Christy Ring
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Christy Ring (December 12, 1920 - March 2, 1979) is regarded as the greatest player of the game of hurling of all time.
Nicholas Christopher Ring was born in Cloyne, County Cork, Ireland in 1920. Ring's first hurling success came when he won a County Junior championship medal with the Cloyne Club in 1939, and later winning a record 11 county senior medals with Glen Rovers. He made his senior début with County Cork in 1939 and shares with John Doyle of Tipperary the distinction of winning eight All-Ireland medals, from 1941 to 1944, 1946 and 1952 to 1954.
Ring won a record 18 Railway Cup medals with Munster between 1942 and 1963, appearing in 22 finals in all. He also won four National Hurling League medals with Cork (1940, 1941, 1948 and 1953) and was top scorer in the game three times (1959, when he became the only player to average over ten points a game, 1961 and 1962, when he shared the honours with Jimmy Doyle of Tipperary).
A film about Ring's life was produced by Gael-Linn in 1964 and Val Dorgan wrote his biography in 1981, both works entitled "Christy Ring". He has also been commemorated by a sculpture of him in Cloyne, the town where he was born, and the "Christy Ring Bridge" over the river Lee in Cork remembers his achievements. One of Cork City's principle GAA stadia, Páirc Uí Rinn, is named in his honour. Ring was also honoured by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2000 when he was named on the "Hurling Team of the Millennium."
Christy Ring died suddenly at the age of 58 on March 2, 1979.