John "Jobber" McGrath (1928 – 14 April 1980) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

sportsperson. He 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 ...

with his local club Rickardstown and with the

Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

senior inter-county team from 1950 until 1965. McGrath was later recognised as "one of the greatest players never to have won an

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

medal".

Playing career

Club

McGrath played his club

with his local Rickardstown club and won his first senior county title in 1953. McGrath added to his collection in 1959 and 1963 when he captured two more county championship medals. He finished his playing career with

Lough Lene Gaels Lough Lene Gaels (Irish: ''Gaeil Loch Léinn'') is a Gaelic Athletic Association club, based in Collinstown, County Westmeath, Ireland. Club history Lough Lene Gaels was founded as a hurling club late in 1969 as a result of an amalgamation betw ...

(who were an amalgamation between Collinstown, Fore, Glenidan and McGrath's club Rickardstown), winning a junior medal with the club in 1973.

Inter-county

McGrath first came to prominence on the inter-county scene with the

minor hurling team in the 1940s. In 1950 McGrath made his debut for the Westmeath senior team, beginning a fifteen-year inter-county career. During this era he enjoyed minimal success with the county as Westmeath were one of the minnows of the Leinster Championship.

Provincial

McGrath also lined out with

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 ...

in the inter-provincial hurling competition, and won his sole

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 ...

medal in 1956 as Leinster defeated

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

References

* Corry, Eoghan, ''The GAA Book of Lists'' (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).

Teams

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGrath, John 1928 births 1980 deaths Rickardstown hurlers Lough Lene Gaels hurlers Westmeath inter-county hurlers Leinster inter-provincial hurlers