William J. Spain (3 September 1865 – 9 April 1936) was an Irish hurler and Gaelic footballer. He was the first player to win All Ireland hurling and football medals. He played

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

with

Commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

and with the

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 ...

senior inter-county team in the 1880s. Spain also 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 the CJ Kickhams club and with the

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 ...

senior inter-county team in the 1880s. Spain was the first player to score a goal in an All Ireland football final and the first player to score a hat-trick of goals in an All Ireland hurling final.

Playing career

Club

Spain was born in Moanfin in the parish of Cloughjordan,

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 ...

, and may have initially played hurling and football with the local Rapla team. The GAA club in Cloughjordan parish is now

Kilruane MacDonaghs Kilruane MacDonaghs GAA is a Tipperary GAA club which is located in County Tipperary, Ireland. Both hurling and Gaelic football are played in the "North-Tipperary" divisional competitions. The club is centred on the villages of Kilruane, Ardcro ...

. He was the youngest son in a family of four boys and six girls. Spain began working in the drapery trade in Limerick and first came to prominence as a

er with the

club in

. The club enjoyed much success in the infant years of the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

. Spain captured a senior county title with the club in 1887. Spain later moved to

and joined the famous CJ Kickhams (now known as Ballymun Kickhams). Here he enjoyed further success, however, this time it was on the

field. He won a senior county title with that club in 1889.

Inter-county

In 1887 the very first All-Ireland championship took place in football. Limerick beat Meath, Kilkenny and Tipperary to qualify for the All Ireland final against Louth. The game itself was a close, low-scoring affair. Spain turned out to be the hero of the game. Eleven minutes into the second-half he scored a goal after a long dribbling run from his own 21-yard line. Limerick won the game by 1–4 to 0-3 and Spain collected his first All-Ireland title. Spain was the first player to score a goal in an All Ireland football final. Two years later in 1889 Spain was a key member of the

hurling team. In the first round they beat Louth and they got a walkover from

Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

in the

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 ...

final. This victory allowed Spain's side advance directly to the All-Ireland final.

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 ...

provided the opposition on that occasion and an exciting game followed. The Clare team, who played the game in their bare feet, took a half-time lead of 1–5 to 1–0. ‘The Dubs’ fought back in the second-half with Spain scoring a hat trick of goals as Clare collapsed. Dublin won the game by 5–1 to 1–6, giving Spain an All-Ireland hurling title to match his football one. In doing so he became the first All-Ireland-winning dual player in the history of

Gaelic games Gaelic games ( ga, Cluichí Gaelacha) are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the ...

. Spain was the first player to score 3 goals in an All Ireland hurling final. Spain emigrated to New York,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in April 1890. Spain played in an exhibition Gaelic football game in Madison Square Gardens in December 1890 for New York Gaelic who beat Port Chester Sarsfields. Spain was the star of the game scoring 2 goals and 5 points. Spain settled in New York and became a very successful silk merchant. He married Margaret Shanahan and they had two children; William and Mary. His son William died aged twenty while a student at Fordham University. William erected a seismograph station at the university as a memorial to his late son. The station was called 'The William Spain Seismic Observatory'. His daughter Mary married Herbert Weston and they had a daughter Melissa who married Thomas Bancroft Jr. William J Spain died at his holiday home in Florida on 9 April 1936.

External links

Limerick GAA honours

Dublin GAA honours

Profile of W.J. Spain
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spain, W.J. 1865 births 1936 deaths Dual players Dublin inter-county hurlers Limerick inter-county Gaelic footballers Commercials (Limerick) Gaelic footballers All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners Tipperary hurlers Tipperary Gaelic footballers