Johnny Leahy

Johnny Leahy

Infobox GAA player
code= Hurling
sport = Hurling


name = Johnny Leahy
irish =
fullname = John Leahy
placeofbirth = Boherlahan
countryofbirth = County Tipperary
bday=1
bmonth=1
byear= 1890
dyear=1949
dday=1
dmonth=11
height =
nickname = Captain Johnny
county = Tipperary
province = Munster
club = Boherlahen
clposition = Midfield
clubs =
clyears =
clapps(points) =
clcounty =
clprovince=
clallireland =
counties = Tipperary
icposition = Midfield
icyears = 1909-1926
icapps(points) =
icprovince = 5
icallireland = 2
allstars =
clupdate=
icupdate=

Johnny Leahy (1 January 18901 November, 1949) was an Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club Boherlahen and with the Tipperary senior inter-county team from 1909 until 1926. Leahy captained Tipperary to All-Ireland titles in 1916 and 1925.

Biography

Johnny Leahy was born in Boherlahen, County Tipperary in the heart of the Golden Vale in 1890. He was educated at the local national school and later worked on the family farm. Leahy remained a bachelor for his entire life.

Leahy came from a great sporting family with his brothers Paddy, Mick and Tommy all playing inter-county hurling at various times. Paddy won All-Ireland honours with Tipperary in 1916 and 1925. Tommy was a member of the successful Tipperary team of 1930. Mick was a substitute on the victorious team of 1916 and later moved to Cork where he played hurling with the famous Blackrock club. He won All-Ireland medals with Cork in 1928 and 1931.

Leahy also took part in the War of Independence in his native-county. One of his other brothers, Jimmy, was Vice-Comdt. of Tipperary No.2 Brigade of the Irish Republican Army.

In retirement from playing Leahy became involved in the administrative affairs of the GAA. He was a member of the Munster Council and also served as chairman and secretary of the Tipperary County Board.

Johnny Leahy died in January, 1949.

Playing career

Club

Leahy played his club hurling with his local Boherlahen club. He played in his first county final in 1914, however, his side lost out to Toomevara. Boherlahan bounced back from this defeat to win the next four county championship titles between 1915 and 1919. In all Leahy won ten county titles with victories also coming in 1920, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1927 and 1928. He retired from club hurling at the age of forty in 1930, following Boherlahan’s defeat to Toomevara in the county final.

Inter-county

Leahy first played hurling with Tipperary in a tournament at Fethard in 1909, however, he didn’t establish himself on the county team until 1915. The following year Leahy was captain of the county team a she played in his first Munster final. Cork provided the opposition on that occasion, however, Leahy collected his first Munster title as Tipp won by 5-0 to 1-2. Galway were trounced in the subsequent All-Ireland semi-final, resulting in a Tipperary-Kilkenny All-Ireland final. The game itself wasn’t played until January 21, 1917 and it wasn’t a good start for Leahy’s side. Tipp fell behind by five points at half-time, however, the side fought back. Tipperary’s Tommy Shanahan and Kilkenny’s Dick Grace were both sent off. I spite of this Tipperary won the game giving Leahy his first All-Ireland medal.

1917 saw Tipperary draw with Limerick in the Munster final. In the replay Tipp made no mistake and Leahy added a second Munster medal to his collection. The absence of the All-Ireland semi-finals allowed Tipp to advance directly to the championship decider where Dublin provided the opposition. The game was a close one, however, ‘the Dubs’ pulled away to win by 5-4 to 4-2.

Tipp went into decline for a number of year following this defeat, however, the team bounced back in 1922 with Leahy collecting a third Munster title as captain. Galway fell in the All-Ireland semi-final, setting up a championship decider with local rivals Kilkenny. Leahy’s side were up by three points with three minutes to go, however, two quick Kilkenny goals resulted in a 4-2 to 2-6 victory for Kilkenny. It would be another 45 years before they beat Tipp in the championship again.

Tipp surrendered their provincial crown to Limerick in 1923, however, Leahy won a fourth Munster medal in 1924. Once again he was captain of the team. Galway, the reigning All-Ireland champions, played against Tipp in the subsequent All-Ireland smei-final. It was a close affair, however, the men from the West won by a single point.

In 1925 Leahy added a fifth and final Munster medal to his collection as Tipp trounced Waterford in the provincial final. Antrim were trounced by Tipp in the penultimate game of the championship, setting up an All-Ireland final with Galway. Tipperary started with a quick goal and never looked back. They went on to win the game by 5-6 to 1-5 giving Leahy his second All-Ireland medal as captain.

In 1926 the Tipperary hurlers embarked on a coast-to-coast tour of the United States. It was during this journey that Leahy cemented his reputation as one of the most charismatic hurling captains of all-time. He retired from inter-county hurling shortly afterwards.

Provincial

Leahy also lined out with Munster in the inter-provincial hurling competition. He first played for his province in the inaugural year of the competition in 1927, however, Munster were defeated by Leinster in the final. Leahy lined out again in 1928 and captured a coveted Railway Cup medal as Leinster were defeated.

Teams

References

* Corry, Eoghan, "The GAA Book of Lists" (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).
* Fullam, Brendan, "Captains of the Ash" (Wolfhound Press, 2002).

External links

* [http://munster.gaa.ie/teams/seniorhurling.html Munster final winning teams]
* [http://www.hoganstand.com/Tipperary/Profile.aspx Tipperary GAA honours]


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