Gerry O'Riordan

Gerry O'Riordan was an Irish sportsperson. He played hurling at various times with his local clubs Blackrock in Cork and both Claughaun and Ahane in Limerick. O'Riordan was also a member of the Dublin and Cork senior inter-county teams from 1945 until 1954.

Playing career

Club

O'Riordan began his hurling career with his local club in Blackrock. 'The Rockies' were through an uncharacteristic dry-spell during O'Riordan's playing days and, after becoming a customs officer in Shannon Airport, O'Riordan joined the Claughaun club in Limerick. After marrying Noreen O'Carroll from Castleconnell in 1951 O'Riordan changed clubs again and ended his club hurling career with the famous Ahane club.^[1]

Inter-county

O'Riordan first came to prominence with the Cork senior hurling team in 1946. That year he won his first Munster title as Cork trounced Limerick by 3-8 to 1-3 in the provincial decider.^[2] The subsequent All-Ireland final pitted Cork against old rivals Kilkenny for the first time since 1939. Two quick goals just before half-time, one from the stick of Christy Ring, put Cork in the driving seat. Five more goals followed in the second period as Cork were the 7-5 to 3-8 winners.^[3] It was O'Riordan's first All-Ireland winners' medals.

O'Riordan won a second consecutive Munster title following a second consecutive defeat of Limerick in 1947.^[4] The subsequent All-Ireland final was a repeat of the previous year as Cork and Kilkenny did battle again. In what has been described by many as the greatest hurling decider of all-time O'Riordan's brother Mossy and Joe Kelly scored two goals that almost won the game for Cork. Kilkenny, however, fought back with Terry Leahy and Jim Langton leading the charge and eventually won the game by 'the usual point' on a score line of 0-14 to 2-7.^[5] That defeat saw the break-up of Cork's four-in-a-row team of the 1940s and ushered in a lean period for the Cork hurlers.

After a period in the wilderness the Cork team bounced back in 1952 with O'Riordan winning a third Munster winners' medal following a defeat of three-in-a-row All-Ireland champions Tipperary in the provincial decider.^[4] Dublin provided the opposition in the subsequent All-Ireland final, however ‘the Dubs’ were completely outclassed by Cork on that occasion. In spite of only leading by three points at half-time Cork won by 2-14 to 0-7 and O'Riordan finally picked up a second All-Ireland winners' medal.^[6]

1953 began well for Cork with O'Riordan collecting a National Hurling League title after a defeat of Tipperary.^[7] The success continued later on that summer as O'Riordan added a fourth Munster title to his collection after Tipperary were accounted for in the provincial final.^[4] The subsequent All-Ireland final saw Galway take on Cork, however, 'the Rebels' were victorious by 3-3 to 0-8 and O'Riordan added a third All-Ireland medal to his collection. The game has gone down in history as one of the dirtiest All-Ireland deciders ever.^[6] The game, however, was clouded in controversy due to the injury to the Galway captain, Mick Burke. After the match at the Gresham Hotel in Dublin a fight broke out when another Galway player struck Ring. The following morning another fight broke out when another member of the Galway panel attempted to hit Ring. The fights, however, ended just as quickly as they had started.^[8]

In 1954 O'Riordan was still a key member of the team as Cork set out on their three-in-a-row trail. Tipperary fell to Cork by 2-8 to 1-8 in the provincial final, giving O'Riordan a fifth Munster winners' medal.^[4] A fifth All-Ireland final appearance beckoned for the Cork man, with Wexford providing the opposition. A record attendance of nearly 85,000 people packed into Croke Park to witness the Munster champions defeating the Leinster champions by 1-9 to 1-6.^[6] While Christy Ring captured a record-breaking eighth All-Ireland medal, O'Riordan picked up a fourth winners' memento. He retired from inter-county hurling following this victory.

Inter-provincial

O'Riordan also lined out with Munster in the inter-provincial hurling competition and enjoyed much success. He first lined out with his province in 1947, however, Munster were defeated by Connacht on that occasion. After a brief hiatus O'Riordan was back on the team in 1950. That year he picked up his first Railway Cup winners' medal as Munster triumphed over Leinster. After another brief hiatus O'Riordan was back on the team in 1954, however, Leinster were the winners in the final that year. The following year he lined out with Munster for the last time. He picked up a second Railway Cup title that year as Munster trounced Connacht.^[9]

References