Larry Tompkins

Infobox GAA player
code= Football
sport = Gaelic football


name = Larry Tomkins
irish =
fullname = Larry Tompkins
placeofbirth = Naas
countryofbirth = County Kildare
bday=13
bmonth=6
byear= 1963
dyear=
dday=
dmonth=
height =
nickname =
county = Cork
province = Munster
club = Castlehaven
clposition = Forward
clubs=Eadestown
Castlehaven
clyears = 1980s
1980s-1990s
clapps(points) =
clcounty =
clprovince=
clallireland =
counties = Kildare
Cork
icposition = Forward
icyears = 1979-1985
1987-1996
icapps(points) =
icprovince = 6
icallireland = 2
allstars =
clupdate =
icupdate =

Larry Tompkins (born 13 June, 1963) is a former Irish sportsperson. He played senior Gaelic football with Kildare and Cork in the 1980s and 1990s. He is regarded as one of Cork’s greatest-ever players.fact|date=April 2008

Early & private life

Larry Tompkins was born in Greenmount, Rathmore just outside Naas, County Kildare in 1963. The youngest of seven children, he had a great interest in Gaelic football from an early age. Tompkins was educated at Rathmore national school where he first played both hurling and football. He later attended Blessington secondary school in County Wicklow were he developed his football skills even further. Tompkins was captain of the Wicklow Vocational Schools team that won the Leinster championship but lost to Derry in the All-Ireland final in 1980.

Tomkins later trained as a carpenter, however, at a time when unemployment was rife in Ireland, he spent much of the 1980s working in the United States. Tompkins currently owns and runs his own pub in the centre of Cork.

Club career

Tomkins began his club football career playing with the Eadestown club in Kildare. He enjoyed some success here, winning a Junior B Championship medal in 1981. The following year Tompkins won a Junior A Championship medal with the club, before winning a Kildare Intermediate Football Championship medal in 1983.

While he lived in the United States Tompkins played football with the Donegal Club in New York. He enjoyed much success here and he captained the club to win the New York championship on two occasions.

In 1987 Tomkins returned to Ireland and started playing club football with the Castlehaven club in County Cork. Two years later in 1989 he won his first senior county championship medal. This was later converted into Tompkins’ first Munster club football title. In 1994 he won a second county title as well as second Munster club title. In 1997 Tompkins added a third Munster club title to his collection.

Inter-county career

Kildare

At the age of sixteen Tompkins was playing on the Kildare minor, under-21 and senior inter-county teams. He spent three years as a minor footballer before spending five years playing with the county under-21 team. Tomkins enjoyed some success at this level as he won a Leinster title in 1983. At senior level with Kildare he won an O'Byrne Cup but had little success in the Leinster Championship. By the mid-1980s Tompkins was recognised as Kildare’s top player, a fact well emphasised when he was the county’s sole representative on the Leinster team that won the Railway Cup in 1985. Later that year Tompkins’ inter-county career with Kildare came to an abrupt end when he had a disagreement with the county board over the price of a flight to New York.

Cork

In 1987 Tompkins joined the Castlehaven club in west Cork which meant he was eligible to play for the Cork senior football team. Later that summer he lined out for the team, winning his first Munster following a victory over Kerry. Unfortunately, Cork were later beaten by Meath in the All-Ireland final. In 1988 Tompkins won a second Munster title, however, Cork were once again beaten by Meath in the All-Ireland final for a second year running. The following year Tompkins played a key role in helping Cork capture a third consecutive Munster title. With the prospect of Cork losing a third consecutive All-Ireland final nothing was left to chance as Cork wnt on to have a comprehensive victory over Mayo. It was Tompkins’ first All-Ireland medal. He finished the year by winning a third All-Star award in-a-row.

In 1990 Cork continued their dominance with Tompkins, as captain, winning a fourth Munster Senior Football Championship title in-a-row. This victory set up a fourth consecutive All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final appearance, and, at last, Cork defeated Meath to give Tompkins his second All-Ireland medal. This victory was all the more special as the Cork hurling team had already won the All-Ireland title in hurling. It was the first time in the modern era that a county had won the hurling and football ‘double’. Tomkins picked up an injury in the All-Ireland final which left him out of the game for most of 1991. He returned in 1992, however, a severe knee injury ruled him out of playing in the Munster and All-Ireland finals of 1993. Tompkins regained his fitness and won two more Munster titles in 1994 and 1995, however, Cork were beaten in the All-Ireland semi-final on both occasions. He retired from inter-county football shortly after.

Managerial career

In retirement from play Tompkins became involved in inter-county management. He succeeded Billy Morgan as manager of the Cork senior football team in late 1996 and enjoyed some success in that capacity. In 1999 Tompkins guided Cork to a Munster title, however, his side were later defeated by old rivals Meath in the All-Ireland final. Three years later in 2002 Cork won another provincial title, however, Tompkins’ side were later embarrassingly beaten by Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final. He remained on as manager until Cork’s exit from the championship in 2003.

Teams