Dick Walsh
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Irish name | Risteárd Breathnach | ||
| Sport | Hurling | ||
| Position | Centre-back | ||
| Born | 1878 Mooncoin, County Kilkenny, Ireland | ||
| Died | 28 July 1958 (aged 80) Freshford Road, Kilkenny, Ireland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||
| Nickname | Drug | ||
| Occupation | Farmer | ||
| Club(s) | |||
| Years | Club | ||
| 1897–1914 | Mooncoin | ||
| Club titles | |||
| Kilkenny titles | 4 | ||
| Inter-county(ies) | |||
| Years | County | ||
| 1904–1914 | Kilkenny | ||
| Inter-county titles | |||
| Leinster titles | 7 | ||
| All-Irelands | 7 | ||
Richard "Dick" Walsh (1878 – 28 July 1958), nicknamed "Drug", was an Irish hurler who played as a centre-back for the Kilkenny senior team.
Walsh made his first appearance for the team during the 1904 championship and was a regular member of the starting seventeen until his retirement after the 1914 championship. During that time he won seven All-Ireland medals and seven Leinster medals. Walsh captained Kilkenny to three All-Ireland titles in 1907, 1909 and 1913.
At club level Walsh won four county club championship medals with Mooncoin.
Doyle's brothers also played hurling for Kilkenny. Together Dick, Mick and Ned Doyle won nineteen All-Ireland medals, eighteen of them on the field of play.[1]
Playing career
Club
Walsh played his club hurling with Mooncoin and enjoyed much success in a career that spanned three decades.[2]
Having lost the 1897 county final he lined out in a second championship decider three years later. A 5–9 to 1–15 defeat of Freshford gave Walsh a coveted championship medal.
It was 1906 before Mooncoin enjoyed further local success. Although the county final against Tullaroan ended in a 3–6 to 1–12 draw, Mooncoin were subsequently awarded the title. It was Walsh's second championship medal.
Walsh was captain of the team when they surrendered their title the following year, however, Mooncoin reached a third successive championship decider in 1908. An absolute rout of Threecastles took place and a 5–17 to 3–5 victory gave Walsh a third championship medal. Once again Mooncoin failed to retain their title.
It was 1913 before Mooncoin qualified for the championship decider once again. Walsh was captain of the side and collected a fourth championship medal following a 5–7 to 3–4 defeat of Tullaroan.
Inter-county
Walsh made his debut with Kilkenny in 1904 at the beginning of a golden age for the team. A narrow 2–8 to 2–6 of Dublin that year gave him his first Leinster medal. The subsequent All-Ireland final saw Kilkenny face a Cork team hoping for a third successive championship. Kilkenny won the game thanks to Dick Doyle's first-half goal, while Pat "Fox" Maher made a great save at the end to help his team to a 1–9 to 1–8 defeat of Cork. Not only was it Walsh's first All-Ireland medal but it was Kilkenny's first championship title.
Kilkenny retained the Leinster title the following year with Walsh collecting a second provincial medal following a 2–8 to 2–2 defeat of Dublin. For the second year in-a-row "the Cats" later took on Cork in the All-Ireland final. Cork won the game by 5–10 to 3–13; however, the game had to be replayed for a number of reasons. Firstly, Cork goalkeeper Daniel McCarthy was a British army reservist and, secondly, Kilkenny's Matt Gargan had played with Waterford before playing for Kilkenny. The replay produced another high-scoring, however, Kilkenny won the game by 7–7 to 2–9, giving Walsh his second All-Ireland medal.[3]
Three-in-a-row proved beyond Kilkenny, however, Walsh won a third Leinster medal as captain of the team in 1907 following a 4–14 to 1–9 defeat of Dublin. For the third time in four years Cork provided the opposition in the subsequent All-Ireland final. In yet another high-scoring encounter between these two sides Kilkenny won by a single point on a score line of 3–12 to 4–8 giving Walsh a third All-Ireland medal. This game became the benchmark by which all subsequent performances were judged.
Kilkenny did not field a team in the championship in 1908, however, Walsh returned as captain again in 1909. That year he won a fourth Leinster medal as Kilkenny defeated Laois by 5–16 to 2–7. The subsequent All-Ireland final pitted Kilkenny against Tipperary. Once again, the game was a high-scoring one as Tipperary suffered their first defeat in nine All-Ireland final appearances. A 4–6 to 0–12 victory gave Walsh his fourth All-Ireland medal and his second as captain.[4]
Kilkenny surrendered their Leinster and All-Ireland crowns in 1910, however, 1911 saw Walsh picking up his fifth provincial medal following an eight-point victory over Dublin. There was controversy in the All-Ireland final as Kilkenny were destined to play Limerick. On the first occasion the pitch in Cork was water-logged and the game was refixed for Thurles. Limerick pulled out of the replay and the title was awarded to Kilkenny. Limerick defeated Kilkenny in a challenge match later that same year; however, Walsh was the one who had collected a fifth All-Ireland medal.
The following year Walsh collected a sixth Leinster medal following a 6–6 to 2–4 defeat of Laois before later lining out in another All-Ireland final. Cork provided the opposition on that occasion in a low-scoring but close game. A 2–1 to 1–3 victory gave Walsh an impressive sixth All-Ireland medal.
In 1913 Kilkenny were attempting to make history by capturing their third championship in-a-row and Walsh was appointed captain for the third time. Kilkenny retained their provincial dominance but only just. A draw with Dublin in the Leinster final was followed by a 7–5 to 2–1 victory in the replay. Having collected a seventh provincial medal Walsh later lined out against Tipperary in the first fifteen-a-side All-Ireland final. Kilkenny had the lead at half-time and only scored one goal in the second-half. They won the game by 2–4 to 1–2 giving Walsh a seventh All-Ireland medal.[5] Following the victory Walsh accepted the Great Southern and Western Railway company trophy – the first All-Ireland trophy to be presented to a victorious team captain. As well as that Walsh made history on that day by becoming the first player to captain both fifteen-a-side and seventeen-a-side teams to All-Ireland titles.
Four All-Ireland titles in-a-row proved beyond Kilkenny as they were beaten by Laois by a single point in the provincial decider of 1914. This defeat brought Walsh's inter-county hurling career to an end.
Inter-provincial
Walsh also lined out with Leinster in an inter-provincial hurling competition that was the forerunner to the Railway Cup. He captained the team to the Railway Shield title in 1908.
Managerial career
In retirement from playing Walsh maintained a keen interest in the game of hurling. In 1915 he took over as trainer of the Laois senior hurling team. His influence bore fruit as the team retained their Leinster title following a 3–2 to 0–5 defeat of Dublin. This victory set up an All-Ireland final meeting with Cork, who were red-hot favourites. Laois had no great hurling tradition and this was shown when Cork scored three first-half goals. After the interval Laois rallied and won the game by 6–2 to 4–1.
Personal life
Born in Rathkieran, Mooncoin, County Kilkenny in 1878, Walsh grew up on the family farm and developed the necessary skills on the land, the river and on the hurling field. He earned his nickname "Drug" in the local national school as he liked to sing the song "Clare's Dragoons". In singing it he appeared to pronounce the word dragoons as "drugoons" and so his school-mates gave him the nickname. It was a nickname that he came to dislike in later life. A more acceptable form of the name, accepted by himself, was "Dhroog" /ˈðruːɡ/, a corrupt south Kilkenny form of the first part of the word "dragoon."
Dick Walsh died in 1958 and was buried in Carrigeen cemetery.
References
- ↑ "A proud club". Mooncoin GAA website. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
- ↑ "Club honours". Mooncoin GAA website. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
- ↑ "Cats' replay woes offer morsel of comfort". Evening Herald. 26 September 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
- ↑ O'Riordan, Ian (29 September 2012). "Final countdown". Irish Times. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
- ↑ "Kilkenny's search for three-in-a-rows". Hogan Stand website. 1 September 2008. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by D.J. Stapleton |
Kilkenny Senior Hurling Captain 1906 |
Succeeded by D.J. Stapleton |
| Preceded by D.J. Stapleton |
Kilkenny Senior Hurling Captain 1907–1909 |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Sim Walton |
Kilkenny Senior Hurling Captain 1913–1914 |
Succeeded by |
| Achievements | ||
| Preceded by Tom Semple (Tipperary) |
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final winning captain 1907 |
Succeeded by Tom Semple (Tipperary) |
| Preceded by Tom Semple (Tipperary) |
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final winning captain 1909 |
Succeeded by Dick Doyle (Wexford) |
| Preceded by Sim Walton (Kilkenny) |
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final winning captain 1913 |
Succeeded by Amby Power (Clare) |
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