Jimmy Kirkwood (born 12 February 1962) is a former

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

player from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

who represented both

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 ...

and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

at international level. He represented Great Britain at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

when they won the gold medal. He also represented Ireland at the

1990 Men's Hockey World Cup The 1990 Men's Hockey World Cup was the seventh edition of the Hockey World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national field hockey teams organized by the FIH. It was held in the National Hockey Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan from 1 ...

. Kirkwood was also an Ireland cricket international.

Early years, family and education

Kirkwood was educated at

Friends' School, Lisburn Friends' School, Lisburn is a Quaker voluntary grammar school in the city of Lisburn, Northern Ireland, founded in 1774. History Friends’ School Lisburn was founded – as The Ulster Provincial School – on the basis of a bequest in 1764 of ...

and

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

where he studied Economics. In his youth, in addition to playing

and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, Kirkwood also included played

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

, playing for Friends' School, Lisburn in the

Ulster Schools' Cup The Ulster Schools' Challenge Cup is an annual competition involving schools affiliated to the Ulster Rugby, Ulster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union. The Schools' Cup has the distinction of being the world's second-oldest rugby competitio ...

Field hockey

Domestic teams

At senior club level, Kirkwood played for Queen's University, Belfast YMCA and

Lisnagarvey Lisnagarvey or Lisnagarvy () is a townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Lisnagarvey is also an Anglicisation of the original name of Lisburn. The townland was named after an earthen ringfort (''lios''), which was in the area of present-day ...

. During his club career he won ten Irish Senior Cup winners medals. He won his first with Queen's in 1981 and his second with Belfast YMCA in 1985. Then between 1987–88 and 1993–94 he was an ever-present in the Lisnagarvey team that won the cup for seven successive seasons. He won his tenth medal when Lisnagarvey won the cup in 1996–97.

International

Ireland

Kirkwood was a member of the

team that were silver medallists at the 1978

EuroHockey Junior Championship EuroHockey Junior Championship may refer to: * Men's EuroHockey U21 Championship * Women's EuroHockey U21 Championship The Women's EuroHockey U21 Championship is a women's international under-21 field hockey tournament organized by the European H ...

. Other members of the team included

Martin Sloan Martin Sloan, also referred to as Marty Sloan, is a former field hockey player from Northern Ireland who represented Ireland and Great Britain at international level. Between 1982 and 1995 he made 149 senior appearances for Ireland. Between 198 ...

, Billy McConnell and Stephen Martin. He made his senior debut for Ireland at the age of 18 in 1981. He subsequently represented Ireland at the 1987, 1991 and 1995 Men's

EuroHockey Nations Championship The EuroHockey Nations Championship is an international men's field hockey competition organised by the European Hockey Federation (EHF) for the top eight European national teams. It is the top division of the EuroHockey Nations Championships. Th ...

s. He also represented Ireland at the

. During the latter tournament, during a match against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, Kirkwood sustained a horrific injury when he felt the full force of an opponents stick in his face. He was taken to hospital and missed the rest of the tournament. In 2014 Kirkwood was inducted into the

Irish Hockey Association Hockey Ireland, previously known as the Irish Hockey Association, is the governing body for field hockey in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is responsible for organising both the Ireland men's national field hockey team and t ...

Hall of Fame.

Great Britain

Kirkwood made his debut for

at the

1987 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy The 1987 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy was the ninth edition of the Hockey Champions Trophy for men. The tournament was held from 19–28 June 1987, in Amstelveen, Netherlands. West Germany won the tournament for the second time. Netherlands and ...

tournament. He subsequently represented Great Britain at the

, winning a gold medal.

Cricket

Kirkwood began playing for

Lisburn Cricket Club Lisburn Cricket Club is a cricket club in Lisburn, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, playing in the Premier League of the NCU Senior League. Established in 1836, the club is the oldest in Northern Ireland. It is also one of the most successful, h ...

as a schoolboy. In 1985 his man of the match performance helped the club win the

NCU Challenge Cup The NCU Challenge Cup, also called the NCU Senior Challenge Cup and the NCU Senior Cup, is the most important provincial cricket knock-out cup of the NCU jurisdiction in Ireland. The competition began in 1887, with eleven clubs participating in ...

, defeating NICC in the final. He also represented Ulster Country at senior interprovincial level. Kirkwood represented

at schoolboy, under-19 and under-23 levels before making his senior international debut on 17 August 1983 against

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. During the same tour, Kirkwood also featured in matches against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and the MCC. Kirkwood made 27 runs at an average of 8.6, with his high score of 27 coming against Gloucestershire,

Personal life

Kirkwood worked as a banker for

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

. Kirkwood is happily married with a couple of kids

Honours

Field hockey

;

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

**''Winners'':

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

;

**''Runners up'': 1978 ;

EuroHockey Club Trophy The EuroHockey Club Trophy I is an annual men's field hockey competition organised by the EHF for European hockey clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club competition, being one tier below the top men's European club competition the ...

**''Winners'': 1991: 1 **''Runners-up'': 1989: 1 * Irish Senior Cup **''Winners'': 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1996–97: 8 * Ulster Senior League **''Winners'': 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1996–97: 6 *

Kirk Cup The Kirk Cup is the oldest hockey tournament in Ulster and the oldest provincial hockey trophy in Ireland. It has become a tradition since the 1966-67 season for the final to be played on Boxing Day, a date previously reserved for the Anderson Cup ...

**''Winners'': 1989–90 *

Anderson Cup The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictly ...

**''Winners'': 1986–87, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97: 4 ;Belfast YMCA * Irish Senior Cup **''Winners'': 1985 ; Queen's University * Irish Senior Cup **''Winners'': 1981

Cricket

;

Lisburn Lisburn (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with ...

**''Winners'': 1985

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkwood, Jimmy 1962 births Living people Male field hockey players from Northern Ireland Irish male field hockey players Ireland international men's field hockey players Olympic field hockey players of Great Britain British male field hockey players Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in field hockey Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 1988 Summer Olympics 1990 Men's Hockey World Cup players Lisnagarvey Hockey Club players Male field hockey forwards Sportspeople from Lisburn People educated at Friends' School, Lisburn Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Irish bankers HSBC people Lisburn Cricket Club players Irish rugby union players