Jimmy Smyth (hurler)

Infobox GAA player
code= Hurling
sport = Hurling


name = Jimmy Smyth
irish = Séamus Mac Gobhann
fullname = Jimmy Smyth
placeofbirth = Ennis
countryofbirth = County Clare
height =
nickname =
county = Clare
province = Munster
club = Ruan
clposition = Forward
clubs =
clyears =
clapps(points) =
clcounty =
clprovince=
clallireland =
counties = Clare
icposition = Forward
icyears = 1948-1967
icapps(points) = 23
icprovince = 0
icallireland = 0
allstars =
clupdate = present
icupdate =

Jimmy Smyth (born 1931 in Ennis, County Clare) is a retired Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club Ruan and with the Clare senior inter-county team from 1948 until 1967. Smyth is regarded as one of the greatest hurlers never to have won an All-Ireland medal.

Early life

Jimmy Smyth was born in Ruan near Ennis, County Clare in 1931. He was born into a family that had a strong association with the game of hurling. His uncle played with Clare while his mother was also a hurling enthusiast. In spite of these associations Smyth was a late-starter at the game. He was educated locally and later attended St. Flannan's College, a virtual nursery for young hurlers. Here he won three Harty Cup titles and three All-Ireland Colleges' medals in the 1940s.

Playing career

Club

In his teens Smyth started playing for his local club in Ruan and enjoyed much success. He won his first senior county title with the club in 1948. Not only was it Smyth's first county victory but it was also the first time that Ruan had triumphed in the county championship. He captured four more county medals in 1951, 1959, 1960 and 1962. Since Smyth's retirement from hurling the club has failed to win a single county title.

Inter-county

A skillful hurler from the age of 13 Smyth quicly attracted the attention of the Clare minor hurling selectors. In all he played at minor level for a record five years where the junior and senior management teams noticed him. Smyth played his first inter-county match in the National Hurling League at the age of 17. In the mid-1950s he earned his reputation with the Clare senior hurlers. In 1953 he scored a record 6-4 in the Munster Championship. The follwoing year, 1954, Clare defeated Wexford to capture their first ever Oireachtas title. In 1955 Clare showed their confidence by defeating the All-Ireland champions Cork in the first round of the Munster Championship, however, Clare themselves were later defeated by Limerick.

In 1967 Smyth retired from hurling having given two decades to the game at the highest level.

Provincial

Smyth also lined out with Munster in the inter-provincial hurling competition and enjoyed much success playing alongside hurling legends like John Doyle, Christy Ring, Tom Cheasty and Jimmy Doyle.. He won his first Railway Cup medal in 1952 in his first year on the team as Munster defeated Connacht. Three years later in 1955 Smyth captured a second Railway Cup title. The late 1950s and early 1960s saw Smyth enjoy even more success as Munster came to dominate the inter-provincial series of games. He won five Railway Cup medals in-a-row in 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1961. Smyth captured his eighth and final Railway Cup title in 1963.

Post-playing career

Following his retirement from play he continued his involvement with the Gaelic Athletic Association, working as Executive Officer at Croke Park until 1988. Following this he studied philosophy at Trinity College, Dublin, where he completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1993. His Master of Arts thesis was based on the songs, poems and recitations of Gaelic games in Munster. In spite of not having any provincial or All-Ireland success Smyth was still named on the Munster Hurling Team of the Millennium in 2000.

Teams

References

* Corry, Eoghan, "The GAA Book of Lists" (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).

External links

* [http://munster.gaa.ie/teams/seniorhurling.html Munster final winning teams]
* [http://www.hoganstand.com/Clare/Profile.aspx Clare GAA honours]