Meeting former Cork and Glen Rovers forward Jimmy Lynam was good for the soul

It wasn’t a normal Thursday for yours truly but an exciting one as I made my way to Carechoice Nursing Home at Ballynoe to have a chat with the former Cork and Glen Rovers forward Jimmy Lynam.

Jimmy is only five months away from celebrating his 100th birthday and despite nearing the century his recollection of the good old days is still very clear and precise.

Born in Gerald Griffin Street about 100 yards from the North Cathedral Jimmy recalled his school days.

A lightening, fast forward Jimmy came through the Cork underage scene in the early forties as he explained the set up at that time on Leeside.

“I first attended the nuns at the North Presentation before going to the North Mon but never played with the Harty Cup team that included Jack Lynch because I left school early as we had a big family and I had to earn some money,” Jimmy said.

Explaining his route to playing with the Glen he looked back on his early days.

“Up to 1939 the youngest championship in Cork was Minor but there was a Junior team on Cork’s northside St Anne’s and they ran Street Leagues and eventually an under 16 championship came out of their hard work,” Jimmy added.

Jimmy played with a team called Gerald Griffin’s who managed to win a few championships at U16 whose captain Mick Kennifick went to captain Cork in the 1943 Senior All-Ireland final.

Jimmy was determined to see the 1943 final because of Kennifick’s participation and incredibly with trains not an option he decided to cycle with his friend Gus O’Brien.

“We left Cork on Friday and stopped into Hawker Grady’s Fermoy for a bit of grub and moved on to Cashel where we stayed the night with a friend that Gus knew very well.

“On Saturday we moved on to Dublin stayed the night before going to the match on Sunday and we didn’t leave the capital until Tuesday and that’s how we got to see that final such was our love of the sport.” 

The mention of Christy Ring’s name brought a smile to Jimmy’s face as he recalled his playing days with the maestro playing with him in 1944.

“It goes without saying he was the greatest and my first game with him was when I was a 19 year old against the Barrs.

“A month before the county final Cork had won the All-Ireland four in a row and the Glen were represented by Din Joe Buckley, Dr Jim Young, Paddy O’Donovan, Jack Lynch and Christy Ring.

“I am honoured to say that’s the company I was involved with at such a young age and before going on the field Paddy O’Donovan remarked- “come on boy we will look after you”.

A decade later Jimmy and Ring were still teammates in both codes.

“Very few people knew that Christy Ring played football, but he actually won a Senior football medal in 1954 with St Nicks in the year that completed our double.” 

Indeed, the year of 1954 is an historic one for the Blackpool club as they defeated Blackrock in the Senior hurling , Clonakilty in the Senior football.

On top of this the Glen won the Senior Camogie with a win over Blackrock and to round off a great year they won the Intermediate hurling championship with a five- point win over Ballymartle.

Jimmy’s brother Noel who set up this interview and accompanied me was part of the Glen Intermediate team and his son Ian and grandson Stephen are now very much part of the present Glen Senior hurling team.

Still enjoying life at the home Jimmy looks forward to taking in various sporting events on TV with the remote control firmly at his side.

So what does he think of the modern day game?

“In my time we were out nine months a year playing so the legs were strong and in reality there were no hamstrings or ligaments.

“If we didn’t walk it was cycling and I don’t think the modern players would do what we did in our time as now it’s all about driving cars but life has changed completely from my time in the sport.” 

The present Cork team have a crucial game coming up on Sunday against Limerick and Jimmy is hopeful they can build on their opening two games.

“First of all I am proud with the contribution of our club players Patrick Horgan and the Downey brothers but I hope they play for 70 minutes against Limerick as I didn’t see that in the opening two games.” 

On final note he wanted to pay tribute to his daughter Mary and son Kieran who are always by his side since he lost wife Mary in 2015.

Over many years I have interviewed many top people in various sports but this one will sit on my mind for the rest of my life.

As I was departing I remarked to Jimmy-“Don’t forget my invitation to your 100th birthday party.” 

As he waved to me he said “Le Cunamh De”.

What a man!