Tributes are paid to Jim Cremin, a Nemo club legend and hurling winner with UCC
Jim Cremin and members of the Nemo Rangers backroom team celebrate their victory in 2003. Picture: INPHO/Morgan Treacy
TRIBUTES have poured in after the death of Jim Cremin, a Nemo Rangers club legend, who also won county senior hurling and Fitzgibbon Cup medals in goal for UCC.
He was involved with numerous Nemo teams down through the years, as a player, mentor and manager in both football and hurling. He was a hugely popular figure in Nemo, known for his passion for GAA, warmth and enthusiasm.
Cremin collected the Seán Óg Murphy trophy in 1970 when UCC beat Muskerry and the Fitzgibbon Cup a year later. Cremin also won a Harty Cup medal with Críost Rí and taught in the school.
Nemo paid a fitting tribute to his status as a genuine great in Trabeg.
In an interview with The Echo earlier this year, he recalled how special it was to win silverware with the College.
"I went from playing minor with Nemo into the team. Prior to that I won a Harty Cup medal with Críost Rí in 1968 when we stopped Limerick CBS doing five-in-a-row.
“When I went into the college I became secretary of the hurling club there and we had Prof Finbarr Holland and Paddy Crowley as selectors. We had Denis Leahy who was an army man as the physical trainer. We had a good team, no doubt about that and a lot of those players went on to win All-Ireland medals in Cork, Tipp and Kilkenny.
“Mick McCarthy from Na Piarsaigh was the captain and you had Seamus Looney, Ray Cummins, John Kelly from Tipperary, Mick Crotty from Kilkenny, Pat McDonnell going on to win the McCarthy Cup.
“You were totally dependent on your full-back line for protection and I was lucky that I had good men like Mick McCarthy, Pat McDonnell and Dr Paddy Crowley in front of me.
"We went on to win the Fitzgibbon Cup the following season in 1971 so to have won a county and have a Fitzgibbon medal at home is very nice."
He was very much an enthusiast of both codes, and during his playing days, Nemo reached two county senior hurling semi-finals.
“I went back to Nemo of course and we had a very good team then and we got to two senior county semi-finals.
“We got beaten by the Rockies in both semi-finals and we always and still do take our hurling in Nemo very serious."
He was back involved with the College in the modern era, his genuineness having a great impact on the young generation.
He will be missed, by Nemo and UCC.
