Tipperary hurling and football greats are featured in new GAA book

26 Tipperary hurlers and one footballer are included among the all-time greats in a new book – Pulse Of The Nation - marking the 140th anniversary of the GAA’s foundation in 1884.

Tony Reddin and Brendan Cummins (goalkeeper), Micky ‘Rattler’ Byrne (right full back), Tony Brennan (full back), John Doyle (left full back), Jimmy Finn and Tadhg O’Connor (right half back), Tony Wall (centre-back), Pádraic Maher and Tommy Doyle (left half back), Mick Roche and Tommy Dunne (midfield), Michael Cleary and Francis Loughnane (right half forward);

Mick Ryan (centre forward), John Leahy, Liam Devaney, Lar Corbett (left half forward), Jimmy Doyle, Eoin Kelly, Pat Fox, Donie Nealon, Paddy Kenny (right full forward), Séamus Callanan (full forward), and Nicky English and ‘Babs’ Keating (left full forward) have all been named among the 150 greatest hurlers in the new book.

Declan Browne (left half forward) is Tipperary’s sole football representative.

Pulse Of The Nation, co-written by award–winning and vastly experienced GAA journalists, Martin Breheny and Donal Keenan, takes readers on a fascinating journey down through the decades. The first stop-off is to consider who were the top ten players in each position in the GAA’s 140-year history.

Drawing on their long experience of covering Gaelic Games - which stretches back half a century - and merging it with assessments gleaned from the work of journalists, commentators and others prior to that – they have assembled a one-to-ten ranking in all fifteen positions in football and hurling.

Obviously, opinions will vary sharply on their conclusions, but as an exercise in acknowledging past glories it offers an opportunity for lively debate among the GAA fraternity, as they reflect on the big stars who shone so brightly over the years.

Of the Tipperary players chosen, Tony Reddin, John Doyle and Jimmy Doyle are ranked number one in their various positions.

Pulse Of The Nation also chooses – and revisits - the greatest day in every county’s history in hurling and football. In Tipperary hurling’s case, it settles on the 1951 All-Ireland win, which clinched the three-in-a-row, while the 2020 Munster final success is the football choice.

In addition, the book focuses on the role, impact and demise of the dual player and deals with many of the big issues from GAA history, including controversies, how it coped with major threats and challenges, the evolution of competitions, the emergence of a new management culture and the changing sporting and social trends as revealed through debates at annual congress.

Camogie and Ladies football are also catered for in the 400-page book, described by GAA President, Jarlath Burns as “an invaluable reference point for followers of our games”.

He also writes in the foreword that Pulse Of The Nation is a “catch-all, whistle-stop tour down through the decades, connecting young and old alike through the prism of our games”.

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