Tipperary Hurling Tipperary GAA Premierview

Born 1919



Club Lorrha & Dorrha



Tipperary Championship career: 1949 – 1955



Honours



3 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Medals – 1949, 1950, 1951



3 Munster Senior Hurling Medals – 1949, 1950, 1951



6 National League Medals –1949, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1957



5 Railway Cup Medals – 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955



2 North Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship Medals – 1948, 1956



Hurling Team of the Century 1984



Hurling Team of the Millennium 2000



He was a pivotal character in many great battles of the 1950s, a period widely considered to be hurling’s Golden Era. Fifty years later he remains a peerless figure among that idiosyncratic and exceptional breed of hurler, the goalkeeper. Many have since stated plainly that Tipperary would not have won three All-Irelands in a row between 1949 and 1951 without the incomparable Tony Reddan.



Born in Mullagh, Co. Galway, Tony won a much-prized juvenile county championship medal in 1933. In the early 1940s he played at junior and senior level for Galway. However, Galway hurling was blessed with the talents of the great Seanie Duggan at this time, and Tony found it impossible to command a first team spot. His hurling career could so easily have ended without distinction had he not decided to cross the Shannon early in 1947 to work in Rathcabbin. Local club Lorrha had been promoted to senior ranks the previous year and Tony lined out for them in the North championship. He came to widespread notice in 1948 when he gave an inspired performance in the north final against Borrisoleigh, and helped Lorrha to their first title in 21 years. They later lost out to a Pat Stakelum inspired Holycross in the county final.



Called up to the county team for the league campaign of 1948-49, he soon earned enthusiastic reviews for his displays between the sticks. It would be impossible to describe every game and episode that Tony was involved in over the following 7 years in the Blue and Gold. But it’s worthwhile recalling the style of play that made him unique. Contemporary commentators noted his sharp eye, his lengthy clearances from left and right, and his ability to block point-blank shots – Reddan was a man who would ‘stop hayseed’. His greatest skill was the ability to ‘kill’ a ball stone dead on his hurley and take it in his hand. His trademark sidestep was entirely necessary to avoid the charges of inrushing opponents, at a time when goalkeepers were afforded little protection from match officials.



These remarkable skills were honed during hours of practice and, like many players of that era, Tony devised his own individual training methods. When ploughing the fields he would carry a hurley and ball, striking the ball into the air and trapping it on the stick on its way down. To sharpen his reflexes he would practice against a rough stone wall from close distance, catching the sliotar as it rebounded in different directions. Perhaps a more dubious story claims that Tony would stand in front of a large window and invite others to take shots on him. Tony also undertook a phenomenal amount of cross-country training, and kept himself as fit and strong as any outfield player.



It may surprise people to learn that Tony did not use a hurley with a large bas as is customary with present-day goalkeepers. In fact he preferred a stick with a smaller bas, as this allowed him to move to the ball more quickly and cut down on wind resistance. Another notable feature of his hurley was that it was thicker at the top of the bas, so that it would not twist in his hands from the force of a powerfully struck sliotar. Tony actually used the same hurley throughout most of his career, described by Seamus King as ‘a heavy, many hooped, ugly-looking affair’.



It was at 30 years of age that Tony received his championship baptism of fire against Cork in Killarney. That summer of 1949 saw the start of arguably the most intense period of rivalry in hurling history, and passages of play from these games are still spoken of half a century later. Tipperary and Cork waged war seven times in the championship in six consecutive seasons, games that heaved with incident and drama, with never more than a puck of the ball separating the teams. That 1949 drawn game has gone down in folklore as the ‘Match of the Bandages’ such was the punishment dished out and received by both teams. The replay saw John Doyle make his senior debut, while namesake Tommy repeated his feat of holding Christy Ring scoreless, something he readily acknowledged would have been impossible save for the genius of Reddan. Despite making numerous great saves from Ring, Tony was reluctant to come out for extra time after sustaining a knee injury, but a fiery speech from coach Paddy Leahy and a cooling sponge bath in the dressing room on a blazing hot day gave Tipperary the momentum to see off the Rebel challenge.



After that victory Tipperary were unbeaten in the next three seasons of championship hurling, claiming title against Laois, Kilkenny, and a newly emerging Wexford team. That three-in-a-row team contained legends such as Jimmy Finn, John Doyle, Pat Stakelum, Mickey Byrne, Mick Ryan and Tony Brennan. Reddan matched them all in his contribution to those victories.



Perhaps the most amazing match that Tony was involved in was the 1950 Munster final against Cork in Killarney. Such was his brilliance that day that the Cork forwards began to realise that conventional tactics would not get the better of him. Cork’s Willie John Daly approached Jack Lynch, by then a TD, at corner forward. “Will you get into the square and do something about Reddan - he’s breaking our hearts.” Lynch nodded. “Right. Next time you get a ball out around the middle of field, lob a high one into the square and I’ll take care of Reddan.” Moments later Daly dispatched. Reddan positioned himself to seize the dropping ball. Lynch saw his opportunity and charged in from the left. But Tony spotted him, swiftly grabbed, sidestepped and cleared, while Lynch crashed into the goalpost, ending up in the net. As he was picking himself up, Tony turned to him and said: “F*k you Lynch. The next f*ing time you try that there’ll be an early f*ing by election in Cork!”



Towards the end of the game, the ‘attention’ of the Cork forwards became the least of Tony’s worries. Val Dorgan, in his biography of Christy Ring, ventures that the travelling Cork contingent had been afflicted by some type of strange madness induced by an overnight stay in Killarney. A pitch invasion saw the Tipperary goalmouth surrounded by a crowd of virulent Cork fans and Reddan was pelted with an arsenal of missiles that included bottles, cans, sods and even an overcoat. The last desperate act of the ‘Black Coats’, as Tony called them, was to pull the net down on top of him. Despite the pleas of Ring and Lynch the mob refused to relent. Following the final whistle, Tony had to wait for three hours, disguised and guarded by a group of priests, before it was safe enough to leave the ground.



Cork managed to turn the tables on Tipp in the Munster finals of ’52, ’53 and ’54 and Ring went on the claim his eighth All-Ireland medal. Tony did help Tipp to League victories in ’52, ’54 and ’55 and also collected Railway Cup medals with Munster. A great championship career came to a somewhat ignominious end when Tony was dropped for the 1956 season after conceding five goals against Wexford in the League final of that year. It was certainly harsh treatment as Tony was not feeling great on the day and should not have played. He confounded the critics by helping Lorrha to another North title later that year, and he did feature in the Tipp jersey again in the 1956-57 league campaign. His last game for Tipperary was the in New York in October 1957, but he played not part in that year’s championship. At 38 years of age, and now a family man, Tony decided to call it a day.



In 1963 Tony and his family moved to Banagher, Co. Offaly and later became involved with the St. Rynagh’s club. He played a major part in helping the club to seven county titles and also coached Damien Martin, the great Offaly netminder of the 1970s and ‘80s. Tony continues to reside in Banagher in good health: ‘Go maire sé an Céad’.