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CHRISTY RING: MAN AND BALL

CHristy Ring Image Name: CHristy Ring
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jty christy ring.jpg Image Name: jty christy ring.jpg
4. Christy Ring 1956 Throw In against Wex_Credit Failte Ireland & Dublin City Library and Archive Image Name: 4. Christy Ring 1956 Throw In against Wex_Credit Failte Ireland & Dublin City Library and Archive
1. Christy Ring 1940s_Credit_ The Irish Examiner & Colourisation by My Colorful Past Image Name: 1. Christy Ring 1940s_Credit_ The Irish Examiner & Colourisation by My Colorful Past
2. Christy Ring Patrick St Cork_Credit Ring Family & Colourisation by My Colorful Past Image Name: 2. Christy Ring Patrick St Cork_Credit Ring Family & Colourisation by My Colorful Past
3. Example of colourisation in the film_Credit The Irish Examiner & Colourisation by My Colorful Past Image Name: 3. Example of colourisation in the film_Credit The Irish Examiner & Colourisation by My Colorful Past

‘Christy Ring: Man and Ball’ for the first time attempts to examine the life, times and the cultural and sporting impact of one of Ireland’s first real sporting superstars.

Summary:

“Hurling is Ireland, Ring is Hurling, Ring is Ireland” – Jimmy Smyth, Clare hurling legend

He strutted the stage of hurling as a colossus. Word of mouth had stitched such a suit of armour around him that he had long entered the pantheon of the Arthurian fables. Like a knight of the round table or more accurately Cú Chulainn. Someone not real…but real he was and in many ways also an accidental hero.

With unique contributions from his family and unseen treasures from archives in Ireland and around the globe, this documentary special unpicks the man from the myth. Made by the same team behind the acclaimed series The Game: The Story of Hurling, including award-winning director Gerry Nelson, this documentary is in many ways a study on greatness and as Paul Rouse says in the film “the obsession that lies at the heart of genius.”

Never before seen film footage of Ring found in attics and personal collections will be brought to television screens along with audio recordings collected by the late Paddy Downey and an interview with Ring himself that has never been broadcast publicly. With a line-up of interviewees including Christy’s son – Christy Ring Jr, John Fitzgibbon, Dónal O’ Grady, Dónal Óg Cusack, Frank Murphy, Gerald McCarthy and Ray Cummins in Ring’s centenary year this film hopes to be fitting and lasting tribute.

Archive images have been restored and colourised by Matt Loughrey of My Colorful Past bringing an entirely new perspective to the old black and white photos of the 1930s, 40s and 50s while Louis Marcus’ famous film on Christy Ring has been rescanned at 2K resolution by the Irish Film Archive showcasing the true genius of Ring in even more vibrant and pin sharp detail. Marvel comic book artist and Cork native Will Sliney has created incredible new images of key points in Christy’s life for the documentary – Ring’s exploits worthy in many ways of a superhero type retelling.

The film also sees current Cork hurling star Patrick Horgan stepping up to try out a replica of Christy’s famously heavy hurl crafted by Liam Walsh from a well-beaten original and under the watchful eye of Dónal Óg Cusack. While Ring’s grandson Simon Kenefick takes to the hallowed Mardyke pitch in UCC to attempt the same skills his grandfather did for Marcus’ camera back in the 1960s.

In 2020 when producing content has been more challenging than ever and audiences are crying out for quality programming to watch, a number of organisations came together to make this project possible. Colm O’Callaghan in RTÉ championed the film from the off closely followed by UCC in association with Bank of Ireland, Clonakilty Food Co, Munster GAA, Port of Cork, Amarenco, O’ Flynn Group, and Cork GAA.

More Background:

Born at the time of the foundation of the state and living through a changing Ireland, Ring was a man of contrasts, like the country around him. A daily communicant, yet woe betide the man who got between him and the ball; Christian values quickly replaced by white line fever.

His first four All-Ireland victories in the 1940s would have sealed the legacy of any player but Ring went on to win four more in the 1950s; often carrying the team on his back. A talisman, he imbued Cork fans with a belief that once they had Ring, victory was their right. He was the very embodiment of the ‘Blood & Bandage’ and the swagger of Cork.

Ring may have been Cork through and through but he was always a winner first. In a country quick to cut down tall poppies, Ring was still happy to commit near heresy by abandoning his hometown club of Cloyne to join the galacticos of Glen Rovers, with its charismatic leader – & eventual Taoiseach – Jack Lynch.

Playing hurling was all that mattered to Ring. A strong, bullish, at times brutish man he met sporting challenges head on, yet was described as a dancer on the field. Feted by fans, non-fans, teammates & opponents alike, he was famously chaired off the pitch by the victorious All Ireland Wexford team in 1956 such was the esteem in which they held Ring. Countless former rivals also showed up to his funeral – one of the biggest ever seen in Cork – to pay their respects following his shock death at just 58.

In the modern view of the game – especially in his later years – it’s difficult to see this balding, stocky, butt of a man as a Hurling icon. But that he was, one of the first true Irish athletes. Without Ring you can forget about Jimmy Barry Murphy, DJ Carey and Henry Shefflin. Ring was the first, he created the template for hurling genius and the benchmark for sporting immortality in Ireland.

But behind the image lived a doggedly ordinary man. He enjoyed his day job driving an oil lorry, a few Hurleys & Sliotars thrown in the back in case the chance to puck a ball arose. When speaking to strangers he was shy and quiet spoken, barely raising his head or voice above a whisper.

On the pitch however his voice was not needed, his deeds said it all and the emerging media reported in detail to a newly literate Ireland eager to read the prose. Propelled by the rise of newspapers, Ring’s story was also aided by radio and a breathless Micheal O’Hehir who ensured Ring’s influence on future generations of players.

He became a hero to people who never saw him play, to people who didn’t go to matches. An image and a persona with his exploits intensifying with every retelling. He became Mister Hurling. The man who won eight All-Irelands for Cork and even in retirement led his county to another three in a row. Though his death was premature, his 58 years spanned a crucial period in Irish history – he straddled crucial eras with one foot in the past and one in the future.

 “As long as young boys swing camáns for the sheer thrill of Ash on leather, the name Christy Ring will be spoken…and that will be forever.” – Jack Lynch

About Crossing the Line Productions

Crossing the Line Productions are award-winning documentary filmmakers producing highly crafted films featuring powerful stories on subjects ranging from wildlife to science to history. Their film ‘The Farthest’ on the Voyager space mission made for RTÉ, PBS, BBC & the Irish Film Board  received universal praise globally and won an Emmy Award in 2018. Company films have been nominated for a total of 9 Emmy Awards in recent years.  They have also been 3 times winners of Best Documentary series at the Irish Film & TV Awards with awards also picked for Best Director and Best Cinematography in recent years. In 2017 Crossing the Line won the UK’s most prestigious documentary prize – a Grierson Award  for our acclaimed ‘Wild Ireland’ as well as best wildlife film in the world three years running at the ‘Oscars’ of the genre – the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival in the USA and the Wildscreen festival in the UK.

A Crossing the Line Production for RTÉ

Made with the Support of UCC in association with Bank of Ireland,

Clonakilty Food Co, Munster GAA, Port of Cork, Amarenco, O’ Flynn Group, & Cork GAA