Ireland Hurling Team 1954

Back Row: J.McGrath (Westmeath); T. Leahy (Kilkenny); Bobby Rackard (Wexford); Liam Dowling (Cork); John Doyle (Tipperary); Pat Stakelum (Tipp); P. Kenny (Tipp); C. Murphy (Dublin).

Front Row: Tim Flood (Wexford); Christy Ring (Cork); Willie Walsh (Kilkenny); Billy O’Neill (Galway); Tony Shaughnessy (Cork); Willie John Daly (Cork); Sean Duggan (Galway).

Long before the concept of GAA All Star Awards was first established in 1971 there was a tradition of selecting an ‘Ireland’ team in hurling and football and these teams would play a small number of exhibition games against teams selected from the ‘Combined Universities’ and the armed services i.e. a combined Army/Navy selection.

This was also an opportunity to give star players from ‘weaker’ counties an opportunity to display their skills on a national stage alongside their more illustrious colleagues from the traditional strongholds.

The 1954 Ireland team accompanying this is a case in point. While dripping with legends of the game like Christy Ring, John Doyle and Bobby Rackard, the team also includes ‘Jobber’ McGrath from Westmeath – hardly a renowned hurling stronghold – who would have been an automatic choice for any team in the country such was his hurling prowess. Sadly, while his more illustrious colleagues would end their days with trophy filled cabinets, McGrath’s medals were few and far between.