The day John O'Grady -aka- 'Cúlbáire' played in goal for Cork

An historic event in the history of the GAA is captured in the accompanying photograph which shows former Tipperary All-Ireland winning goalkeeper John O Grady (Culbaire of the Tipperary Star) pictured at Casement Park, Belfast in 1953 with Cork legend Christy Ring on the occasion of the opening of Casement Park.

All-Ireland champions Cork played an exhibition game to mark the opening and Ring scored 3-1 in their victory. Of particular interest to Tipperary people is the fact that Moycarkey man John O Grady played in goal for Cork that day, a unique distinction for a Tipperary man.

The circumstances leading to his selection for Cork are also unusual. Regular goalkeepers for the All-Ireland champions Mick Cashman and Dave Creedon were unavailable to travel to Belfast. John O Grady was extremely highly regarded in Cork hurling circles because of his performances with UCC and Blackrock, hence his selection.

An outstanding minor with Tipperary, John won a minor All-Ireland in 1947, and captained the county minor team to All-Ireland honours in 1949 before commencing his studies in UCC with whom he played Fitzgibbon Cup for four years, without success unfortunately. On graduating he took up a teaching appointment in Sullivan’s Quay, and threw in his lot with Blackrock.

Championship honours with The Rockies eluded him, losing to a ring-inspired Glen Rovers in the1954 final, but such was the level of his performances that he was chosen as goalkeeper on the cork County Selection with annual played the county champions in a charity game. In itself that was an emphatic endorsement of the prowess of the Moycarkey man whose achievements appeared to be overlooked by those at the helm in Tipperary though Tony Reddin was nearing the end of his career.

In 1956 John took up a teaching appointment in Thurles CBS and signalled his return to Tipperary hurling with an impressive showing in a county trail in 1957.The following year his performances with the Mid selection in the Millar Shield inter-divisional selection led to his inclusion in the Tipp squad for the National Hurling league in the Spring of ’58 as a new look county side launched its challenge to reclaim Munster and All-Ireland honours which had eluded them since 1951.

Victories over Limerick and Cork set up a Munster final showdown with Waterford. Success there was followed by a win over Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final and then the ultimate honour, the McCarthy Cup triumph on the back of a 4-9 to 2-5 win over Galway.

A month after the final John stunned Tipperary hurling fraternity when he announced his retirement due to difficulties with his sight. In those pre contact lenses days, John wore glasses playing in goal, a hugely risky business at a time when goalkeepers were fair game for inrushing forwards. The invention of plastic lenses prompted a later return to the Moycarkey colours but the county medal he so longed for eluded him, Moycarkey losing by a point to the all-conquering Sarsfields side of that era in 1962.

So the ‘53 appearance in a Cork jersey on such an historic occasion remains a high point in the Moycarkeyman’s distinguished GAA career which began a different journey in 1961 when he commenced writing the appropriately named ”Culbaire” column for the Tipperary Star.

His informed analysis of GAA affairs, fearlessly but fairly offered, and regularly leavened with an impish sense of humour, was compulsive reading for an ever-growing audience and occasionally engaged him in conflict with “the Gods” of the association. His commitment to fair-play and justice did not always endear him to the authorities but his integrity, courage, and command of his brief were recognised and admired far and wide.

John marked his 90th birthday earlier this year and he remains as keen and shrewd a judge of hurling and GAA matters as ever. His Casement Park appearance as goalie for “The Rebels” is still an experience of which he is extremely proud.
Incidentally – soil from Thurles Sportsfield, now Semple Stadium, was carried by a relay of runners to Casement Park for that inaugural game.

The relay commenced in Thurles with the first “leg” run by local man Jim Semple, son of the legendary Tom. Jim Semple studied for the priesthood in St Patrick’s College, Thurles and was ordained for the diocese of Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, where he served until his passing in 2014. He is interred in St Patrick’s cemetery, Thurles.