Tadhgie Lyne ( 8 December 1930 – 31 May 2000) was an Irish Gaelic footballer with

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 Count ...

. Called 'the Prince of Forwards',Weeshie Fogarty's Weekly Article - March / 1
/ref> Lyne was one of the finest scoring forwards of his time.

Early life

Tadhgie Lyne grew up on High Street,

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Cast ...

, only half a mile from the famous Kerry ground of

Fitzgerald Stadium Fitzgerald Stadium ( ga, Staid a' Ghearaltaigh) is the principal GAA stadium in Killarney, Ireland, and is the home championship venue for the Kerry senior football team. Named in honour of one of the first great players of the Gaelic Athleti ...

. His football talent apparent from an early age, and he spent hours daily practicing the skills of the game with a ball suspended from the rafters of his father's house. Nevertheless, despite being called for trials for the Kerry

All-Ireland Minor Football Championship The Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Championship is the premier under-17 "knockout" competition in Gaelic football played in Ireland. 2017 was the final year of the minor under 18 football championship as it were replaced by an under ...

for two years in succession he could not make the panel, with contemporaries such as Jerome O'Shea and Seán Murphy outshining him.

Playing career

Lyne's county career only began after his club, the Dick Fitzgeralds, won the 1951

Kerry Senior Football Championship The Kerry Senior Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as Garvey’s SuperValu Senior Football Championship) is an annual Gaelic football competition organised by the Kerry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1 ...

. Lyne kicked 1–5 from right-half forward in the final against Dingle. He became a fixture in the Kerry team for a decade. In 1953, Lyne played at wing-forward on the Kerry team that won the

Munster Senior Football Championship The Munster Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Munster Championship and shortened to Munster SFC, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It ...

and went on to play in his first

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...

final, giving a man-of-the-match display with six points as Kerry beat Armagh 0–13 to 1–6. Kerry won Munster and reached the All-Ireland final again in 1954, but Meath beat them by 1–13 to 1–7. In 1955, Lyne might have been lost to football, but he turned down the offer of a professional soccer contract with Glasgow Celtic to play with Kerry. Kerry was Munster champions for the third consecutive time that year. They progressed to face Cavan in the All-Ireland semi final. Lyne scored 1–6 and punched a goal in the last moments to earn Kerry a draw. They went on to win the replay and faced

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

. Lyne kicked a fine point in the first minute and notched five more as Kerry won by 0–12 to 1–9. The game is remembered as "Tadhgie Lyne's All-Ireland". He was the championship's top marksman that year with five goals and forty-two points and was named Footballer of the Year. Lyne won another Munster senior medal in 1958 when he came on as a replacement in the final. However, Kerry was beaten in the All-Ireland semi-final. The 'Prince of Forwards' gained his third and final All-Ireland in 1959.Roscommon Herald - 2006/03/01: Great All-Ireland finals
/ref> Kerry won the Munster championship and went on to qualify for the All-Ireland final, in which they beat Galway by nine points.

Later life

Tadhg Lyne died at his home on Killarney Road, Castleisland on 31 May 2000 at the age of 69.

References

External links

*http://archives.tcm.ie/roscommonherald/2006/03/01/story3145.asp *http://www.terracetalkireland.com/weeshie_week/article_march_12005.htm *http://www.terracetalkireland.com/articles/text/lynes.doc {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyne, Tadhgie 1930s births 2000 deaths Dr Crokes Gaelic footballers Gaelic football forwards Kerry inter-county Gaelic footballers