Editing Jack Lynch (section)

==Sporting life==
{{Infobox Gaelic games player
| code           = Hurling
| image          =
| name           = Jack Lynch
| county         = Cork
| province       = Munster
| club           = [[Glen Rovers GAA|Glen Rovers]]
| clpositionh    = Midfield
| clpositionf    = Half-back
| clubs          = {{Ubl|[[Glen Rovers GAA|Glen Rovers]]|[[St. Nicholas' GAA|St Nicholas']]|Civil Service}}
| clyears        = {{Ubl|1934–1950|1934–1951|1943–1944}}
| clapps(points) =
| clcountyh      = 11
| clcountyf      = 2
| clprovince     =
| clallireland   =
| counties       = {{Ubl|[[Cork county hurling team|Cork]] '''(H)'''|[[Cork county football team|Cork]] '''(F)'''}}
| icpositionh    = Half-back
| icpositionf    = Midfield
| icyears        = {{Ubl|1936–1950|1939–1949}}
| icapps(points) = {{Ubl|42 (13–66)|14 (1–6)}}
| icprovincef    = 2
| icprovinceh    = 6
| icallirelandh  = 5
| icallirelandf  = 1
| allstarsf      =
| allstarsh      =
| clupdate       =
| icupdate       =
}}
From an early age, Lynch showed an enormous interest and great accomplishment as a sportsman. [[Rugby union]], soccer, swimming and [[Gaelic handball|handball]] were all favourite pastimes for Lynch, but it was the sports of [[Gaelic football]] and [[hurling]] where Lynch showed particular flair.

===Club===
Lynch played his club [[hurling]] with the famous [[Glen Rovers GAA|Glen Rovers]] club in Blackpool. He enjoyed much success at underage levels, winning back-to-back minor county championship titles in 1933 and in 1934 as captain. That same year Lynch won his first senior [[Cork Senior Hurling Championship|county hurling championship]] with "the Glen". It was the first of a record-breaking eight county titles in a row for Glen Rovers and for Lynch, who served as captain of the side on a number of occasions. He finished off his club hurling career by winning a further three county medals in succession in 1948, 1949 and 1950.

Lynch also played club [[Gaelic football|football]] with "the Glen's" sister club [[St. Nicholas' GAA|St. Nicholas]]. Once again he enjoyed a successful underage career, winning back-to-back county minor titles in 1932 and 1933. Lynch won an intermediate county title in 1937, before adding a senior [[Cork Senior Football Championship|county football championship]] medal to his collection in 1938. Lynch won his second county football medal with "St. Nick's" in 1941. While working in Dublin in the mid-1940s, Lynch played club football with the Civil Service GAA team. In 1944 he won a [[Dublin Senior Football Championship]] title, alongside fellow Munster native [[Mick Falvey]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Dublin All-Ireland Winner Dies |url=https://www.hoganstand.com/county/dublin/article/index/70528 |website=hoganstand.com |access-date=22 March 2021 |archive-date=9 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809045059/http://www.hoganstand.com/county/dublin/article/index/70528 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Inter-county===
By the late 1930s, Lynch was a [[dual player]] with the [[Cork GAA|Cork]] senior hurling and senior football teams. In 1939, he became the only player in history to [[Captain (Gaelic games)|captain]] both the inter-county football and hurling teams in the same year. That year he won his first [[Munster Senior Hurling Championship]] (SHC) title. However, [[Kilkenny county hurling team|Kilkenny]] later accounted for Cork in the famous [[1939 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship|"thunder and lightning"]] [[All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship]] (SHC) final. In [[1939–40 National Hurling League|1940]] and [[1940–41 National Hurling League|1941]], Lynch played as Cork won back-to-back [[National Hurling League]] titles, with him captaining the first of those. However, the 1941 championship was severely hampered due to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. Cork only had to play two games to be crowned All-Ireland SHC winner champions. However, the team lost the delayed Munster SHC final to [[Tipperary county hurling team|Tipperary]].

In 1942, Lynch was selected as Cork hurling captain once again. That year he captured his second set of Munster SHC and All-Ireland SHC medals. The year 1943, proved to be a successful year for Lynch as he won a third Munster SHC medal and a first [[Munster Senior Football Championship]] (SFC) medal. While the footballers were later defeated in the [[All-Ireland Senior Football Championship]] (SFC) semi-final, Lynch's hurling team went on to win a third consecutive All-Ireland SHC title. In 1944, Lynch captured his fourth Munster SHC title. Later that year Cork created a piece of sporting history by becoming the first team to win four consecutive All-Ireland SHC titles. Lynch was one of the heroes of the team who played in all four finals.

In 1945, Cork surrendered their provincial hurling crown; however, Lynch, as a member of the Cork senior football team, won his second Munster SFC title. Cork later defeated [[Cavan county football team|Cavan]] in the All-Ireland SFC final, giving Lynch his first, and only, All-Ireland SFC medal. In 1946, the Cork hurlers returned to their winning ways and Lynch claimed a fifth provincial hurling title. A fifth All-Ireland SHC medal was later added to his collection following a defeat of old rivals Kilkenny in the final. On that September day in 1946, Lynch made Irish sporting history by becoming the first player to win six consecutive senior All-Ireland medals (five in hurling and one in football).

Lynch captured a sixth Munster SHC medal in 1947, before going on to play in his seventh All-Ireland SHC final in less than a decade. The game itself against Kilkenny has often been described as the greatest All-Ireland SHC final ever played. However, Lynch ended up on the losing side by a single point. There was some consolation at the start of 1948 as Lynch claimed another National Hurling League medal. However, Tipperary quickly became the dominant force in the Munster SHC. Lynch retired from inter-county hurling in 1950. He had retired from inter-county football several years earlier.

===Honours===
Even at the height of his career, Lynch had come to be regarded as one of the all-time greats of [[Gaelic games]]. His contribution to the game of hurling was first recognised when he was named as the "Hurling Captain of the Forties". In the centenary year of the [[Gaelic Athletic Association]] in 1984, Lynch was named on the "Hurling Team of the Century". At the [[1984 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final|special centenary All-Ireland SHC final]] in [[Semple Stadium]], he received one of the loudest cheers and rounds of applause when all the former All-Ireland SHC-winning captains were introduced to the crowd. Shortly after his death in 1999, Lynch's reputation as one of the true greats of the game was further cemented when he was named on the "Hurling Team of the Millennium".

In 1981, he won an [[All-Time All Star Award (hurling)|All-Time All Star Award]] since there was no All Star Awards during his playing days.