Coffey, Jimmy 'Butler'
January 08, 2011The Death occurred on Wednesday, December 29 at Millbrae Lodge Nursing Home, Newport of former Tipperary All-Ireland Hurling medallist, Jimmy Butler Coffey in his 102nd year. He died very peacefully, surrounded by his loving family.
Jimmy was born in Church Lane, Newport on October 26, 1909. He was the second youngest in a family of eight, four boys and four girls. He celebrated his 100th birthday with a big party which was attended by over 300 guests in Millbrae Lodge in October 2009, with special guest Michael O Muircheartaigh.
In those years in between, he gave sterling service to the GAA in Tipperary and Limerick, both as a player, trainer, mentor and selector.
The question is often asked as to how Jimmy Coffey got the nickname 'Butler'. well the story goes as follows.
Coffey's was a cuardaoicht house where the neighbours gathered in the evenings.
Jimmy's mother sat under the kitchen lamp and read the papers as all the men sat around the fire. On One occasion Jimmy and his younger brother, Jack, were play-acting and upsetting the people present.
They were ordered outside and, as they rose, Jack hit his brother in the face. As Jimmy complained he sounded as if he was talking through his nose. One of the men at the fireside remarked that he spoke like Phil Butler, agent of the local landlord. Butler was noted for his nasal voice. From that moment Jimmy, who was only five or six years of age at the time, became known in Newport teams in the halycon days of hurling in the parish. All three wore the county colours in one grade or other and between them held All-Ireland medals in Minor, Junior and Senior. The three brothers were all members of the Tipperary team beaten by Limerick in the Munster Championship in 1935.
A member of the county minor side for three successive years, Jimmy (even though he was only a few weeks short of his 21st birthday) won an All-Ireland minor medal with Tipperary in 1930. The minor age was nineteen at the time, and Jimmy remembers the goalkeeper having his legs shaved the morning of the All-Ireland Final!
He made his senior debut with Tipp in 1931. It was a lean period for the county's senior hurling as Limerick dominated the Munster Championship throughout the 30's, but their monopoly was ended in 1937 when Jimmy, playing with the number 10 shirt on his back, won Munster and All-Ireland medals. Tipp defeated Kilkenny in the All-Ireland Final. Jimmy, Tommy Treacy and Tommy Doyle formed one of the greatest half-forward lines ever to represent the county.
For eight years he held his place on the Tipperary panel but in 1940 he decided to retire from inter-county hurling before the championship commenced. His job as a lorry driver with O'Byrnes Mineral Waters in Limerick had him travelling a good deal from home, and he used to cycle to work every morning from Newport to Sexton Street in Limerick and back in the evening. Jimmy won two North Tipperary Senior Hurling Championships with Newport in 1932 and 1935 and in between won an intermediate Championship in 1934.
In 1940 he lined out in the Limerick Senior Championship with Young Irelands against an Ahane team which included his brother Jack.
On April 4, 1945 he got married to Eileen O'Connell from Cappamore and donned the Cappamore colours, having taken up residence in the village. He was chosen on the Ahane team and assisted them to County championship successes in 1947 and 1948 and the full forward line in each of those two finals was Mick Mackey, John Mackey and Jimmy Butler Coffey. What a full forward line!
When he retired from hurling in early fifties after a career that spanned four decades, he did not sever his connection with the game. Imparting his vast knowledge of hurling to the young men in Cappamore, he trained the local team which brought County Championship honours to his adopted parish in both Junior and Senior grades.
Jimmy was a selector with the Limerick team known as 'Mackey's Greyhounds' that brought the Munster title to Limerick in 1955.
He was elected the first Life President of Newport GAA Club, and in 2000 he was selected on the North Tipperary Senior hurling team of the Millennium, which he claimed was one of his proudest moments. In 2001 he was presented with the Knocknagow Award.
In 2007, the Tipperarymens Association in Dublin presented him with their Hall of Fame Award and in 2009 Jimmy received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Old Time Gaels of East Limerick Committee in recognition of his services to the GAA in East Limerick over a period of 65 years.
Last October at his 101st birthday party in Millbrae lodge nursing home, Newport, Jimmy revealed an astonishing memory when recalling games of the past and he still took an avid interest in the fortunes of club and county up to the time of his death, being especially thrilled by Tipperary winning the All-Ireland two months previously. Memories rolled off his tongue just as if they all happened recently. The names of teams, Christian, surname, position, club, were carved forever in his mind. He remembered with fondness the epic challenges on the field and the bond of friendship forged in those clashes. His love of the game remained undiminished.
Jimmy was very proud of being a Newport and Tipperary man and was never slow in letting people know where he came from. He was devoted to his faith and was a daily massgoer in Cappamore and later in Glenstal Abbey, where he drove to mass every morning until he was 95 years of age. He was a very popular resident of Millbrae Lodge Nursing Home in Newport where he lived out the last few years of his life in wonderful care of the management and staff of the home. He was extremely proud when his son Patsy was appointed to referee the Limerick County Senior Hurling Final in 2009 between Adare and Na Piarsaigh, his first senior final in a long and distinguished refereeing career.
On a personal note, I was deeply honoured to be invited by his family to Jimmy's 100th and 101st birthday celebrations, as Jimmy and his brother Jack were great friends of my late father.
Jimmy's funeral mass took place in Cappamore Church on New Year's Day and was concelebrated by Fr Liam Ryan. The coffin was draped in the blue and gold colours of his beloved Tipperary and the church was full to capacity. In his homily. Fr Ryan spoke of Jummy's devotion to his family and to his faith and his love of hurling. He also spoke of Jimmy's great loyalty, honestly and integrity. Symbols of Jimmy's life brought to the altar at the beginning of Mass and introduced by his grandson Seamus included an old style hurley, family portrait, Glenstal book of prayer and one of his numerous scrapbooks.
Jimmy's son Eamonn spoke on behalf of the family about his fathers life and his devotion to the family. PJ Maxwell from Nenagh recited "The Hurler's Prayer" and Jimmy's nephew Eddie Browne (Who was Jimmy's best man when he got married in 1945) sand some beautiful hymms during the mass and as the coffin was carried from the church by his family, Silevenamon rang out over the Cappamore air. Cappamore GAA club provided a Guard of honour outside the church and the rain rain began to fall as the funeral cortege arrived at Ballinure Cemetery, where Jimmy was laid to rest with his wife and son. As the coffin was lowered to its final resting place, the prayers were recited by Fr Liam Kelly and the graveside oration was delivered by Eamonn McGough, a friend of Jimmy's from Newport.
May the green sod of Ballinure Cemetery rest lightly on your gentle soul, Jimmy Butler Coffey, gentleman and hurling legend.
He is deeply regretted by his sons Eamon and patsy daughters-in-law Margaret and Josephine, grandchildren nephews and nieces and a large circle of friends. He was pre-deceased by his son Thomas in 1983 and his wife Eileen in 1996. Ar dheis de go raibh a anam dilis
Jimmy Butler Coffey;born October 26 1909, died December 29, 2010.
Seamus Walsh
Courtesy of the Limerick Leader 08-01-2011 Tweet
