James Ryall (born 14 November 1980) is an Irish hurler who plays for his local club Graigue–Ballycallan and at senior level for the Kilkenny county team from 2002 to 2010.

Biography

James Ryall was born in Kilmanagh,

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the cou ...

in 1980. He was educated locally and later attended

Coláiste Éamann Rís ''(Edmund Rice College)'' was a Christian Brothers secondary school for boys located in Callan, County Kilkenny, in Ireland. The college was built in the hometown of Edmund Ignatius Rice, the founder of the Irish Christian Brothers, the Pre ...

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 ...

, a well known hurling school. Here his hurling talents were quickly spotted and he won a Leinster Colleges' title with the school's senior hurling team. Ryall later attended the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, where he was named Hurler of the Year in 2001. He currently works as a sales rep with Michael Lyng Motors Kilkenny.

Playing career

Club

Ryall plays for his local Graigue–Ballycallan club. He had some success at underage level and was on the panel when his club won the county championship in 1998 and 2000.

Inter-county

Although never having All-Ireland success at minor or under-21 level with

, Ryall became a key member of the team after joining the panel in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

. Within a year of joining the team he had won his first Leinster SHC and All-Ireland SHC titles, following wins over Wexford and

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 ...

respectively. In 2004 Kilkenny were aiming to win a third All-Ireland SHC title in-a-row; however, Kilkenny ended that year without any major title. The team was back in 2005 with Ryall collecting his first

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 ...

medal, as well as a second Leinster SHC title. Galway later defeated Kilkenny in an All-Ireland SHC semi-final. In 2006 Ryall won his third Leinster SHC medal, before later collecting his second All-Ireland medal following a win over Cork. On 8 September 2010, speculation went around that Ryall was retiring from inter-county hurling defeat by Tipperary; however, it turned out originally that the report was misquoted. In December, 2010 Ryall confirmed his retirement from inter-county hurling.

Honours

;Kilkenny *

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 ...

: **Winner (6): 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 * Leinster Senior Hurling Championship: **Winner (8): 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 *

: **Winner (5): 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009 * Walsh Cup: **Winner (4): 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryall, James 1980 births Living people All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners Graigue-Ballycallan hurlers Irish salespeople Kilkenny inter-county hurlers