John Doyle (12 February 1930 – 29 December 2010) was an Irish hurler who played as a left corner-back at senior level for the Tipperary county team.
[1][2][3] Born in Holycross, County Tipperary, Doyle first played competitive hurling whilst at school in Thurles CBS.
For almost fifty years Doyle, together with Christy Ring, held a unique record as the only players to win eight All-Ireland medals on the field of play.
Throughout his career Doyle made 54 championship appearances, a Tipperary record which stood until 9 August 2009 when it was surpassed by Brendan Cummins.
During his playing days, he won two Cú Chulainn awards, as well as being named Texaco Hurler of the Year in 1964.
After having his presence requested for trials for the Tipperary minor team in May 1946, Doyle was an automatic choice at corner-back for the subsequent championship campaign.
Tipp looked destined for victory when, with just a minute left to play, Paddy Kenny sent over a free to give the team a one-point lead.
Doyle was dropped for the subsequent Munster decider against Limerick, however, on the day of the game he was a late addition to the starting fifteen.
In a one-sided affair, Tipp completely overpowered the Leinster champions on a score line of 3–11 to 0–3, giving Doyle his first All-Ireland medal.
In a dull affair, Tipp looked to be heading for victory when Seán Kenny scored a goal to put the team four points ahead with just one minute left to play.
The subsequent All-Ireland decider against Wexford on 2 September 1951 provided Tipperary with the chance to secure a hat-trick of championship titles for the first time in over half a century.
In 1958 Doyle won a fourth Munster medal as Tipperary regained the provincial crown following a 4–12 to 1-5 trouncing of reigning champions Waterford.
Liam Devaney, Donie Nealon and Larry Keane all scored goals for Tipperary in the first-half, while Tony Wall sent a seventy-yard free untouched to the Galway net.
[11] Doyle won a sixth National League medal in 1959 following a 0–15 to 0–7 defeat of Waterford, however, Tipperary subsequently surrendered their provincial and All-Ireland crowns.
A certain amount of over-confidence was obvious in the Tipperary camp, particularly in trainer Phil Purcell's comment that no player was capable of marking Jimmy Doyle.
When the crowd were finally moved off the pitch Tipperary continued playing with only twelve men, but Wexford won on a score line of 2–15 to 0–11.
The absence of the All-Ireland semi-final allowed Tipperary to advance directly to the final itself, with Dublin's first native hurling team providing the opposition on 3 September 1961.
[13] Tipperary's nemesis of two years earlier, Wexford, waited in Croke Park to test them once again in the subsequent All-Ireland final on 2 September 1962.
Tipp eventually secured the win on a score line of 3–10 to 2–11, giving Doyle a sixth All-Ireland medal, a record haul for a Tipperary player.
After losing the following year's Munster final to Waterford in one of the hurling shocks of the decade, Tipperary bounced back in 1964 with Doyle collecting a ninth National League medal.
Tipperary later cantered casually past Cork by fourteen points in the provincial decider, giving Doyle a record-equalling ninth Munster medal.
John "Mackey" McKenna scored Tipp's first goal after ten minutes as the Munster champions took a 1–8 to 0-6 interval lead.
The second half saw Tipperary score goals for fun, with Donie Nealon getting a hat-trick and Seán McLoughlin another.
In 1965 Doyle won a tenth and final National League medal as New York were narrowly defeated on an aggregate score of 6–19 to 5-20.
Tipperary demolished all opposition in the provincial championship once again and a 4–11 to 0-5 trouncing of Cork gave Doyle a record-breaking tenth Munster medal.
After surrendering their provincial crown in 1966, Tipperary bounced back the following year, with Doyle winning a record tenth Munster medal following a 4–12 to 2–6 defeat of Clare.
Collectively, with fellow inner-defenders, Michael Maher and Kieran Carey, he completed a very formidable trio as Tipperary's last line of defence for a ten-year period from the late 1950s.
Their marshalling territory in front of goal was famously known as "Hell's Kitchen" because of the often tempestuous nature of the exchanges which greeted the dropping ball arriving from mid-field.