Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh, the voice of Gaelic games, has launched a major new television programme on Christy Ring, arguably Ireland"s greatest ever hurler which will be shown on TG4 on Easter Sunday at 8 o"clock.

The new hour-long documentary, specially commissioned by the channel to mark the 25th anniversary of his death, contains previously unseen archive shots of Ring in action.

The programme"s researchers have located colour film of Christy Ring, at his best, scoring in the 1954 All-Ireland final, strong black and white footage from the 1947 All-Ireland, footage from a Cork and Tipperary match and other interesting on and off the field sequences that will be premiered in this programme.

Christy Ring had a remarkable lengthy career in senior hurling from his début with Cork in 1939 to his final game with Glen Rovers in 1967. He won 8 All-Ireland medals, 4 National Hurling League medals, 18 Railway Cup Championships and 14 Cork County Senior Hurling championships with his beloved club, Glen Rovers. He won the Caltex award for hurling in 1959 and the Caltex Hall of Fame award in 1971.

Christy Ring always had an uneasy relationship with the media. He was a complex, intelligent, shy but very interesting man who avoided publicity but who filled more newspaper space than any other sporting personality of his time.

Despite his enormous talent and prodigious list of major titles, very little primary film and television material of Ring exists. The excellent Gael Linn hurling instructional film produced by Louis Marcus was a hugely important and historic film event for its time.

Shortly before his death Christy Ring gave his only extended television interview to Donncha Ó Dúlaing in his native Cloyne. Twenty five years on, this new TG4 programme is a timely look back at the career of a hurling legend.

In the new TG4 programme many of Ring"s team-mates and opponents contribute their thoughts, experiences and assessment of the Cork hurler who clearly had hero status from all sides. Former Cork players Con Murphy, John Clifford, John Lyons, Willie John Daly, Terry Kelly, Gerald McCarthy and Jimmy Barry Murphy give their assessments as do opponents like

Jimmy Smith (Clare), Paddy Buggy (Kilkenny), John and Jimmy Doyle (Tipperary), Ned Power (Waterford) and Martin Codd (Wexford).

Others - best described as hurlers on the ditch - contributing to the programme are author and columnist Eoghan Harris, Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh, historian John A Murphy and broadcaster Donncha Ó Dúlaing.

Ringy was produced for TG4 by ForeFront, the Cork-based production company in association with Barry"s Tea, and is narrated by Niall Tóibín.

Ringy - TG4 at 8 pm 11 April (Easter Sunday)

Repeat showing 10.30 pm 12 April (Easter Monday)