-Star awards.

References

Teams