Phil Grimes

Phillip "Philly" Grimes (8 May 1929 – 8 May 1989) was an Irish hurler who played as a midfielder for the Waterford senior team.

Born in Waterford, Grimes first excelled at hurling during his schooling at Mount Sion CBS. He arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of 17 when he first linked up with the Waterford minor team. He joined the senior team during the 1947-48 league. Grimes immediately became a regular member of the starting 15, and won two All-Ireland medals, three Munster medals and one National Hurling League medal on the field of play. He was an All-Ireland runner-up on two occasions.

As a member of the Munster inter-provincial team on a number of occasions, Grimes won two Railway Cup medals. At club level he was a 14-time championship and five-time senior football medallist with Mount Sion.

Throughout his career Grimes made 32 championship appearances. He retired from inter-county hurling following the conclusion of the 1965 championship.

Early life

Phil Grimes was born in Waterford in 1929 and was educated locally at the Mount Sion Schools. In a career that lasted eighteen years he also played for Waterford and Munster. Grimes is regarded as one of Waterford’s greatest-ever players.

Playing career

Club

Grimes played his club hurling with his local Mount Sion, one of the most famous hurling clubs in the country. He won the first of his fourteen senior hurling county titles in 1948 when he was just out of minor ranks and was a star senior when Mount Sion won a record equalling nine consecutive county senior hurling titles (1953–62). Grimes won a further three county titles in-a-row in 1963, 1964 and 1965. He also helped Mount Sion to four county senior football titles. All his fourteen senior hurling and four senior football medals were won within a period of 18 years. He was one of that golden generation of Mount Sion players that carried all before them, defeating the champion clubs from all counties on a regular basis and earning for themselves the title of the greatest team in Ireland. That generation of Mount Sion players back-boned Waterford's greatest-ever team, 1957–63, when they won every honour in the game and Grimes was regarded as its greatest star. He and his club colleague Séamus Power formed what many observers regard as the greatest midfield partnership in the history of the game.

Inter-county

Grime first came to prominence as a member of the Waterford senior inter-county team in the late 1940s. He played in the first round of the Munster Championship in 1948 but emigrated to the United States shortly afterwards. In spite of this he still qualified to be presented with a set of Munster and All-Ireland medals.

When Grimes returned to Ireland he rejoined the county team and won his first Munster title on the field of play in 1957. Waterford later played Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final but victory went to the men from Leinster on that occasion. The team would later come to rue this defeat as an All-Ireland title that they should have won.

Waterford lost their provincial crown in 1958 but the team bounced back in 1959 with Grimes collecting a second Munster title. Once again Waterford subsequently lined out in the championship decider and, once again, Kilkenny provided the opposition. This game ended in a draw but when the two sides met for the replay a few weeks later the men from Waterford made no mistake in defeating their neighbours and Grimes collected his first All-Ireland medal that was won on the field of play.

In 1962 Grimes won an Oireachtas medal when Waterford defeated All-Ireland champions Tipperary in one of the greatest games of hurling ever played and then, in 1963, he added a National Hurling League medal to his collection before winning a third Munster title. For the third successive time Kilkenny turned out to be Waterford’s opponents in the subsequent All-Ireland final but the men from the Decies were beaten on that occasion.

Long after his playing days were over he was selected at centre-field, alongside Séamus Power, on the Waterford Centenary Team 1984 and the Waterford Millennium Team 2000. Grimes was also chosen at centre-field on the Munster Millennium team 2000.

Provincial

Grimes also won Railway Cup honours with Munster in 1958 and 1960.

Death

Phil Grimes died on his sixtieth birthday after a long battle with illness.

Web sites

• An Fear Rua - The GAA Unplugged!
• http://waterfordireland.tripod.com/philly_grimes,_hurler.htm

Teams