Patrick Scanlan (13 October 1905 – April 1977) was an Irish hurler who played as a goalkeeper at senior level for the Limerick county team.
As a member of the Munster inter-provincial team on a number of occasions, Scanlan won four Railway Cup medals.
A lack of competitive games in his native Castleconnell saw Scanlan and his comrades cross the border to Tipperary where they linked up with the Newport club.
On 1 May 1932 Scanlan made his competitive debut for Limerick in a 5-5 to 4-1 semi-final defeat of Tipperary in the pre-season Thomond Feis.
The subsequent All-Ireland final on 3 September 1933 saw a record crowd of 45,176 travel to Croke Park to see Limerick face Kilkenny.
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 for Kilkenny.
At the beginning of the second-half Lory Meagher sent over a huge point from midfield giving Kilkenny a lead which they would not surrender.
Jack Keane issued an instruction from the sideline that Timmy Ryan, the team captain, was to take the free and put the sliotar over the bar for the equalising point.
In 1936 Limerick embarked on a tour of the United States where they defeated a New York team made up of Irish expatriates.
For the third time in four years the lure of a Kilkenny-Limerick clash brought a record crowd of over 50,000 to Croke Park for the All-Ireland decider on 6 September 1936.
In 1937 Scanlan secured a third league medal, however, Limerick's bid for a record-equalling fifth successive Munster crown came to an end in the provincial decider when Tipperary were victorious.
Limerick entered the record books in 1938 as the first team to win five consecutive National League titles.
A pitch invasion scuppered the game for ten minutes, however, Limerick held on to win by 3-3 to 2-4 and Scanlan collected a fifth Munster medal.
The subsequent All-Ireland decider on 1 September 1940 brought Kilkenny and Limerick together for the last great game between the two outstanding teams of the decade.
Early in the second-half Kilkenny took a four-point lead, however, once Mick Mackey was deployed at midfield he proceeded to dominate the game.