He played hurling at various times with his local club, Meelick-Eyrecourt,before switching, for a short period, to Liam Mellows in Galway and Glen Rovers in Cork because of migration.
After the match at the Gresham Hotel in Dublin, a fight broke out when another Galway player struck Cork's Christy Ring.
[citation needed] The following morning, another fight broke out when another member of the Galway panel attempted to hit Ring.
[citation needed] Five years later, in 1958, Galway was given a bye into the All-Ireland final to improve the standard of hurling in the county.
Liam Devaney, Donie Nealon, and Larry Keane scored goals for Tipp in the first half, while Tony Wall sent a 70-yard free untouched to the Galway net.