Michael "Mikey" Maher (15 July 1869 – 18 May 1947) 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 ...

hurler who played as a centre-forward for the

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

senior team. Born in Tubberadora,

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

, Maher first arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of twenty-five when he made his senior debut in the 1895 championship. Maher went on to play a key part for Tipperary in what was a hugely successful era, and won five

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 ...

medals and five

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 ...

medals. Maher was the first player to captain a team to All-Ireland success on three occasions. At club level Maher won three

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

medals with Tubberadora. Maher's retirement came following the conclusion of the 1904 championship.

Biography

Mikey Maher was born in Tubberadora,

in 1870. He was educated at the local national school and later worked on the family farm. Maher was the second eldest in a family of four boys, all of whom had a great interest in the game of

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 ...

. Maher's older brother, Jack, won two

medals in the 1890s. Two of Maher's nephews, Sonny Maher and Michael Maher, won All-Ireland medals with

in the 1950s and 1960s. In retirement from hurling Maher returned to working on the family farm. In 1918 he moved to a farm in

Galbally, County Limerick Galbally () is a village in southeast County Limerick, Ireland, on the border with County Tipperary. It is located at the foot of the Galtee Mountains and at the western approach to the Glen of Aherlow. The Aherlow River, flowing down from the G ...

where he spent the rest of his life. Mikey Maher died in 1947.

Playing career

Club

Maher played his club

with his local Tubberadora club and enjoyed much success. He won senior

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 ...

titles with the club in 1895, 1896 and 1898. Tubberadora never again won another senior county title.

Inter-county

Maher first came to prominence on the inter-county scene with Tipperray in 1890.

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 ...

, however, were the standard bearers in the province of Munster at the time. In 1895 Maher was selected to captain the Tipperary senior hurling team. That year Tipp faced

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

in the provincial final and the game turned into a rout. Tipperary won the game by 7-8 to 0-2 giving Maher his first

title. Tipperary later played

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 ...

in the All-Ireland final to be played at what is now

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

. Tipp took a 1-6 to 1-0 lead at half-time and went on to hammer ‘the Cats’ by 6-8 to 1-10 at the final whistle. Tipperary's

Paddy Riordan Patrick J. Riordan (31 August 1871 - March 1941) was an Irish hurler who played as a forward for the Tipperary senior team. Born in Drombane, County Tipperary, Riordan first arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of twenty-three when he ...

is said to have scored all but one point of his team's total as Maher collected his first

title. Maher was captain again in 1896 as Tipperary played Cork in the Munster final. That game had to end before the official finish and a replay took place. Tipp easily won the replay by 7-9 to 2-3. The subsequent All-Ireland final saw Tipperary play

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 ...

at the famous Jones's Road ground. Tipp scored a goal in the very first minute and took a 4-6 to 0-1 lead at half-time. The game turned into a rout as Tipperary won by 8-14 to 0-4 giving Maher a second All-Ireland title. This game still holds the record as the most one-sided All-Ireland final. Tipp surrendered their provincial crown in 1897, however, the team took on Cork in the 1898 Munster final. That game had to be abandoned due to fading light, however, Maher collected a third provincial title as Tipp easily defeated ‘the Rebels’ in the replay.

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

fell heavily in the penultimate game of the championship, allowing Tipp to advance to the All-Ireland final against Kilkenny. In a high-scoring and exciting game Kilkenny were on top for the first twenty-five minutes. In the second-half Tipp took the upper hand with Maher scoring three goals. A 7-13 to 3-10 score line gave Tipp the victory and gave Maher a third All-Ireland title as captain. 1899 saw Tipperary defeat

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 ...

in the provincial decider giving Maher his fourth Munster title. It was another rout as the 5-16 to 0-8 score line suggests. This victory allowed Maher's team to advance directly to the All-Ireland final where

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 ...

provided the opposition. Wexford held Tipp for the first fifteen minutes; however, they still took a 2-6 to 1-3 lead at half-time. Maher's side went on the rampage in the second half and finished with a score of 3-12 to 1-4. The Wexford team walked off the field with ten minutes left in the game because they couldn't find a substitute for an injured player. Tipp were awarded the title and Maher collected his fourth All-Ireland title. In 1900 Tipperary trounced

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in County ...

by 6-11 to 1-9 in the provincial final, giving Maher his fifth Munster title. Tipp later narrowly defeated Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final before trouncing Galway in the ‘home’ All-Ireland final. This was not the end of the championship campaign because, for the first year ever, the ‘home’ finalists had to take on

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in the real All-Ireland final. The game was a close affair with both sides level at 0-5 with eight minutes to go. London then took the lead; however, they later conceded a free. Maher stepped up, took the free and a forward ‘charge’ carried the sliothar over the line. Tipp scored another goal following a weak puck out and claimed the victory. It was Maher's fifth and final All-Ireland title. He retired from inter-county hurling shortly afterwards.

Teams

External links

Munster final winning teams

Tipperary GAA honours
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maher, Mikey 1869 births 1947 deaths Tubberadora hurlers Tipperary inter-county hurlers All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners