From Mayo to Meath - Jimmy Curran's Memory is as sharp as his ability around the opposing goals Jimmy Curran's memory is almost as sharp as his shooting which was his trademark back in the 1950's. Curran was a star Mayo forward of that era who was dogged with bad luck which denied him a starting place in two All-Ireland finals. But even now, so many years later, it doesn't cost him a thought to name teams, dates and venues which trip from his tongue almost at will. Whether it's his debut game for Mayo back in the mid-40's or the St. Vincents club side in Meath with whom he won a Senior Championship medal, Curran can recall it. A sharpness with memory and a sharpness in front of goal - Curran's scoring exploits should have earned him a greater status at a time when Mayo were high-flyers and last August's debacle against Cork would be unheard of. But he admits that at the vital times his undoubted talents let him down as he 'went off the boil' just as Mayo were coming good in 1950-'51 Curran was born in Claremorris and lived in Mayo for his first 18 years. But then he settled in Meath and he has since resided near Stamullen where he farms a substantial amount of acreage. Jimmy continued to travel back to Mayo for county matches but was quite content to lay his hat where his home was a regards club football and eventually settled with the famed St. Vincent's of east Meath. As a juvenile Jimmy Curran always had potential. He played at left corner forward for the Mayo Minors in 1946 when they lost to Galway. As Jimmy recalls it, Galway were a strong outfit then. "When you consider what their midfield consisted of -Stephen White (who later played with Louth) and Sean Purcell - you can guess the strength of their side. White went to play with Louth but Purcell remained in Galway and to this day he is still the best gaelic footballer Jimmy Curran has ever had the pleasure of witnessing. "With respect to Colm O'Rourke I think that Sean Purcell was the best player ever in the game", he opined. "I suppose I am being a bit biased because I played with Sean when we were at St. Jarlath's together and he had everything", he claimed. Curran is well placed to give his views on both Purcell and O'Rourke as he has lived in Stamullen, Co. Meath for the best part of his life "After Jarlath's I attended Athenry Agricultural School for a year while at the same time I travelled on a temporary basis to Meath where my grand-uncle had a farm. Eventually the whole family moved up", he recalled. But even as a resident of the Royal County Jimmy still maintained his links with Claremorris and Mayo through football. He made it onto the Mayo panel in 1948 after a spell with the Juniors but his input was restricted by a knee injury and he had to wait until the following year to make his debut in a challenge against Cavan at Ballymote. "I remember it well. I was marking Bill Doonan of Cavan that day", he vividly recalled. Jimmy went onto win his first of four Connacht Senior medals that year by beating Sligo and then Leitrim in the final. Jimmy takes up the story: "We went to Dublin as hot favourites for the semi final. Ironically it was Meath who provided the opposition and we were confidently expected to beat them. It didn't work out that way however. I was on Miceal O'Brien who I think was playing his first game at right corner back for Meath that day and we were beaten." Meath went on to win the All-Ireland title for the first time ever so Curran, now permanent in Stamullen where he now farms land with particular emphasis on potatoes and corn, had the best of both worlds and he could join in on the celebrations of locals. Interestingly memory man Jimmy (not Magee!) makes a startling point. "Seven or eight of the Mayo '49 team are now deceased while all of the Meath starting 15 are still alive. I think apart from substitute Larry Mc Guinness they are all still going strong." Around the same time there were developments on the club front in east Meath and Jimmy Curran was involved. The amalgamation of Young Irelands and Ardcath would form St. Vincent's and they would go on to win IFC (1953) and SFC (1955) in the near future. Again the power of Curran's memory is prevalent as he lists from one to fifteen the members of that history making team which featured several county stars of the time. But back to Mayo and by now the red and greens were assembling a team ready to mount a serious challenge. "After 1949 there were changes and for the 1950 and '51 panels I was a substitute", explained Curran. "Unfortunately I suffered a loss in form and missed out", he recalls with a tinge of regret. "To this day it is one of my main regrets that I didn't get an All-Ireland medal. Mayo were back in the big time in 1955 and so too was Jimmy Curran. His exploits with St. Vincents on the other side of the country had sharpened his appetite and he commanded his usual place in the forwards. "We made it to the All-Ireland semi final that year and played Dublin. That match went to a replay and ironically the other semi final between Cavan and Kerry also needed a second date to decide it's outcome. Mayo lost but Jimmy recalls that it was one of his better days. "I scored Mayo's entire total of 1-7 that day, 1-2 from play and the rest from frees but it was to little avail", he laughed. That was Mayo's last spark in Connacht as Galway, with Purcell, Stockwell, Mangan, McDonagh and Mahon were now the chief power-brokers. "They beat us well in 1956 and went to win the All-Ireland". Mayo went into decline but they were back on the national stage again two years later when they reached the knock-out stages of the National Football League. "We beat Meath in the quarter final in Navan but then Dublin finished us in the semi final at Croke Park", he recalls. From then on the emphasis was on club football for Jimmy and he played right into the '60s before injury called a halt to his adventures. "I suffered a bad nose, jaw and skull fracture and that quietened me around 1964 or '65. I had had enough by then." Curran took a break from the games but he re-focussed at a different plain when he became involved with juvenile affairs with his local St. Patrick's club which is located seven miles south of Drogheda just off the main Dublin-Belfast road. St. Patrick's is one of the county's top nurseries and in recent years has produced a string of fine underage players who have served the green and gold colours well. The 1992 All-Ireland Minor captain Peter Sullivan and present intercounty Seniors Michael McQuillan and Cormac Murphy are just a few - so St. Pats must be one of the forerunners in Meath? But they are not. They still languish in Meath's competitive Intermediate grades and this is a sore point with Curran. "There's no doubt St. Pat's have the potential to win a Senior title never mind the Intermediate. There is no commitment from the players - they can't show allegiance to any manager or coach who comes their way. I was appaled by the easy going attitude with which they greeted defeat in the quarter final this year. Curran's own son Ivan is a key player on the St. Pat's side and was once on the verge of a breakthrough to the Senior team Ivan was a member of the Meath Minor team in 1980 which took the Leinster title but a bad leg break seemed to have curtailed his blossoming career. Jimmy Curran's oldest daughter has also made her mark in the sporting world. Mairead Curran represented Ireland in three day eventing at last year's Olympics and was sixth in the European Championships. Jimmy is married to Gretta Dunne, a sister of ex-Vincent's player Paddy and they have another daughter, Ann-Marie who is the youngest of the family. But sporting connections in the Curran household don't stop there. Jimmy's nephew was none other than former Mayo footballer J.P. Keane who played regularly in the 70's. "J.P. was a super footballer", recall Jimmy. "He played alongside Colm O'Rourke with UCD and was one of the best thinkers in the game". How Mayo could do with them now! Jimmy is another who laments the demise of his beloved county on the national stage. "It's no bad year when we win a Connacht title but the standard in the province has gone so bad that it will take a long time to recapture the former glory." Curran is critical of the way that player power ruled in Mayo last year and he also claims that successive Mayo managers have been too slow in ringing the changes. "Some of the older players should have been swept out two or three seasons ago", he claims. But like any good Mayo supporter he hopes to see them back. "It's part of the Mayo psychology to be up there and giving it all and I can't see them down for too long. They'll bounce back." Curran reflects on a good intercounty career, tinged with a couple of obvious regrets but how would he like to be remembered? "As a trier. You can have all the skill in the world but if you don't strive to succeed then you'll have regrets. Yes, a trier would suit me", he concludes. Written by the Hogan Stand Magazine 19th Nov 1993 Tweet

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