REGARDED as one of the greatest hurlers to never win an All-Ireland medal, Jimmy Smyth is the subject of a new book by Ennis historian Ollie Byrnes.
Iconic Cork great Christy Ring described the Ruan man as “the best hurler bar none”. Born on 1st January 1931, an ideal sporting birthday, he died aged 82 on 9th February 2013, months before Clare claimed their fourth All-Ireland SHC.
Jimmy lined out for Clare on 146 occasions between 1948 and 1967, he was named at right corner forward on the Team of the Century announced in 1984 and in the same spot for the Munster hurling Team of the Millennium, he won an Oireachtas Cup with Clare in 1954.
When the Railway Cup was at its pomp, he collected eight interprovincial medals while with his native Ruan he won Clare SHC titles in 1948, 1951, 1959, 1960 and 1962. During his time at St Flannan’s College in the 1940s, he took home three Harty Cup and All-Ireland Colleges medals. Post-playing, he became President of Clare GAA.
For the past eighteen months, he has been researched intently by Ollie Byrnes for what is the Ennis native’s twelfth book, the tenth on the subject of hurling and the first that focuses on one individual. “He is the centre-piece but it covers a 25 year period. When I first started going to matches by my parents, they were huge followers, Smyth was coming to the autumn of his career, he was a huge name and a massive figure, he could always do the unbelievable like bust the net when you needed a goal, he was almost impossible to stop, he could hit a 30m free and all you would see is the net shake,” Ollie explained.
New material particularly on Ruan plus the Clare team of the 1950s is contained in the book which will be launched at The Temple Gate Hotel this coming Tuesday at 7pm. Michael Slattery (Clarecastle), Joe Keane (Kilnamona), Paddy McDonald (Kilkee), Jim Fogarty (Tipperary), Seamus O’Reilly (County Express) and Brian Dinan (historian) are guest contributors with an article each in ‘Jimmy Smyth: A Hurling Life’.
Not alone did Jimmy’s skill mark him out from the others, but the fact he studied philosophy at Trinity College also made him unique. “He was hugely interested in people. He was a deep thinking man on the game. He loved ballads and he explained to me one day that Tommy Daly of Tulla was remembered because of the ballads, there’s no one alive to remember how good he was but the ballad and when someone sings Brian McMahon’s song Daly is remembered because of that. When there’s no one alive that can remember you hurling, this keep you alive. Smyth was unique in many ways, he was a great man to talk, you didn’t get monosyllabic answers,” Ollie recalled.
Although Jimmy never wanted a biography, he is certainly worthy of this book. “Bernie Dilger played for Éire Óg, he said to me Smyth could make three or four moves like Ring that were decisive, he would cut open a defence but power, his ability to get goals, he always hit scores in high matches, tallies like 3-04, 4-05, 6-03, 1-07, always big scores, his general play, his dealership, his ability to go back into the backs with Ruan or Clare, he could play in several positions, there is a piece by Michael Slattery and he compares Tony Kelly and Jimmy Smyth, it is an exceptional piece”.
Byrnes said of Smyth, “He played every game like a Munster final, any day he was going out as if he was playing against Christy Ring”. He added, “Smyth was worthy of a book, he never wanted a biography, he told me he didn’t believe in biographies, there was one exceptional book done by Ring”.
During an interview with Jimmy in Clontarf in the 1990s, Ollie recalls an outstanding quote on the essence of hurling on what hurling meant to him.
The Essence of Hurling:
“The essence of the game is the friendships built up rather than the antagonisms on the field of play, I have the fondest memories with whom I held some stern moments on the field of play, we now meet and we don’t have to be introduced, we know each other and have forged a friendship that will last a lifetime, we are at ease with one another and we don’t have to go through any artificial ritual,” – Jimmy Smyth in a letter to Ollie Byrnes dated July 23rd 1996.
