Christy Ring Gaelic games player

Nicholas Christopher Michael "Christy" Ring (12 October 1920 – 2 March 1979) was an Irish hurler who played as a right wing-forward for the Cork senior team.Born in Cloyne, County Cork, Ring first excelled at hurling during his school days. He arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of sixteen when he first linked up with the Cork minor team, before later lining out with the junior side. He made his senior debut in the 1939-40 National Hurling League. Ring went on to play a key part for Cork over the following twenty-four years, and won eight All-Ireland medals, nine Munster medals and three National Hurling League medals. An All-Ireland runner-up on two occasions, Ring also captained the team to three All-Ireland victories.Ring represented the Munster inter-provincial team for a record twenty-three consecutive seasons, winning a record eighteen Railway Cup medals. No other player in the history of the competition has gone into double figures. At club level he won thirteen championship medals with Glen Rovers.In a game as mythologised as hurling, Ring's universally accepted pre-eminence is remarkable. His career tally of 33 goals and 208 points was a record score which stood until the 1970s when it was surpassed by Eddie Keher. His haul of eight All-Ireland medals was a record which stood for over a decade until it was equalled by John Doyle and subsequently surpassed by Henry Shefflin. At the age of thirty-nine he was named Caltex Hurler of the Year.Throughout his lengthy career, Ring made 65 championship appearances for Cork, more than any other player in the county's history and a national record which stood for nearly fifty years until it was surpassed by Brendan Cummins. His retirement came prior to the start of the 1964 championship when he failed to be selected for the Cork hurling team.Ring is widely regarded as one of the greatest hurlers in the history of the game, with many former players, commentators and fans rating him as the number one player of all-time. He has been repeatedly voted onto teams made up of the sport's greats, including the Hurling Team of the Century in 1984 and the Hurling Team of the Millennium