Tom Collins was a

dual player Dual player or dual star is a term used in Hiberno-English to describe someone who competes in multiple sports — for example, in Victorian Ireland, cricket and hurling. The term today in Gaelic games typically describes a male player who plays ...

from

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

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 ...

. He played hurling 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 County ...

and

Kilmoyley Kilmoyley, officially Kilmoyly (), is a village in County Kerry, Ireland. It is 6 km southeast of Ballyheigue, and 10 km north of Tralee. Amenities Prior to more recent development, the original settlement in the area comprised two ...

and football with

and St Brendans.

Playing career

;Club hurling Collins won every domestic hurling honour available with

. Winning

Kerry Senior Hurling Championship The Kerry Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as Garvey's SuperValu Senior Hurling Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Kerry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1889 for the to ...

s in 1962, 1963, 1964 and playing in losing finals in 1955, 1956, 1958. ;Club football Tom was a mainstay of the St Brendans district team for many years, playing in several county senior football finals, and winning a

Kerry Minor Football Championship 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 ...

with the division in 1953. ;Inter-county hurling Tom was part of the

team that won the

All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship The All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship was a hurling competition organized by the Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland. The competition was originally contested by the second teams of the strong counties, and the first teams of the weaker ...

in 1961 beating

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 final. ;Intercounty football He won an All Ireland Senior Medal with

in 1959 as a member of the panel. He also won an

All-Ireland Junior Football Championship The All-Ireland Junior Football Championship is a GAA competition involving four Junior Gaelic football inter-county teams. Prior to a change in competition structure in 2021, the competition was previously for all Junior Gaelic football inte ...

Medal in 1954. He won

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

Medals in 1953 and 1959.

Place in history

In 1956, Collins earned a place in GAA history by playing in three Munster Finals in one day. He played corner forward with the Junior Hurlers as they beat

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

6–07 to 0–03, then again in the corner for the Junior Footballers as they also beat

4–10 to 1–04, however he could not make it 3 out of 3 as he came on as a sub in the replayed

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 i ...

Final only for

to go down to

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 ...

by 1–08 to 1–07.Tributes flow for Tom Collins the man who played three finals in one day
/ref>

References

2008 deaths Dual players Kerry inter-county hurlers Kerry inter-county Gaelic footballers Kilmoyley hurlers St Brendan's (Kerry) Gaelic footballers Year of birth missing {{Kerry-hurling-bio-stub