James Ryall

Background

James Ryall was born in Kilmanagh, County Kilkenny in 1980.

Education

He was educated locally and later attended Coláiste Éamann Rís in Kilkenny, a well known hurling school. Ryall later attended the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, where he was named hurler of the year in 2001.

Career

He currently works as a sales representative with Michael Lyng Motors Kilkenny. Club

Ryall plays his club hurling with his local Graigue-Ballycallan Gaelic Athletic Association club Inter-county

The team was back in 2005 with Ryall collecting his first National Hurling League medal, as well as a second Leinster title.

Kilkenny were later defeated by Galway in a thrilling All-Ireland semi-final.

On September 8, 2010 speculations went around that Ryall was retiring from Inter-County hurling defeat by Tipperary, however it turned out originally that the report was misquoted. In December, 2010 Ryall confirmed his retirement from Inter-County hurling.

Achievements

• Here his hurling talents were quickly spotted and he won a Leinster Colleges" title with the school"s senior hurling team He had some success at underage level and was on the panel when the club won the county championship in 1998 and 2000. Within a year of joining the team he had won his first Leinster Championship and All-Ireland titles, following wins over Wexford and Cork respectively. In 2004 Kilkenny were aiming to win a third All-Ireland title in-a-row, however, the team had a less than successful year as Kilkenny ended up without any major title. In 2006 Ryall won his third Leinster medal, before later collecting his second All-Ireland medal following a win over Cork.

Membership

He plays hurling with his local club Graigue-Ballycallan and was a member of the Kilkenny senior inter-county team from 2002 to 2010. Although never having All-Ireland success at minor or under-21 level with Kilkenny, Ryall has become a key member of the team since joining the panel in 2002.