Jimmy Duggan died peacefully on Sunday 29 October 2023 at the age of 93 surrounded by his family and loved ones. The passing of this wonderful man brought great sadness to his family, friends and the entire GAA community. Jimmy was without doubt one of the most legendary hurlers of his time. Jimmy was born in 1930 the son of Martin and Mary Duggan. His brothers, Sean and Paddy, were also noted hurlers and his sister, Monica, was an exceptional Camogie player. The Duggan family hurling lineage dates from the 1890s, when their granduncles were members of the famous College Road team which brought the first Galway Senior Hurling Championship titles to the city in 1892 and 1893. As children, the Duggan brothers began hurling in the street and were given their first hurleys by Eddie Moore O’Flaherty from the Claddagh. They played hurling on the street, in the Sportsground and Eyre Square, often using their jackets or school bags as goalposts. As they grew older, they spent most of their spare time playing juvenile hurling in places like Mahon’s Field, The Plots, Boland’s Field and the Nuns’ Field on Forster Street. Jimmy attended the Patrician Brothers School, known as the ‘Mon’ on Lombard Street. While at school, he captained the Saint Patrick’s team. This team represented Woodquay, Bohermore, College Road and Renmore. He won his first hurling medal when they won the Galway City Street League. He joined Liam Mellows Hurling Club and became one of their greatest stalwarts and remained so all of his life.
In 1947, Jimmy captained the Liam Mellows Minor team to victory, winning the County Hurling title. He was presented with the Fr Griffin Cup by Canon James O’Dea, President of the County Board. Jimmy was also on the Liam Mellows side that captured a unique double by winning the County Minor Football title the same year. He played with the County Minor Hurling team in 1947 and 1948. His senior inter-county career began in 1949 when he was selected as a member of the outstanding Galway team that won the National League in 1951. In 1953, he was on the Galway team that was narrowly defeated by Cork in the All-Ireland final. Two years later, in 1955, Jimmy captained the Galway team in the All-Ireland final against Wexford. He also played in the 1958 All-Ireland final against Tipperary, the champions that year.
Throughout all of this period, Jimmy was a constant member of the Liam Mellows Senior team. This continued for over four decades, from 1949 to 1974. It was a phenomenal record, and he won four Senior Hurling medals with the club, in 1954, 1955, 1968, and 1970. Apart from the club and county hurling, he was selected to play for Ireland against the combined Universities in 1955 and 1956. He won an Oireachtas medal in 1958. This victory over Wexford was special to Jimmy, and this was a major competition in those days and attracted big crowds. In 1965, Jimmy was chosen together with Christy Ring (Cork), Tom Neville (Waterford) and Paddy Molloy (Offaly) to play in the Cardinal Cushing games in New York, Connecticut and Boston.
Towards the end of his hurling career, Jimmy combined his playing duties with refereeing and in characteristic fashion and was noted as an outstanding and highly respected referee. He covered numerous County Championships. At national level, he refereed the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Final (1964); All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Final (1965) and the Railway Cup Final in 1966. Liam Mellows Hurling Club was his home away from home, and he served as Chairperson and Secretary. In addition, Jimmy trained and successfully managed numerous club teams over the years. He was Chairman of Coiste Ioman na nÓg; Vice-Chairman and President of the Galway County Board and President of the Galway Hurling Board. In 1994, Jimmy was honoured with the Galway Hurling Hall of Fame Award.
Along with his brother, Sean, Jimmy was conferred with an Honorary Master’s Degree by NUI Galway in 2008 in recognition of their lifetime contribution to Galway hurling. Jimmy worked as manager of Kelly Office Printing at Nile Lodges, Salthill. After retiring, Jimmy gave much of his time to the Augustine Office on Middle Street. Jimmy was married to Ann, and they had six children, Peter, Collette, Dolores, Martina, Fidelma and Seamus. It was said that he was one of its most stylish and ‘pound for pound, there was no better hurler than Jimmy Duggan’. Dave O’Connell (Connacht Tribune) reporting on Jimmy’s passing away wrote: ‘He wasn’t just one of Galway’s finest ever hurlers; he was also one of the most unassuming and modest of men – but anyone even remotely au fait with the history of the GAA in the county will know that Jimmy Duggan’s place in the pantheon of greats was assured long before his death’.
