Grace, John (‘Jack’) (1884–1915), Gaelic footballer and hurler, was born 8 February 1884 at Gaulstown, Tullaroan, Co. Kilkenny, one among eleven children of Nicholas Grace, farmer, of Gaulstown, and Catherine (‘Kate’) Grace (née Keoghan) of Purcellsgarden, Threecastles, Co. Kilkenny. Educated locally, he moved to Dublin as a teenager to take up a position in the drapery trade with Todd, Burns & Co., and joined the Kickham's GAA club. Grace went on to play in nine All-Ireland finals with Dublin teams in football and hurling, winning five All-Ireland medals in football (1901–2, 1906–7, 1909); captaining the team to victory in 1906 and 1907. He also played on a losing side in 1904. Jack Grace has the unique distinction of having captained All-Ireland senior final sides in both hurling and football. He never won an All-Ireland medal in hurling, however, playing in the losing finals of 1902 and 1906 and captaining the Dublin team that lost the 1908 All-Ireland SHC final to Tipperary after a replay. Between 3 July and 24 July 1909 he played in three All-Ireland finals over the space of four Sundays, including that hurling final replay.
A half-back in hurling and a full-back in football, Grace is considered to be one of the finest players of all time in both codes. In hurling he was regarded as the best ground striker of a ball of his generation, and he could reputedly score from his own half-back line. As a footballer he was one of the longest kickers of a ball around, and his good looks, sense of sportsmanship, and robust but fair method of playing made him a very popular figure. Grace is possibly the finest dual player in GAA history and his achievements are unlikely ever to be equalled. He died of pneumonia in Jervis St. hospital, Dublin, on 9 March 1915, at the age of just 31, having been ill since Christmas. He was described after his death as ‘the most popular Gael in Ireland’ (Kilkenny Journal, 13 Mar. 1915); the sportswriter F. B. Dineen wrote: ‘He shall never be forgotten by the present generation, and the younger generation will read of his great athletic feats in song and story in years to come’ (Sport, 13 Mar. 1915). Grace was unmarried. A huge crowd gathered to greet his remains in Kilkenny and he is buried in Ballinamara cemetery, Co. Kilkenny.
Jack Grace was one of a trio of brothers from Tullaroan who made their mark in football and hurling with Kilkenny and Dublin, winning a total of fifteen All-Ireland medals between them. His brother, Pierce Grace (1885–1966) was born 9 September 1885 and attended Tullaroan national school; St Joseph's CBS, Kilkenny; and St Kieran's College, Kilkenny. He then went on to UCD and the Royal College of Surgeons to study medicine, qualifying in 1910. He first played for his local club Tullaroan in 1899. In Dublin he joined his brother at the Kickham's club, and he is one of the few players to have won All-Ireland medals in both hurling and football, and the only player to date to win more than one senior medal in both. His two All-Ireland medals in football were with Dublin, playing with Jack on the winning sides of 1906 and 1907. He also played for Dublin against Tipperary in the losing replay of the 1908 hurling final, having missed the drawn game. On his return to Kilkenny he won three All-Ireland hurling medals as a member of the sides that won the title in 1911, 1912, and 1913, before retiring from playing in 1914. He won four county championship medals with Tullaroan (1899, 1901–3), as well as a Dublin county championship title with Kickham's and a Munster Feis medal with the Kilkenny hurlers in 1912. A medical doctor by profession, he was initially a house surgeon at the Mater Hospital, Dublin, and later assistant RMS (resident medical supervisor) of St Canice's Psychiatric Hospital, Kilkenny, before being appointed RMS of St Fintan's Hospital, Portlaoise, in 1918. He held that position for thirty-five years before retiring in 1953 and returning to live in Kilkenny. An accomplished golfer, he was a founder member and president of the Heath Golf Club, Portlaoise, and he was also keenly interested in boxing, serving as president of the Laois–Kilkenny Boxing Board for some years. His other interests included hunting and shooting, and he also played handball during his hurling and football days. He was involved with many charitable organisations, and at the time of his death he was president of St Kieran's College Past Pupils Union. He married (1916) Bridget (née Shelley) from Kilmoganny, Co. Kilkenny; they had three sons and a daughter. He died at his home in Kilkenny on 4 October 1966, and is buried in St Kieran's cemetery, Kilkenny.
Another brother, Richard (‘Dick’) Grace (1890–1974) was born 10 August 1890 and also attended the same schools as his brother Pierce, leaving at the age of 17. He played his first senior hurling game for Tullaroan in 1906 and went on to win eight county championship medals with the club in a period from 1907 to 1930. A tough and talented left half-back, he won five All-Ireland hurling medals with Kilkenny in an inter-county career that lasted from 1909 to 1926. His first All-Ireland medal came as a teenager when he came on as a substitute for Dick Doherty on a Mooncoin selection that met Tipperary in the 1909 final. He collided with an opponent and knocked himself out, only to be revived by a bucket of icy water thrown over him by his brother Jack, a spectator at the game. Kilkenny's 4–6 to 0–12 victory was Tipperary's first ever defeat in an All-Ireland final, and Dick Grace went on to win three medals with his brother Pierce (1911–13), and another in 1922, when he was the only surviving player from the 1913 team, scoring a goal from a free as Tipperary were defeated by 4–3 to 2–5. He also played in the losing final of 1916. His final championship appearance came as captain of the Kilkenny side that lost the 1926 All-Ireland final by 4–6 to 2–0 to Cork. Although Kilkenny were well beaten on the day, Dick Grace was one of their best players.
A tall, rangy, and supremely fit athlete, combining strength and skill, and with good hurling technique, Dick Grace was known as the ‘man of steel’ and was widely regarded as the best left half-back of his era. In addition to his five All-Ireland titles, he won nine Leinster Championship medals and a Munster Feis hurling medal (1912) with Kilkenny. His retirement in 1926 severed the last link with the great Kilkenny teams of the early twentieth century. Dick Doyle had played with Pat ‘Fox’ Maher, Ned Teehan, and Jer Doheny from the team that contested Kilkenny's first All-Ireland final in 1893, and with players like his first cousin, Lory Meagher (qv), who would help the county to hurling dominance in the 1930s. He farmed at Leigh, Threecastles, Co. Kilkenny, for almost fifty years. Like many Kilkenny hurlers, he was involved in the war of independence as a member of the Tullaroan Company of the 7th Battalion, Kilkenny Brigade, of the Old IRA, and his home provided a safe house for flying-column members. He was quiet and kindly by disposition; his main interests were hurling and coursing, and he was rarely without a greyhound. He married (1935) Mary Murphy (d. 1970) from Kilmacow, Co. Kilkenny; they had one son. Dick Grace died 1 December 1974 at St Luke's Hospital, Kilkenny. He is buried in Tullaroan cemetery.