John Doyle

Who was John Doyle?

John Doyle was an Irish hurler who played as a left corner-back for the Tipperary senior team.

Born in Holycross, County Tipperary, Doyle first excelled at hurling whilst at school in Thurles CBS. He arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of sixteen when he first linked up with the Tipperary minor team. He made his senior debut in the 1947-48 National League. Doyle went on to play a key part for Tipperary during a hugely successful era for the team, and won eight All-Ireland medals, ten Munster medals and ten National Hurling League medals.

As a member of the Munster inter-provincial team for fifteen years, Doyle won six Railway Cup medals. At club level he won three championship medal with Holycross-Ballycahill.

For almost fifty years Doyle, together with Christy Ring, held a unique record as the only players to win eight All-Ireland medals on the field of play. This record was subsequently surpassed by Henry Shefflin. His record of National League medals has yet to be equalled.

Throughout his career Doyle made 54 championship appearances, a Tipperary record which stood until 9 August 2009 when it was surpassed by Brendan Cummins. His retirement came following Tipperary's defeat by Kilkenny in the 1967 championship.