Diarmuid Lyng (born 1981 in

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

and

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

with his local club St Martin's and was a member of the

senior inter-county hurling team from 2004 to 2013. His nickname "Gizzy" was acquired in his childhood and is a reference to the character Gizmo from the movie

Gremlins ''Gremlins'' is a 1984 American black comedy horror film directed by Joe Dante, written by Chris Columbus, and starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday, and Frances Lee McCain, with Howie Mandel providing the voice of ...

. A graduate of

Froebel College of Education Froebel College of Education was one of five colleges in Ireland which was recognised by the Department of Education (Ireland), Department of Education for the training and education of national school teachers. It was located at Sion Hill, Cr ...

, Lyng is a primary school teacher.

Playing career

Club

Lyng plays both hurling and Gaelic football with his local club St Martin's in Piercestown and has experienced much success. In 1999 Lyng was still a member of the clubs minor team when he made his senior debut as a seventeen-year-old. He was a non-playing substitute when St Martin's defeated

Rathnure Rathnure () is a small village on the R731 regional road about from the town of Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland. The village is located at the foot of the Blackstairs Mountain, which borders County Carlow on the opposite side. Place ...

by two points to win their very first

county championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

. After losing a final in the meantime St Martin's were back in the championship decider in 2008. A 1-13 to 1-8 defeat of Oulart-the-Ballagh gave Lyng his first county title on the field of play. He later joined Kerry side

Tralee Parnells Tralee Parnells are a hurling club from the town of Tralee in County Kerry, Ireland. Original club The original Parnells won 2 Kerry Senior Hurling Championships in 1918 and 1919. All Ireland winning football captain and one of Kerry's great ...

Inter-county

Lyng first came to prominence with

as a member of the county's minor team in 1999. He enjoyed little success in this grade having lost a

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

decider to

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

. He later joined the Wexford under-21 team, winning back-to-back

titles in 2001 and 2002. Lyng made his senior debut for Wexford in a

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...

game against

in 2004. He remained on the fringes of the team and was a non-playing substitute when Wexford captured the

title. He made his championship debut later that year when he came on as a substitute against

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

in the All-Ireland semi-final. By 2005 Lyng was a regular on the Wexford starting fifteen, however, the Slanysliders had to play second fiddle to Kilkenny in the provincial championship. Lyng lined out in four Leinster finals in-a-row, however, Kilkenny were the winners on all four occasions. In 2009 Lyng was appointed Wexford captain. He retained that position in 2010 and guided the team to a National League Division 2 title following a defeat of

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

Inter-provincial

Lyng has lined out with

on a number of occasions in the inter-provincial series. He won two

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship ( ga, An Corn Idir-Chúigeach) or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster ...

medals in 2006 and 2009.

Post-playing career

After a spiritual awakening, Lyng moved to Corca Dhuibhne and co-founde
Wild Irish
with his partner, poet Siobhán de Paor. Wild Irish endeavors to assist their compatriots with mental health and societal stress by spending time in nature with Ireland's indigenous language,

Gaeilge Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was the p ...

. Lyng narrated the documentary '' Réabhlóid GAA'', which

TG4 TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was formerly known ...

premiered in December 2020.

Honours

* 2

Leinster Under-21 Hurling Championship The Leinster GAA Hurling All-Ireland Under-20 Championship known simply as the Leinster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the high ...

2001 2002 * 2

2006 2009 * 1

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship The Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship, known simply as the Leinster Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hurl ...

2004 * 1 National Hurling League Division 1 2010 * 1

Wexford Senior Hurling Championship The Wexford Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Pettitt's SuperValu Senior Hurling Championship) is an annual hurling competition contested by top-tier Wexford GAA clubs. The Wexford County Board of the Gaelic Athl ...

2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyng, Diarmuid 1981 births Living people Dual players Irish schoolteachers St Martin's (Wexford) hurlers St Martin's (Wexford) Gaelic footballers Wexford inter-county hurlers Leinster inter-provincial hurlers