Johnny Quirke recalls playing hurling for Cork and Blackrock.
Johnny Quirke, now 71 years of age, was a member of the Cork hurling team who won the All Ireland Senior Championship title four years in a row. Johnny Quirke believes that the key to the success of that team from 1941 to 1944 was the physical fitness of the players.
A man who won four All Ireland medals with Cork hurling in the early forties.
He was born in Milltown in County Kerry but at just 11 months old in 1911 the Quirke family moved to Cork. He started playing with the famous Blackrock hurling club. Blackrock had a famous hurling team and when Johnny was around 14 or 15, At one pointe ten members of the Blackrock club were on the Cork senior county hurling team.
He recalls witnessing his first game outside of Blackrock. In 1926, Cork played Tipperary and crowd was so large that supporters spilled on to the pitch as the Cork stadium could not accommodate the turnout. The venue was changed to Thurles where the ground had the capacity to facilitate supporters on both sides. The game ended in a draw and Cork won the replay.
Johnny Quirke first played for the Blackrock senior team in 1929 at corner forward.
This episode of 'Talk of Times Past: Jonny Quirke' was broadcast on 28 July 1983. The presenter is Brendan O'Reilly.
