The Howlin name has been synonymous with top London hurling club Fr Murphy's ever since Jim Howlin arrived in the English capital as a 15-year-old in the early 1960s. Each of his five children have inherited his passion for the GAA, with eldest son Jimmy being Fr Murphy's current chairman. 

Jimmy Howlin may be London-born and reared, but he's every bit as passionate about the GAA as any person from the other side of the Irish Sea.

Following in his Wexford-born father Jim's footsteps, Jimmy is heavily involved with Fr Murphy's GAA club, currently combining the roles of club chairman and senior hurling team goalkeeper. He is also involved in underage coaching with both Fr Murphy's and London, is a selector with the Harlesden Harps intermediate footballers and is one of the leading referees on the London club hurling scene, having taken charge of two of the last three senior championship deciders.

"I'm involved in a lot of things, but I enjoy every minute of it. The GAA has been part of my life for as long as I can remember and I suppose I have my father to thank for that," he said.

Like many of his generation, Jim Howlin was forced to leave Ireland in the early 1960s in search of work. London was his destination and there he became involved with Fr Murphy's, which had been formed in 1958 to cater for Wexford exiles in the English capital.

"My dad left Ireland as a 15-year-old, having played his formative hurling with Rathnure," Jimmy explains.

"Shortly after coming over, he joined Fr Murphy's and he has been an active member of the club ever since. He hurled with them until 1987 and has been managing the senior hurlers for the last 15 years. He has also served as treasurer and vice-chairman, managed the London senior hurlers in 2001 and 2002, and is currently club secretary. In addition, he runs a renovations company which has been very successful for him."

Jimmy continued: "In the early years, Fr Murphy's catered only for people coming over from Wexford, but that's all changed now and we now have players from all over Ireland and beyond playing with us. However, we haven't forgotten our roots either and still wear the purple and gold colours of Wexford."

Fr Murphy's have enjoyed tremendous success under Jim's watch, winning their maiden London SHC title in 2000 at Sean Treacy's expense. They were county champions again in 2001, '03 and '05 when they defeated Treacy's, Robert Emmets and St. Gabriel's respectively.

Murphy's also won the Kilmacud Crokes All-Ireland Sevens Plate in 2003, becoming the first club from outside Ireland to do so. Last year, they contested league and championship semi-finals, only to lose both to a Robert Emmets team who went on to lift both trophies.

Along with his selectors Paddy Doyle (a fellow Rathnure man), Jim Dunne and Josie O'Leary, Jim is hoping to make amends this year. At the time of writing, Murphy's had won two of their first three championship games and were on course to reach the knockout stages.

"We're not that far off the mark," insists Jimmy who, at 40, is the team's elder statesman.

"The standard is strong enough at the moment and that was reflected by London's performances in the Nicky Rackard Cup earlier this year. It's a competitive senior championship and we hope to be in the shake-up when it comes to the final stages."

Jimmy's siblings Darren and Sean are also members of the Fr Murphy's senior hurling team, while his sisters Patricia and Maggie have represented the club in both camogie and ladies football. As well as fielding teams in hurling, camogie and ladies football, Murphy's also boast a vibrant underage section. The club has a particularly strong under 10 team at the moment and Jimmy has been involved in introducing hurling to schools in the Acton and West Ealing areas.

"We're one of four or five hurling clubs in London who are now catering for underage players. The kids love hurling, so it's easy to get them involved," explains Jimmy, who managed the London under 16 hurlers this year (his son Conor was a member of the team).

Fr Murphy's are always on the lookout for new players whatever their standard may be. The club's senior hurling team trains in Stanmore, while its senior and junior camogie teams, and senior ladies football team, train in Greenford, which is the home of Tir Chonaill Gaels. Both Stanmore and Greenford are situated in North West London and boast excellent facilities, including floodlights, showers and food after training. For further details, email [email protected]

Jimmy lives in Harlesden, hence his involvement with the Harlesden Harps football team. The team is managed by Joe Lynch from Cavan, which also happens to be the home county of Jimmy's mother Olive.

"My mother is a native of Cootehill and there has been always been a strong Cavan involvement in the Harps. We're an intermediate club, striving to get back up to the senior ranks. We won the London and All-Britain IFC titles in 2005 and we'd love to replicate that success this year."

In 2007, Jimmy became the first English-born referee to take charge of a London SHC final when Robert Emmets and Kilburn Gaels clashed. He was also the 'man in the middle' for last year's decider between the Emmets and St. Garbiel's. Needless to say, he is hoping to be playing in this year's final rather than refereeing it.

Reared on stories of the great Wexford teams of old, Jimmy follows the Model County's fortunes closely. And while Kilkenny's dominance of the hurling landscape has been hard for all Wexford supporters to take, he believes Wexford's time will come again.

"We're living in the shadow of Kilkenny at the moment, but you have to give Kilkenny credit, they've brought hurling to a new level. They are an exceptional team, but they won't be around forever and Wexford need to be ready when that happens. Wexford had their period of dominance in the 1990s, it's Kilkenny's turn now. It's a cyclical thing really," he concludes. Tweet

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