Jimmy Barry Murphy v Tom Cashman: Vote for Cork's best city hurlers

WITH your help, we’re looking to pick the best hurler from either side of St Patrick's Bridge from the last 50 years of action.

The Echo has pitched some of Cork’s finest hurling stars from the northside and southside of Cork city together for a series of fun head-to-head battles. Your votes will decide who goes through and you can see the full list of 16 northside and 16 southside players  here.

We're now down to the last eight. 

Today's match-up is Jimmy Barry Murphy v Tom Cashman. 

JIMMY BARRY-MURPHY (St Finbarr's):

“Six-foot-two, eyes of blue, Jimmy Barry-Murphy, we love you!” 

What can be said about the legendary JBM that has not already been said?

In an inter-county hurling career spanning the period 1975-86, there were only two seasons where he didn’t win a Munster championship medal – 1980 and 1981, and in both of those campaigns, the national league was won. Five All-Ireland hurling medals (1976, 1977, 1988, 1984 and 1986) as a player were added to in 1999 as he managed Cork to end a nine-year wait and he is one of just 14 men in history to have won the Liam MacCarthy Cup as a player and a manager.

A winner of minor All-Ireland medals in both codes – 1971 in hurling and 1972 in football – he shot to prominence as Cork won the football All-Ireland in 1973 but unfortunately that success was not built upon and Kerry’s dominance for the rest of the decade was a factor in the St Finbarr’s man opting to focus on hurling at inter-county level in 1980.

Having been a key part of the three-in-a-row side, he was captain as Cork lost the All-Ireland finals of 1982 and 1983 to Kilkenny but the Rebels bounced back to beat Offaly in 1984 and backed that up with victory over Galway in 1986, his last inter-county match. Fittingly, he scored the final point of the match to secure the win.

“Hurling was developing all the time,” he said.

“The time of the three in a row, it was very direct – one-dimensional, really – but by the mid-1980s there was more emphasis on the coaching side and the preparation. The physical training had become a lot bigger part of it. 

I was lucky that all of the people who coached me over the years with Cork were of a fantastic calibre.” 

His tally of 10 Munster medals – two separate five-in-a-rows – is matched only by Tipperary’s John Doyle. There were also two Munster football medals. He has four club All-Irelands with the Barrs, two in hurling and two in football, with a total of 10 county senior medals won.

“When I started off with the Barrs, I was only thinking about playing senior hurling and football for the club, that was my only ambition,” he said.

“But then, that graduates to playing minor for Cork and playing on the senior team. To have done that in hurling and football was a dream come true.” 

He did all of that and more.

TOM CASHMAN (Blackrock):

TOM Cashman has four All-Ireland medals – not exactly a unique haul in Cork but what sets the Blackrock man apart is that he played in three different positions across the victorious seasons.

Initially, he was midfield for the second and third legs of the 1976-78 three-in-a-row; then, in 1984 he was right half-back and in 1986 he captained the Rebels to glory from centre-back. Throw in a late 1970s stint at number 12 and his versatility is further underlined.

“I was in midfield with Tim Crowley in my first couple of years,” he said.

“Gerald would have been midfield with Pat Moylan the previous year and then Timmy and myself came in. About two years later, when John Fenton came in and made midfield his own, Gerald and Timmy and myself were the half-forward line! Once you could hurl, you could play anywhere, really.” 

Cashman, his Blackrock clubmate Dermot McCurtain and Crowley came on to the panel after Cork’s 1976 win and they immediately integrated themselves.

“When we came into the team, we were accepted straight away and we were told that we’d learn our apprenticeship with those guys and we did,” he said.

“In your first couple of years, to start off and win two All-Irelands was fantastic. 

The hope then was that the experience you’d gain from these guys could be passed on to the lads coming on in the 1980s. It was a great learning curve.” 

Prior to that, Cashman had won a minor All-Ireland double with Cork in 1974 as well as helping the county to U21 hurling glory in 1976 and winning the county SHC with Blackrock in 1975.

Despite his tender years, he displayed real maturity in the senior team – in 1977 and 1978, he was the Munster final man of the match and he ended both years with All-Star Awards. While Cork lost the 1982 and 1983 finals, he won a third All-Star in ’83 and was integral for the 1984 centenary win.

With the Rockies, further county senior titles were added in 1978, 1979 and 1985, the latter victory earning him the Cork captaincy for 1986. 

After an eighth Munster medal was secured, Cork made it to the All-Ireland final against Galway, whom they had lost to in the 1985 semi-final, but the tables were turned in the decider as Cashman won his fourth Celtic Cross.

Later, he would serve as a selector as Jimmy Barry-Murphy led Cork to win the 1999 All-Ireland and then he became manager after JBM’s departure.

As a player, his legacy was secured with selection on the Cork hurling Team of the Millennium.