Pat Moylan is an Irish former
hurler who played as a midfielder at senior level for the
Cork county team.
Moylan joined the team during the
1970 championship and was a regular member of the starting fifteen until his retirement after the
1981 championship. During that time he won three
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, three
Munster medals, two
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...
medals and one
All-Star award.
At club level Moylan was a three-time
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 ...
medalist with
Blackrock
BlackRock, Inc. is an American multi-national investment company based in New York City. Founded in 1988, initially as a risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with trill ...
. In addition to this he has also won five
Munster medals and five
county club championship medals.
Playing career
Club
Moylan played his club hurling with
Blackrock
BlackRock, Inc. is an American multi-national investment company based in New York City. Founded in 1988, initially as a risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with trill ...
and enjoyed much success in hugely successful decade for the club.
In 1971 he lined out in his first senior decider as Blackrock faced
St. Finbarr's. After a decade in the doldrums the Rockies were back and a 2–19 to 5–4 victory secured a
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 ...
medal for Moylan. Blackrock subsequently represented Cork in the provincial series of games and faced
Moyne-Templetuohy in the decider. An impressive 4–10 to 3–1 victory gave Moylan a
Munster medal. The subsequent All-Ireland decider pitted Blackrock against
Rathnure
Rathnure () is a small village on the R731 regional road about from the town of Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland. The village is located at the foot of the Blackstairs Mountain, which borders County Carlow on the opposite side.
Place ...
. A high-scoring game followed, however, a narrow 5–13 to 6–9 victory gave Moylan an
All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship
The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Club Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Club Championship, is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-coun ...
medal.
Blackrock surrendered their club, provincial and All-Ireland decider the following year, however, in 1973 Moylan lined out in a second county championship final. A 2–12 to 2–10 defeat of
Glen Rovers
Glen Rovers is a Cork-based Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Blackpool, Cork, Ireland. The club was founded in 1916 and is primarily concerned with the game of hurling. They were Cork senior hurling champions in 2015 and 2016, havin ...
gave him a second championship medal. A subsequent two-point defeat of
Newmarket-on-Fergus
Newmarket-on-Fergus, historically known as Corracatlin (), is a town in County Clare, Ireland. It is 13 kilometres from Ennis, 8 kilometres from Shannon Airport, and 24 kilometres from Limerick.
History
The English rendering of the name 'Newm ...
in the provincial decider gave Moylan a second Munster medal. The subsequent All-Ireland final pitted Blackrock against Rathnure. A rousing draw was followed by a great replay. Superb late goals by
Donie Collins and
Éamonn O'Donoghue secured a 3–8 to 1–9 victory and a second All-Ireland medal for Moylan.
Once again back-to-back championship titles eluded the Rockies, however, a 4–11 to 0–10 defeat of Glen Rovers in 1975 gave Moylan a third championship medal. He later added a third Munster medal to his collection following a decisive 8–12 to 3–8 defeat of
Mount Sion. Kilkenny's
James Stephen provided the opposition in the subsequent All-Ireland final. Five points down at half-time, the Kilkenny club came storming back and defeated Moylan's side by 2–10 to 2–4.
It was 1978 before Moylan enjoyed his next success. A 4–12 to 1–7 defeat of Glen Rovers gave him a fourth championship medal. Once again the Rockies stormed through the provincial championship and defeated Newmarket-on-Fergus by two goals, giving Moylan a fourth Munster medal. The All-Ireland final saw Cork take on Kilkenny again. This time it was Blackrock versus
Ballyhale Shamrocks
Ballyhale Shamrocks is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in the parish of Ballyhale in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland. The club was founded in 1972 and is primarily concerned with the game of hurling. Ballyhale Shamrocks are the ...
.
Ray Cummins
Maurice Raymond "Ray" Cummins (born 9 November 1948) is an Irish former hurler and Gaelic footballer whose dual league and championship career with the Cork senior teams spanned fifteen years from 1967 to 1982.
Born in Ballinlough on the so ...
scored two goals in rapid succession in the opening thirty minutes to put Blackrock in the driving seat. At the full-time whistle Blackrock were the winners by 5–7 to 5–5, giving Moylan a third All-Ireland medal.
A 2–14 to 2–6 defeat of St. Finbarr's in 1979 gave Moylan his fifth and final championship medal. It was the first time that Blackrock had won back-to-back championships in almost fifty years. He later picked up a fifth Munster medal following a 0–13 to 1–8 defeat of
Dunhill.
Minor and under-21
Moylan first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Cork minor hurling team in 1966. He made his debut in the provincial quarter-final that year and subsequently collected a
Munster medal following a 6–7 to 2–8 defeat of
Galway
Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...
. Cork later faced
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 ...
in the All-Ireland decider, however, a high-scoring 6–7 apiece draw was the result. The replay was much more conclusive with Wexford claiming a 4–1 to 1–8 victory.
In 1967 Moylan added a second Munster medal to his collection in the minor grade following a 4–10 to 0–3 rout of
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 ...
. Cork later faced Wexford in the All-Ireland decider once again. A 2–15 to 5–3 victory gave Moylan an
All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship
The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Minor Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Electric Ireland GAA Hurling All-Ireland Minor Championship) is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). I ...
medal, while he also had the honour of collecting the cup as captain of the team.
Moylan progressed onto the Cork under-21 team in 1968 and enjoyed immediate success on one of the most successful teams of all-time in that grade. Tipperary were bested by 4–10 to 1–13 to secure a first
Munster medal. Moylan was later at midfield for the All-Ireland decider against
Kilkenny. A 2–18 to 3–9 victory gave him his first
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 in that grade.
In 1969 Cork had an even more comprehensive victory over Tipp in the provincial decider and Moylan added a second Munster medal to his collection. Old rivals Wexford provided the opposition in the subsequent All-Ireland final and a high-scoring game ensued. A 5–13 to 4–7 victory gave Moylan a second consecutive All-Ireland medal.
Having retained the title, Cork set out to become the first team to win three successive under-21 championships. Moylan collected a third Munster medal that year following a 3–11 to 2–7 defeat of Tipperary once again. Cork faced their old rivals Wexford in the subsequent All-Ireland decider, however, that game ended in a draw. In the replay Cork went into overdrive and Moylan won a third All-Ireland medal following a 5–17 to 0–8 thrashing.
Senior
Moylan made his senior debut for Cork during the 1969–70 National League. It was a successful campaign for the Rebels as an aggregate 5–21 to 6–16 defeat of
New York secured the
National Hurling League title for Cork. Moylan was an unused substitute for the final. It would be a Munster semi-final defeat by Tipperary in 1973 before he made his championship debut.
After being dropped from the team for a number of seasons, 1976 saw Moylan win his first
Munster medal as
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 ...
were beaten by 3–15 to 4–5. The subsequent All-Ireland final saw Cork face old rivals Wexford. In one of the worst starts to a championship decider, Cork were 2–2 to no score in arrears after just six minutes. The Rebels fought back to level matters by half-time, however, it was the long-range point-scoring by Moylan that turned the game for Cork. A 2–21 to 4–11 victory gave him his first
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. Moylan later collected an
All-Star award.
Moylan missed Cork's 4–15 to 4–10 Munster final defeat of newly crowned National League champions
Clare in 1977, however, he was introduced as a substitute in the All-Ireland decider against Wexford.
Seánie O'Leary
Seán O'Leary (25 February 1952 – 1 December 2021) was an Irish hurler who played as a left corner-forward at senior level for the Cork county team.
Career
Born in Youghal, County Cork, Munster, O'Leary first played competitive hurling wh ...
played the game with a broken nose after being hit in the face by a sliotar in a pre-match warm-up while the two oldest men on the team,
Denis Coughlan
Denis Coughlan (born 7 June 1945) is an Irish former hurler, Gaelic footballer and manager who played for Cork Senior Championship clubs Glen Rovers and St. Nicholas'. As a dual player he played for the Cork senior teams for 15 years, during ...
and
Gerald McCarthy, gave noteworthy displays.
Martin Coleman
Martin Coleman (born 1 August 1950) was an Irish hurler and selector. His career included All-Ireland Championship victories as goalkeeper with Cork's three-in-a-row team of the 1970s and later as a selector with various Cork teams.
After b ...
made some miraculous saves in the dying minutes as Cork held on for a 1–17 to 3–8 victory. It was Moylan's second All-Ireland medal.
In 1978 Cork set out to secure an impressive third successive All-Ireland title. The team go off to a good start with Moylan, having been restored to the starting fifteen, collecting a second Munster medal after a 0–13 to 0–11 defeat of Clare in a dour provincial decider. This victory paved the way for Cork to take on
Kilkenny in the subsequent All-Ireland final. The stakes were high as Cork were attempting to capture a first three in-a-row since 1954. The game, however, was not the classic that many expected. Cork were never really troubled over the course of the seventy minutes and a
Jimmy Barry-Murphy
James Barry-Murphy (born 22 August 1954) is an Irish hurling manager and former hurler, Gaelic footballer and association football player. He was the manager of the senior Cork county hurling team from 2011 to 2015, returning a decade after h ...
goal helped the team to a 1–15 to 2–8 victory over their age-old rivals. This victory gave Cork a third All-Ireland title in succession and gave Moylan his own personal three-in-a-row of winners' medals.
In 1979 Cork set about capturing a record-equaling fourth successive All-Ireland. All went to plan as the Rebels secured a fifth consecutive provincial title following a 2–14 to 0–9 defeat of Limerick. It was Moylan's third and final Munster medal. Age and the exertions of the three previous campaigns finally caught up with Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final and a 2–14 to 1–13 defeat by Galway brought the four-in-a-row dream to an end.
A 4–15 to 4–6 defeat of Limerick in a replay of the National League final gave Moylan his first winners' medal in that competition in 1980. Cork later failed in their effort to secure a record sixth provincial title in succession. The following year Moylan enjoyed his final success with Cork, as a 3–11 to 2–8 defeat of an up-and-coming
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 h ...
team secured his second National League medal. Cork exited the subsequent championship at the first hurdle and Moylan decided to retire from inter-county activity.
Inter-provincial
Moylan also had the honour of being selected for
Munster in the inter-provincial series of games. He lined out for the province in 1977, however, arch rivals
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 ...
defeated Munster in the final of the
Railway Cup.
Honours
Team
;Blackrock
*
All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship
The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Club Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Club Championship, is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-coun ...
(3): 1972, 1974, 1979
*
Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship
The Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Munster GAA Hurling Senior Club Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1964 f ...
(5): 1971, 1973, 1975, 1978, 1979
*
Cork Senior Club Hurling Championship (5): 1971, 1973, 1975, 1978, 1979
;Cork
*
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (3):
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 ...
,
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...
,
1978
*
Munster Senior Hurling Championship (3):
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 ...
,
1978,
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
*
National Hurling League (2):
1979–80,
1980–81
*
All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship
The GAA Hurling Under-20 All-Ireland Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling Under-20 All-Ireland Championship) is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (G ...
(3): 1968, 1969, 1970
*
Munster Under-21 Hurling Championship
The Munster GAA Hurling Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Munster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-c ...
(3): 1968, 1969, 1970
*
All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship
The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Minor Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Electric Ireland GAA Hurling All-Ireland Minor Championship) is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). I ...
(1): 1967 (c)
*
Munster Minor Hurling Championship
The Munster GAA Hurling Minor Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Electric Ireland Munster GAA Hurling Minor Championship) is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Assoc ...
(2): 1966, 1967 (c)
Individual
;Awards
*
All-Star Awards (1): 1976
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moylan, Pat
1949 births
Living people
Blackrock National Hurling Club hurlers
Cork inter-county hurlers
Munster inter-provincial hurlers
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners