# Gerry Culliton

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{{Short description|Irish rugby union player}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox rugby biography
| name = Gerry Culliton
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| full_name = Gerard Culliton
| birth_date =15 June 1936
| birth_place = [Clonaslee](/source/Clonaslee), [County Laois](/source/County_Laois), [Irish Free State](/source/Irish_Free_State)
| death_date = {{death date and age|2012|9|7|1936|6|15|df=y}}
| death_place = Rearymore, County Laois, Ireland
| height = <!-- or ''height_cm'' or ''height_ft'' and ''height_in'' -->
| weight = <!-- or ''weight_kg'' or ''weight_st'' and/or ''weight_lb'' -->
| school = Cistercian College
| university =
| clubs1 = [Tullamore](/source/Tullamore_RFC)
| clubs2 = [Wanderers](/source/Wanderers_F.C._(rugby_union))
| clubs3 = [Leinster](/source/Leinster_Rugby)
| repteam1     = [Ireland](/source/Ireland_national_rugby_union_team)
| repcaps1     = 19
| 
| coachteams1 = [Portlaoise](/source/Portlaoise_RFC)
}}
'''Gerard Culliton''' (15 June 1936 – 7 September 2012)<ref>[http://www.espnscrum.com/ireland/rugby/player/6364.html Gerry Culliton player profile] Scrum.com. Retrieved 10 March 2020.</ref> was an [Irish](/source/Ireland_national_rugby_union_team) international [rugby union player](/source/rugby_union_player).  A native of [Clonaslee](/source/Clonaslee) in [County Laois](/source/County_Laois), he won 19 caps for Ireland, playing in four different positions.<ref name=in />

== Career ==
Culliton was educated at [Cistercian College, Roscrea](/source/Cistercian_College%2C_Roscrea). While at school he played [hurling](/source/hurling) and represented [Laois GAA](/source/Laois_GAA) at junior level. He was going to be called up to the [Laois senior team](/source/Laois_county_hurling_team), but was invited by a friend to play a rugby match for [Tullamore RFC](/source/Tullamore_RFC). He played the match under a pseudonym; however, he later received a phone call from the [Gaelic Athletic Association](/source/Gaelic_Athletic_Association) (GAA), stating that he had been seen playing rugby and was thus banned from playing Gaelic games under [Rule 27](/source/Rule_27), which prohibited any GAA player from playing rugby, football, hockey or cricket at the time.<ref name=lt>{{cite web|url=https://www.laoistoday.ie/2019/02/09/19-caps-for-ireland-the-barbarians-and-junior-hurling-title-with-clonaslee-the-amazing-sporting-career-of-gerry-culliton/ |title=19 caps for Ireland, the Barbarians and a junior hurling title with Clonaslee – the amazing sporting career of Gerry Culliton |publisher=Laois Today |date=9 February 2019 |accessdate=10 March 2020}}</ref>

After playing for Tullamore for two years, Culliton moved to [Wanderers](/source/Wanderers_F.C._(rugby_union)) in Dublin, where he played for seventeen years. He went on to play provincial rugby for [Leinster](/source/Leinster_Rugby) and then received a call-up to the [Ireland national rugby union team](/source/Ireland_national_rugby_union_team), making his debut against [England](/source/England_national_rugby_union_team) in 1959 at [Lansdowne Road](/source/Lansdowne_Road).<ref name=es>{{cite web|url=http://en.espn.co.uk/scrum/rugby/player/6364.html |title=Gerry Culliton |publisher=ESPN |date= n.d.|accessdate=10 March 2020}}</ref> He played for Ireland for six years.<ref name=es /> He also played for the [Barbarians](/source/Barbarian_F.C.) against [South Africa national rugby union team](/source/South_Africa_national_rugby_union_team) and [New Zealand](/source/All_Blacks).<ref name=in />

In the 1970s, he started coaching [Portlaoise RFC](/source/Portlaoise_RFC). In 1971, the GAA repealed Rule 27, allowing Culliton to rejoin the GAA. He started coaching hurling for [Clonaslee–St Manman's](/source/Clonaslee%E2%80%93St_Manman's_GAA) and coached that club to its first [Laois Senior Hurling Championship](/source/Laois_Senior_Hurling_Championship) title since 1910, when Laois was still referred to as Queen's County.<ref name=lt />

== Personal life ==
Culliton was a Christian and carried out the [Lough Derg pilgrimage](/source/St_Patrick's_Purgatory) fifty times.<ref name=ie>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.ie/opinion/editorial/another-farm-reared-rugby-hero-29108559.html |title=Another farm reared rugby hero |work=Irish Independent |accessdate=10 March 2020}}</ref> Away from rugby, he worked as a farmer.<ref name=ie /> He had six children, with his son [Garrett](/source/Garrett_Culliton) representing [Ireland at the Paralympics](/source/Ireland_at_the_Paralympics) four times.<ref>{{cite web|last=Healy |first=Martin |url=https://extra.ie/2018/11/23/sport/rugby/garrett-culliton-irfu-charitable-trust |title=Garrett Culliton: From The Rugby Pitch To The Paralympics |publisher=Extra.ie |date=23 November 2018 |accessdate=10 March 2020}}</ref> He died on 7 September 2012 at his home in Rearymore, County Laois.<ref name=in>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/celebrated-rugby-player-whose-heart-was-in-hurling-1.556716 |title=Celebrated rugby player whose heart was in hurling |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=24 November 2012 |accessdate=10 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/rugby/94641/Laois-mourns-passing-of-rugby-legend.html |title=Laois mourns passing of rugby legend Culliton |work=Limerick Leader |date=2012-09-12 |accessdate=2025-02-05}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Culliton, Gerard}}
Category:1936 births
Category:2012 deaths
Category:Barbarian F.C. players
Category:Gaelic games players from County Laois
Category:Hurling coaches
Category:Ireland international rugby union players
Category:Irish rugby union players
Category:People educated at Cistercian College, Roscrea
Category:People from Clonaslee
Category:Rugby union locks
Category:Rugby union players from County Laois
Category:Wanderers F.C. (rugby union) players
Category:20th-century Irish farmers
Category:20th-century Irish sportsmen

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Gerry Culliton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerry_Culliton) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerry_Culliton?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.