John Finlay (10 June 1889 – 30 September 1942) was an Irish athlete who played

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 ...

for

Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

in the 1910s and in later life was a politician. Finlay was born in Ballycuddy,

County Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

in 1889. He had a love of

from a young age and soon joined his local club Ballygeehan. In 1913 Finlay won a

Laois Junior Hurling Championship The Laois Junior Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition contested by lower-tier Laois GAA clubs. Ballypickas are the title holders (2021) defeating near neighbours Abbeyleix in the Final. Ballypickas are both the current holder ...

with the club. They moved to senior level the following year and proceeded to win five county championships in-a-row with Finlay as captain. After winning the county title in 1914 the club had a major say in the selection of the inter-county team for the following year. Finlay was chosen as captain and was joined by his brother

Tom Finlay Thomas P. Finlay (1897 – 6 September 1967) was an Irish hurler who played as a wing-back for the Laois senior team. Regarded as one of Laois's greatest-ever players, Finlay played during the county's most successful period from 1914 to ...

. That year Laois defeated

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

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 ...

and

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

to win the Leinster Championship. This victory set up an All-Ireland final meeting with

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 ...

, who were red-hot favourites. Laois had no great hurling tradition and this was shown when Cork scored three goals. In the second-half, however, Laois rallied and won the game. Finlay became the only player from Laois to captain an

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

winning team. In later life Finlay entered politics, and was elected to

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...

as a National Centre Party

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD) for the Leix–Offaly constituency at the 1933 general election. He was re-elected at the 1937 general election for the same constituency as a

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

TD. He lost his seat at the 1938 general election. Jack Finlay died on 30 September 1942.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finlay, Jack 1889 births 1942 deaths Laois inter-county hurlers Clough-Ballacolla hurlers Politicians from County Laois National Centre Party (Ireland) TDs Fine Gael TDs Irish sportsperson-politicians Members of the 8th Dáil Members of the 9th Dáil