Sweeping in a new era?

KILLINAN END

The current altitude of Moycarkey/Borris raises many hurling memories too. One of that club’s most evocative names is Paddy ‘Sweeper’ Ryan, a man as ‘Moycarkey’ as could be. Sweeper was part of a Tipperary hurling generation which, despite not being hugely successful, was enormously significant for the nature of that success.

The Triple Crown of 1930 holds a special place in the county’s hurling story. Perhaps the novelty of the Minor title was a factor in how that year etched a special place in the county’s folklore. The grade was launched just two years earlier, so Tipp became the first to annex the full set of all available All-Irelands in a single year.

Sweeper Ryan was a forward on that ground-breaking Tipp Minor team. A curious feature of the final, which Tipp won with relative comfort, was the realisation early in the second half that Kilkenny had an extra player. In an era when potential objections always bubbled under, it created a scenario that if Tipp somehow coughed up their considerable lead, they’d probably take the laurels in the boardroom anyway.

Several of Sweeper Ryan’s young colleagues on that team featured seven years later on another landmark day at Senior level in Killarney. In the meantime, Sweeper – one of seven brothers for whom “hurling was a second religion”, according to his brother Johnny – had embarked on a period of extraordinary achievement with his local parish.

The decade was one of huge rivalry with perennial contenders Thurles Sarsfields. Their tug of war defined the 1930s in Tipp hurling circles. The Dan Breen Cup was shared between Thurles and Moycarkey across the nine seasons from 1932 to ‘40, with Sweeper Ryan winning five County medals. It is a remarkable curiosity that while Sarsfields and Moycarkey have, between them, won a third of all County Senior hurling finals, they have met only once previously in a final - that of 1962.

When Tipp lit up Fitzgerald Stadium in 1937, the parishes of Thurles and Moycarkey provided eight All-Ireland Final starters in Blue & Gold, including Sweeper and his brother Johnny. The Ryans certainly had a penchant for the big occasion; Moycarkey won the County title in the GAA’s jubilee year of 1934, while they lined out in Tipp’s Killarney success in the fiftieth All-Ireland Final. Despite Tipp’s rampant win over Kilkenny, it was a final mired in a certain chaos. Not only was the match moved from Croke Park because of building delays, but a dispute between the GAA and Raidió Éireann meant the match was not broadcast live on radio, with the public relying on a post-match radio report.

Yet, this was only trifling detail in a perfect year for Moycarkey and Sweeper Ryan, who captained them to victory over Cashel in a great County final. However, Sweeper’s time as Tipp captain in 1938 was frustrating. A comfortable Munster championship win over Clare unravelled under objection over the infamous ‘Cooney case’, relating to the eligibility of Tipp’s brilliant midfielder from Carrick on Suir. With Waterford winning their first Munster championship and Dublin their last MacCarthy Cup that year, it is tempting to regard it as a Tipp title frittered away.

The Ryans certainly lived in interesting times. Sweeper, Johnny, and another brother, Mutt, were all on the Tipp panel during the infamous ‘foot and mouth’ year of 1941.

With travel discouraged from certain named counties, Cork were nominated as Munster’s representatives, depriving Tipp of the chance to progress from the province. Subsequently, Cork won the All-Ireland but lost the delayed Munster Final to Tipp, forever opening a sore for that generation. However, Cork became formidable and by 1945 were eyeing five in a row. Christy Ring, umpire at the Tipp-Waterford first round game, suggested to Johnny Ryan that Cork would beat the pick of the two teams.

Instead, Tipp beat Cork well in the Munster semi-final and, after a heroic defensive display, took down Limerick in the 1945 Munster Final - echoing a famous win eight years earlier. Though Johnny missed the All-Ireland Final win over Kilkenny with a knee injury, Mutt and Sweeper were on the team. Again, eight Thurles/Moycarkey players started the final. Croke Park stretched at the seams with a record final attendance, as if the end of the war years had cast off society’s shackles.

After Sweeper Ryan’s playing years, he spent nearly two decades as secretary of the Mid Board and was a Tipp Minor and Senior selector. The description at the end of his life - as a man of “honesty, kindness, sincerity, and humility” - would be the envy of anyone. Much water has passed under the bridge since their glory days, but three brothers winning All-Ireland Senior medals is a feat which keeps them in select company.

A lifetime certainly spent “squeezing ‘em up”. It is worth saluting one of the great hurling names as their club stands on the threshold of a new era.