Tom Spillane
Tom Spillane (first from left) with Fossa chairman Dermot Clifford, former GAA president Seán Kelly, David Clifford and Fossa secretary Merry Talbot, in 2017
Personal information
Sport Gaelic football
Position Half-back
Born 1962
Templenoe, County Kerry
Occupation Auctioneer
Club(s)
Years Club
 Templenoe
Inter-county(ies)
Years County Apps (scores)
1981–1991
 Kerry 27 (1–13)
Inter-county titles
Munster titles 5
All-Irelands 4
All Stars 3

Tom Spillane (born 1962) was a Gaelic footballer who played for Templenoe and the Kerry county team[1] in the 1980s.

Career

Maura[2] Spillane gave birth to Tom in Templenoe, near Kenmare, County Kerry in 1962. He was — along with his brothers Pat and Mick — a key member of the successful Kerry Gaelic football teams of the 1980s.

He won an All-Ireland Minor Football Championship medal in 1980 before first breaking into the county panel in 1981. He played with Kerry for the next eleven seasons, winning four All-Ireland Senior Football Championship medals, five Munster Senior Football Championship medals, one Kerry Senior Football Championship and three All Stars.

Himself and Ger Lynch — assigned to mark Tommy Conroy and Barney Rock during the 1984 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final — began their efforts during the national anthem, which they sang with aplomb.[3] Spillane, quoted in the book Princes of Pigskin, said of this tactic later: "There was no belting but the plot was to sing the National Anthem as loud as we could into their ears to put the fear of God into them. Neither of us were great singers but they must have thought we were wired to the moon".[3]

Together with his brothers Mick and Pat, the Spillanes hold a record 19 All-Ireland medals between them.[2] However, he won a mere four All-Ireland medals besides Mick's seven and Pat's eight.[citation needed]

Tom Spillane works as an auctioneer and runs his business from Killarney. He specialises in dealing with property in the Killarney and Kenmare areas.[citation needed]

Spillane's brother Pat took over their mother's bar, renaming it Pat Spillane's Bar, and ran it before leasing it.[2] Tom Spillane bought the pub from Pat Spillane in the late 2010s, with the intention of running it alongside his sons Killian and Adrian (also Kerry footballers).[2]

References

  1. ^ "Kerry can summon spirit of Eighties – Spillane". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. 15 May 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2010. And just as it was in 1983, when Cork won the Munster title, the Rebels are the most likely pretenders to their All-Ireland crown; Kerry great Tom Spillane can see similarities.
  2. ^ a b c d O'Riordan, Ian (13 September 2019). "Patrons of Ireland's highest pub travel to see Kerry back on top". The Irish Times. Retrieved 13 September 2019. It was once owned and run by Maura Spillane, mother of the Spillane brothers Pat, Tom and Mick, who between them hold a record 19 All-Ireland football medals. It then became Pat Spillane's Bar, and ran successfully for some time before he leased it out and then rural decline set in... Tom recently purchased the pub from his brother and the plan is for Killian and Adrian to help run it when it reopens next summer...
  3. ^ a b Kissane, Sinéad (14 September 2019). "Tommy Walsh's return is the comeback story that looked like it might never happen". Sunday Independent. Retrieved 14 September 2019. The headline in the printed edition read: "From twin tower to supersub target man, Walsh is key to Kingdom dream".
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