At club level he played with Thurles Sarsfields and was the All-Ireland Championship-winning captain with the Tipperary senior hurling team in 1937.
Lanigan first came to prominence at inter-county level as a member of the Tipperary junior team in 1929 before being drafted onto the senior side for the 1930 Munster Championship.
He won his first All-Ireland medal in his debut year after Tipperary's victory over Dublin in the final.
Lanigan captained the team to All-Ireland success in 1937 after lining out at right wing-back in the defeat of Kilkenny at FitzGerald Stadium.
[citation needed] Lanigan, who remained unmarried throughout his life, worked as a fitter in his native Thurles.