Tommy Butler (hurler)

{{Infobox Gaelic games player

| code = Hurling

| sport = Hurling

| image =

| name = Tommy Butler

| irish = Tomás de Buitléir

| height =

| occupation = Creamery employee

| nickname =

| county = Tipperary

| province = Munster

| club = Drom & Inch

| clubs =

| clyears =

| clapps(points) =

| clcounty = 0

| clprovince =

| clallireland =

| counties = Tipperary

| icposition = Left corner-forward

| icyears = 1974-1980

| icapps(points) = 8 (2-12)

| icprovince = 0

| icallireland = 0

| allstars = 1

| nhl = 1

| clupdate =

| icupdate =

| birth_date = 1951

| birth_place = Bouladuff, County Tipperary, Ireland

| death_date = 12 November 2020 (aged 69)

| death_place = Bouladuff, County Tipperary, Ireland

}}

Thomas Butler (1951 - 12 November 2020{{cite news|url=https://hoganstand.com/Tipperary/article/index/314295|title=Passing of a Tipperary Great|publisher=Hogan Stand|date=20 November 2020|access-date=27 August 2021|first=|last=}}{{cite news|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-40082108.html|title=Tipperary hurling mourns All Star Tommy Butler|publisher=Irish Examiner|date=13 November 2020|access-date=27 August 2021|first=|last=}}) was an Irish hurler. At club level he played with Drom & Inch and was also a member of the Tipperary senior hurling team. He usually lined out as a forward.

Career

Butler first came to prominence at juvenile and underage levels with the Drom & Inch club, as well as lining out with Templemore CBS. He made his senior debut at club level as a 15-year-old in 1966 and won two Mid Tipperary Championship titles in a career that spanned four decades. Butler first appeared on the inter-county scene with the Tipperary under-21 team, having earlier failed to make the minor team. His three years in the under-21 grade yielded a Munster Under-21 Championship title in 1972.{{cite news|url=https://munster.gaa.ie/history/u21h_teams/|title=Under-21 hurling|publisher=Munster GAA website|date=|access-date=27 August 2021|first=|last=}} Butler was later drafted onto the Tipperary senior hurling team and made his debut against Limerick in the last game of the 1973-74 league. His senior career coincided with a barren spell for Tipperary in terms of success, however, he won a National Hurling League medal in 1979, having claimed an All-Star the previous year.{{cite news|url=https://www.seamusjking.com/sjk-articles/2014/4/28/span-classposttitletommy-butlerspancounty-senior-hurling-semi-final-progam-sept-30th-1984|title=Tommy Butler|publisher=Séamus J. King website|date=30 September 1984|access-date=27 August 2021|first=|last=}} Butler also wona Railway Cup medal with Munster in 1978.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}