Gerry Culliton Born: June 15th 1936, Died: September 7th 2012Gerry Culliton, who earned 19 rugby caps for Ireland, playing in four positions, had been banned from playing hurling in his native Laois in 1954.
He was the youngest of 12 children born to Michael and Josephine Culliton. He was an all round athlete but hurling was his great love and though he went on to gain great honours as a rugby player, his own heroes were the hurling greats of that time.
In school at Cistercian College Roscrea, he was selected to play for the Leinster Colleges hurling team for two years in his senior cycle. During this time he represented his school in athletics, winning the Leinster Schools senior high jump in 1954.
His transition to rugby came about during the era of the ban, which meant GAA players could not play rugby or soccer. He had played for the Laois minor hurling team in 1953 and 1954 and hoped to be called to the senior county panel the following season.
He was invited to play rugby in Tullamore during the winter, just to keep fit. He played under an assumed name, but was reported and then banned from playing Gaelic Games.
It probably did not help that after four games for Tullamore RFC he was selected to play for the Leinster junior rugby squad. Shortly afterwards he joined the Wanderers club in Dublin. Wanderers was one of the strongest clubs in the country in those days and its teams were studded with Irish Lions test players.
He played a remarkable 17 seasons with Wanderers, commuting weekly from the farm in Laois.
He went on to play for Leinster, Ireland and the Barbarians. When he played his last match for Leinster in 1968 he was one of the province’s most capped players ever. He was inducted into the Leinster hall of fame in the late 1990s.
He played 19 times for Ireland in four positions – 11 times in the second row, four at wing forward and four at number 8.
He toured South Africa with Ireland in 1961 and toured with the Barbarians on several occasions, playing two tests for them – against South Africa in 1961 and New Zealand in 1964.
He himself felt his “finest hour” came playing for the Barbarians against the all-conquering Springboks in February 1961.
Led by his club mate and former Lions captain Ronnie Dawson, he was one of five Irishmen on that team – the all-Irish front row of Gordon Wood, Ronnie Dawson and Syd Millar, himself at wing forward and Tony O’Reilly on the wing. They won 6-0 and remain the only side to have defeated the Springboks on their incredible 34-match tour.
He was a non-drinker all his life, something of a distinction at that time in the world of international rugby. None of his great sporting achievements caused him to lose a natural sense of modesty.
The GAA ban was lifted in the early 1970s and Culliton happily resumed hurling at junior level with the local club in Clonaslee.
He was part of the coaching setup in 1975 that helped Clonaslee win their first county hurling final in 65 years. He was also proud, as a 40-year-old full back, in winning a junior B medal for the Clonaslee Hurling Club in 1976.
All this time he farmed in Laois. His great passion was for pig farming.
He and his brother Louis developed a strong reputation as pioneers in this area and grew the Rearymore farm in Laois into a substantial enterprise.
His sporting achievements were indeed outstanding and numerous. But it was not that aspect of his life alone that defined him. From a very young age it was his humanity, his good humour, his warmth, kindness and sincerity that personified Culliton.
He was a devout man, and completed the Lough Derg three-day pilgrimage almost 50 times.
In later years he loved following his own children’s and grandchildren’s sporting endeavours.
For himself in these years, his love of golf and bridge met his voracious appetite for sport, competition and sociability.
He will be sadly missed by his family and all those who were lucky enough to know him.
He is survived by his wife Monica (née White), daughters Orlagh and Zita, sons Brian, Ronnie, Garrett and Neal and sisters Philomena (Feighery), Patricia (Mulville) and Siobhán (Hewison).