Lorenzo Ignatius "Lory" Meagher (25 May 1899 – 17 May 1973) was an Irish hurler who played as a midfielder at senior level for the Kilkenny county team.
Meagher represented the Leinster inter-provincial team at various times throughout his career, winning two Railway Cup medals in 1927 and 1933.
The delay, a direct consequence of a period of political instability in Ireland, eventually led to the suspension of the championship for a number of years.
Meagher's club career ended in much the same way in which it started, as a narrow 4–2 to 4–1 defeat by Mooncoin in the 1936 decider proved to be his final big outing with Tullaroan.
A subsequent objection forced the result to be overturned, and Meagher collected his first Leinster medal as Kilkenny were awarded the title.
Controversy and dissent dogged the game as the players from the Dicksboro club did not play as they disagreed with the selection committee's choice.
It was also suggested at a meeting of Council that both teams be declared joint champions and that half an All-Ireland medal by given to each player.
As the All-Ireland saga went to a third meeting on 1 November 1931, Meagher was ruled out of the game because of broken ribs sustained in the first replay.
[4] Kilkenny retained their provincial crown in 1932, with Meagher adding a fourth Leinster medal to his collection following a 4–6 to 3–5 defeat of Dublin.
The All-Ireland final on 3 September 1933 saw a record crowd of 45,176 travel to Croke Park to see Kilkenny face and up-and-coming Limerick.
After being level at the interval, the game remained close in the second half until a solo-run goal by Johnny Dunne sealed a 1–7 to 0–6 victory.
At the beginning of the second half, Meagher sent over a huge point from midfield giving Kilkenny a lead which they wouldn't surrender.
Kilkenny dominated the provincial series again in 1936 and Meagher won his seventh Leinster medal following a 4–6 to 2–5 defeat of Laois.
Tipp gave a tour de force performance and recorded a 3–11 to 0–3 victory in one of the most one-sided championship deciders ever.
While attending the inaugural Railway Cup semi-final between Connacht and Leinster at O'Moore Park as a spectator, one of the players on the team cried off to make way for Meagher.
When the occasion demanded few hurlers could rise to the same brilliancy as the Tullaroan captain, and for a period of ten years or so he inspired his county to many notable triumphs."
Following his death in 1973, prominent Gaelic games sportswriter, Pádraig Puirséil, wrote: "I have not seen the equal of his artistry, or watched a more supreme stylist.
At his funeral, his coffin was carried from the altar to the waiting hearse by former Cork legends Jack Barrett, Eudie Coughlan, Paddy "Fox" Collins and Jim O'Regan.
A decade after his death, Meagher received the ultimate honour during the GAA's centenary year in 1984 when he was chosen at midfield on the Hurling Team of the Century.
His father, Henry Joseph Meagher (born 1865), is believed to have attended the very first meeting of the Gaelic Athletic Association in Thurles in 1884.
His mother, Elizabeth Keoghan (born 1866), from Threecastles, was an aunt of the famous Grace family, which was to garner fifteen All-Ireland medals in all.
His siblings included Willie (1895–1957), Kathleen (born 1896), Frank (1897–1971), Elizabeth (1898–1987), Mary Agnes (1901–1978), Henry (1902–1982) and Rose Angela (1906–1984).