MJ Ryan – a legend in his time
It was with great sadness that I was informed of the passing of former Kilkenny and Dublin hurler M.J. Ryan on Saturday (February 15th), at the tragically young age of 47. M.J. truly was one of the nice guys in hurling, and remains, to this day, one of the finest players to don the Sky Blue jersey in the small ball game.
As aluded to above, M.J. was born in Kilkenny and indeed played in an Under-21 All-Ireland Final with the Cats in 1981. While he didn’t go on to make an impact at senior level as he would have wished, it shouldn’t be forgotten just how good Kilkenny were back then, as they are now. They were marshaled by the likes of Liam Fennelly and present manager Brian Cody and will undoubtedly be remembered in years to come as one of the best hurling sides of any generation.
He eventually moved to Dublin, where he joined the Templeogue-based Faughs hurling club. He would go on to be a stalwart of the club for years to come as he continued to play long after his inter-county career had ended.
Obviously, when he joined first, people may have had reservations about the kind of impact that Ryan would have at the club, and I’m sure M.J. himself would have wondered how well he would fit in. He didn’t need to worry though, as Faughs have always been extremely accommodating to country players down through the years. For example, they have an extremely strong Limerick connection through former Chairman Eamonn Rea, which continues right up to this day with the recent addition of former Limerick Under-21 hurler Maurice O’Brien.
He would go on to have an extremely successful playing career with Faughs, winning three county senior hurling titles in 1986, 1987 and 1992. Ryan played a massive part in these victories, alongside club stalwarts like Joe Cunningham, Jim Lyng, Richie Reid, and the Newman Brothers, Martin and P.J. Yet, he will forever be remembered for his impact on the inter-county stage when he played during a very promising period in Dublin’s more troublesome recent history.
1990 and 1991 was a time when Kilkenny and Offaly were introducing some blossoming new stars, such as Brian ‘Sid’ Whelehan and D.J. Carey and were considered to be the powerhouses of Leinster hurling. The Faithful County had won Leinster in 1989 under the management of current Birr boss Pad Joe Whelehan. They were to suffer a set-back in the All-Ireland final that year though, losing by three goals to a far hungrier Antrim team.
While this was a surprising defeat for Offaly, it didn’t really affect their provincial ranking as themselves and Kilkenny were very much considered to be the top dogs, while the likes of Dublin, Wexford and Laois were considered to be an afterthought. Yet, that would turn out to be far from the case as Dublin, and also the Slaneysiders it must be said, gave as good as they got in the early 90s.
In 1990, Dublin probably recognized that they had a wonderful chance at reaching a Leinster Final when Offaly and Kilkenny were drawn against each other in the draw for the Provincial Championship. This was exactly what they achieved, and there they would face Offaly, who had overcome Kilkenny on a day when we saw the first of many immortal match-ups between D.J. Carey and Brian Whelehan, which was won hands down by the latter.
On the day, Dublin were beaten on a score line of 1-19 to 2-11, but it was clear that there was real progress being made by the Metropolitan side with Ryan very much to the forefront.
The following year saw Dublin in a re-match of the previous year’s Leinster final as Dublin faced Offaly, while the other semi-final saw Kilkenny and Wexford paired against each other. Both matches were close run affairs, although it looked like there could be a shock on the cards in the second one as Wexford were going strong against Kilkenny, but a late D.J. Carey solo goal saw Kilkenny advance to the final.
Dublin would clear underdogs going into their clash with Offaly, who were going for four Leinster titles in a row. This certainly didn’t faze the boys from the Capital, as they held firm for a 0-17 to 1-11 victory with Ryan landing an insurance score with virtually the last puck of a ball. This meant that Dublin would face Kilkenny in the 1991 Leinster Final as they dared to dream of a first Leinster title in 1961, when incidentally Faugh’s Mick Kennedy (the man who got the first-ever score shown on R.T.E.) was a member of the side.
Their final clash against Kilkenny was an engrossing contest with very little to separate the two sides throughout. Kilkenny just seemed to have that little bit in reserve though and were leading by two points as injury time beckoned. However, Dublin did have a glorious chance at a goal when Ryan received the ball in a promising position. He was extremely unfortunate to have seen his shot rebound off the post as that would surely have won them the match.
If Dublin had won that year, they would have had every chance of reaching the All-Ireland as they were more than capable of beating Antrim, though that was a terrific Antrim side.
1992 was not be a good year for Ryan though, as he suffered a bad injury which effectively brought an end to his time with Dublin. It was no coincidence that Dublin hurling went downhill from here as M.J.’s loss was a massive blow to their chances of making a breakthrough.
Though his injury woes meant that he would not be seen in the Sky Blue at Croke Park anymore, he continued to play for Faughs for a number of years. He went on to manage their senior team as well and at the time of his death, was also training the Thomas Davis senior hurling team.
On a personal level, I have fond memories of M.J. from my own time as a Faughs underage hurler when he was lauded as an iconic figure by many in the area. Indeed, I and my older brother would have played alongside his son and his influence clearly rubbed off. News of his death came as a major shock and the impact he had on Dublin hurling cannot be forgotten.
Many players from outside Dublin have played hurling both at club and inter-county since, such as his fellow county men, Eamonn Morrissey and James ‘Shiner’ Brennan, and Galway men Gordon Glynn, Declan Qualter and Niall Corcoran. There were also many before him as well who were, like M.J., treated as one of their own, as should always be the case.
My deepest condolences to his family and friends, and May he rest in peace.