Frank Cummins (born 9 November 1947) is an Irish former hurler who played as a midfielder at senior level for the Kilkenny county team.
Born in Knocktopher, County Kilkenny, Cummins first played competitive Gaelic games whilst at school in Belcamp College. He arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of seventeen when he first linked up with the Kilkenny minor team, before later joining the under-21 side. He made his senior debut in the 1966 Oireachtas Cup. Cummins went on to play a key part for Kilkenny for almost two decades, and won eight All-Ireland medals, nine Leinster medals and three National Hurling League medals. He was an All-Ireland runner-up on three occasions.
As a member of the Leinster inter-provincial team at various times throughout his career, Cummins won six Railway Cup medals. At club level he began his career with Knocktoper before later joining Blackrock with whom he won three All-Ireland medals, five Munster medals and six championship medals.
Throughout his career Cummins made 49 championship appearances. His retirement came following Kilkenny's defeat in the 1985 championship.
Cummins is widely regarded as one of the greatest hurlers in the history of the game. Throughout his career he won four All-Star awards as well as Texaco Hurler of the Year in 1983. He has been repeatedly voted onto teams made up of the sport's greats, including at midfield on the Kilkenny Hurling Team of the Century in 2000.
Early life
Frank Cummins was born in Knocktopher, County Kilkenny in 1947. He was educated locally at Stoneyford national school where he first started playing hurling at the age of five. He later attended Belcamp College in Dublin where he played both hurling and football. The football team reached the All-Ireland Colleges final in 1965, however, Cummins’ side lost out.
Playing career
Club
Cummins first played hurling at junior level with his local club in Knocktopher, the forerunner to the famous Ballyhale Shamrocks club. He later moved to Cork where he joined the famous Blackrock. It was with ‘the Rockies’ that Cummins enjoyed huge success throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He won his first senior county title in 1971 before later winning his first Munster club title that same year. Blackrock later defeated Rathnure in the club championship decider, giving Cummins his first All-Ireland club title.
In 1973 he won a second county title before later adding a second Munster club title to his collection. Once again Rathnure fell to Blackrock in the final of the competition, giving Cummins a second All-Ireland club medal. Two years later in 1975 he won a third county medal before adding a third Munster title to his collection. Blackrock, however, were later defeated by Kilkenny's James Stephens club in the All-Ireland final. Cummins captured a fourth county title in 1978 and, once again, this was later converted into a fourth Munster club medal. Ballyhale Shamrocks, the club from Cummins’ former parish in his native Kilkenny, provided the opposition, however, it was Blackrock who emerged on top giving Cummins a third All-Ireland club medal. The following year he won a fifth county title before adding a fifth Munster club medal to his collection. Blackrock were later defeated in the All-Ireland semi-final. It was the end of Cummins’ All-Ireland club success, however, he did win a sixth county title in 1985.
Inter-county
Cummins first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Kilkenny minor hurling team in the early 1960s. He had little success at this level and later moved onto the county's under-21 team. Here he won a Leinster title in 1968, however, Kilkenny were later defeated by Cork in the All-Ireland final.
By this stage he had already joined the Kilkenny senior hurling team, making his debut in an Oireachtas game in 1966. The following year he was a non-playing substitute as Kilkenny captured both Leinster and All-Ireland honours, however, it wasn't until 1969 that Cummins found a regular place on the team at midfield. That year he missed 'the Cats' Leinster final triumph over Offaly, however, he later lined out in his first All-Ireland final appearance. Cork faced Kilkenny in that game and revenge for the defeat in 1966 was foremost in the minds of the Kilkenny team. For a while it looked as if the Leesiders would triumph over their great rivals once again, however, five points from Kilkenny in the last seven minutes gave the Noresiders the victory and gave Cummins a first All-Ireland medal.