Lester Ryan is a former Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 sportsman from County Kilkenny

County Kilkenny

County Kilkenny is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. The territory of the county was the core part of the ancient Irish Kingdom of Osraige which in turn was the core of the Diocese of...

, who played hurling

Hurling

Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...

 with his local club Clara

Clara GAA

Clara GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association club situated in the small parish of Clara in County Kilkenny, Ireland. Focused mainly on hurling and camogie, the dominant sports in the county, Clara's greatest achievement to date was victory in the Kilkenny Senior Hurling Championship in 1986, their...

 and with the Kilkenny

Kilkenny

Kilkenny is a city and is the county town of the eponymous County Kilkenny in Ireland. It is situated on both banks of the River Nore in the province of Leinster, in the south-east of Ireland...

 intercounty team. Ryan has won two All-Ireland Minor Hurling

All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship

The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Minor Championship is an annual competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1928 for competitors under eighteen years of age in the game of hurling played in Ireland.The series of games are played during the summer months with the All-Ireland final...

 medals, three Leinster Senior Hurling

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

The Leinster GAA Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1888 for the top hurling teams in the province of Leinster in Ireland....

 medals and has appeared in two All-Ireland

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1887 for the top hurling teams in Ireland....

 finals.

Ryan's nephew, also named Lester, is currently a hurler with Clara and Kilkenny underage teams. Along with Harry Ryan, he is an uncle to Tom Ryan, also playing for Clara and Kilkenny.

Club

Lester Ryan spent his club career with his local team Clara. He was part of the team that won the county championship in 1986, the club's finest hour to this day. Clara had another good year in 1990, and Ryan was part of the team that made it to the county final, losing out in the end to Glenmore.

County

Ryan first broke into the intercounty setup as a substitute on the minor team that won the All-Ireland in 1975. Kilkenny went on to contest three finals in a row. Ryan was on the bench again in 1976, in the side that lost the title. However, he put things right in 1977 when he secured a place in the first team and went on to victory that year. Ryan soon forced his way into the senior setup, and collected his first piece of silverware in the NHL final of 1983, as a substitute. 1986 proved to be a great year for Ryan, first winning the county title with his club, then winning his first senior Leinster medal and also taking home a second League title. Things got off to a good start in 1987 with another Leinster win and a place in his first All-Ireland final. However, it was Galway who took the title. Nevertheless, Ryan was playing some good hurling during these years, and won a call up to Leinster team for the Railway Cup of 1988. He added another League title in 1990, before taking another Leinster medal as a substitute in 1991.

Post-playing career

After retiring as a player, Ryan went into coaching on a full-time basis. More recently, he was appointed as manager of the Irish shinty

Shinty

Shinty is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands, and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread, being once competitively played on a widespread basis in England and other areas in the...

 team that took on Scotland at Nowlan Park

Nowlan Park

Nowlan Park is the principal Gaelic Athletic Association stadium in Kilkenny, Ireland, home to the Kilkenny hurling team. It has two covered stands and two terraces, behind each goalpost. The current capacity of the stadium is approximately 24,000 with a seating capacity of 17,000. Plans have...

on 18 October 2008.