Lester Ryan

Lester Ryan
Personal information
Irish name	Lester Ó Riain
Sport	Hurling
Position	Forward
Born	Clara, County Kilkenny
Club(s)
Years	Club
1970s - 1990s	1970s - 1990s
Club titles
Kilkenny titles	1
Leinster titles	0
All-Ireland Titles	0
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County
1970s - 1990s	Kilkenny
Inter-county titles
Leinster titles	3
All-Irelands	0
NHL	3
All Stars	0

Lester Ryan is a former Irish sportsman from County Kilkenny, who played hurling with his local club Clara and with the Kilkenny intercounty team. Ryan has won two All-Ireland Minor Hurling medals, three Leinster Senior Hurling medals and has appeared in two All-Ireland finals.

Ryan's nephew, also named Lester, is currently a hurler with Clara and Kilkenny. Along with Harry Ryan, he is an uncle to Tom and Liam Ryan, also playing for Clara.^[1]

Hurling career

Club

Lester Ryan spent his club career with his local team Clara. He was part of the team that won the county championship in 1986, the club's finest hour to this day. Clara had another good year in 1990, and Ryan was part of the team that made it to the county final, losing out in the end to Glenmore.

County

Ryan first broke into the intercounty setup as a substitute on the minor team that won the All-Ireland in 1975. Kilkenny went on to contest three finals in a row. Ryan was on the bench again in 1976, in the side that lost the title. However, he put things right in 1977 when he secured a place in the first team and went on to victory that year. Ryan soon forced his way into the senior setup, and collected his first piece of silverware in the NHL final of 1983, as a substitute. 1986 proved to be a great year for Ryan, first winning the county title with his club, then winning his first senior Leinster medal and also taking home a second League title. Things got off to a good start in 1987 with another Leinster win and a place in his first All-Ireland final. However, it was Galway who took the title. Nevertheless, Ryan was playing some good hurling during these years, and won a call up to Leinster team for the Railway Cup of 1988. He added another League title in 1990, before taking another Leinster medal as a substitute in 1991.

Post-playing career

After retiring as a player, Ryan went into coaching on a full-time basis.^[2] More recently, he was appointed as manager of the Irish shinty team that took on Scotland at Nowlan Park on 18 October 2008.^[3]

References

Kilkenny - 1987 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship runners-up

1 K. Fennelly 2 J. Hennessy 3 P. Prendergast (c) 4 J. Henderson 5 L. Walsh 6 G. Henderson 7 S. Fennelly 8 G. Fennelly 9 L. Ryan 10 K. Brennan 11 C. Heffernan 12 R. Power 13 P. Walsh 14 L. Fennelly 15 H. Ryan Subs used 18 T. Lennon for P. Walsh 20 L. McCarthy for R. Power Subs not used 16 D. Burke 17 F. Holohan 19 T. Leahy 21 M. Cleere Manager P. Henderson Selectors N. Kehoe J. Healy M. Coogan

Part Reference: Kilkenny GAA Bible p86. Compiled by Gerry O'Neill. 2008. Accessed 17 July 2010.

Kilkenny - 1991 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship runners-up

1 M. Walsh 2 B. Hennessy 3 J. Henderson 4 L. Simspon 5 L. Walsh 6 P. Dwyer 7 W. O'Connor 8 R. Power 9 M. Phelan 10 J. Power 11 C. Heffernan 12 D. J. Carey 13 E. Morrissey 14 L. Fennelly (c) 15 L. McCarthy Subs used L. Ryan for J. Power A. Ronan for L. McCarthy Subs not used T. Fogarty T. Murphy P. Ryan J. Brennan R. Heffernan M. Cleere P. Brophy P. O'Neill C. Carter M. Dunne Manager O. Walsh

Part Reference: Kilkenny GAA Bible p87. Compiled by Gerry O'Neill. 2008. Accessed 17 July 2010.

Ireland composite rules team 2008 Composite Rules Shinty-Hurling Series

Team:	1 G. Clarke 2 D. Shaw 3 E. Coady 4 T. Walsh 5 S. Cavanagh (c) 6 G. Bermingham 7 D. Clarke 8 S. Óg Ó hAilpín 9 D. Lyng 10 P Braniff 11 M. Burke 12 E. Brennan 13 B. McGourty 14 B. Murtagh

Subs:	J. Shaw J. Glancy S. Kelly M. Gilmartin D. Coulter

Coach:	L. Ryan

(Team at 18 October 2008 versus Scotland)

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