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The house in question is best known as the home of Mrs Clarke, her son, Michael, still a regular face around town, as is her nephew, the mighty Tom Fortune.
Jimmy! Jimmy!
t was eagle-eyed GG reader Ciaran ‘I’m A Fireman!’ Hayden who spotted the address on one of the many letters the young Jimmy Magee wrote to RTE, hoping to find work there.
t was eagle-eyed GG reader Ciaran ‘I’m A Fireman!’ Hayden who spotted the address on one of the many letters the young Jimmy Magee wrote to RTE, hoping to find work there.
The date was March 27th, 1956, and the place was Greystones…
The date was March 27th, 1956, and the place was Greystones…Richmond Cottage, on La Touche Place, reckons the eagle-eyed Ciaran, and the date would have put Jimmy at the age of 31, ten years married to Marie, and with four of their eventual five kids already running around the house.
Magee reportedly wrote many a letter to RTE, telling them just how valuable he would be to them, and the self-promotion worked. Not long after this particular letter, Jimmy got a job as a reporter for Radio Éireann’s Junior Sports Magazine.
Richmond Cottage
The fact that this show was presented by Delgany native Harry Thullier may be the main link here. From such humble beginnings though, the New York-born, Cooley, Co. Louth-raised Irishman went on to become the nation’s most famous sports commentator of all time.
Having passed last Wednesday, September 20th, after a short illness, the tributes have been coming thick and fast for the man who was, for many sports fans, the voice of a nation. His remarkable career was captured in the 2012 memoir, Memory Man.
Know your onions…
2 comments
Hi, my name is Eileen and I just read in an article in a Wicklow newspaper that you are looking for any information on Jimmy Magee sports commentator. Perhaps I can help you. Jimmy and Marie were our best friends for many years as Jimmy worked with my late husband Brian before he worked for RTE. When Jimmy came to Dublin first from Cooley Co. Louth he lived with us in Rathmines. His then girlfriend Marie lived in Kimmage. Myself and Brian then moved to Richmond Cottage, La Touche Place, Greystones and we lived there from 1955 until 1958. When Marie and Jimmy got married, much to our delight they then became our neighbours in Greystones when they became the tenants of Richmond Lodge, which is the house behind ours, Richmond Cottage. I don’t know if you have already ordered the statue for Burnaby Park, but please feel free to contact me if you wish.
Kind regards,
Eileen Kavanagh.
Thanks for that, Eileen. The article is actually from 2017, and the parting line about a statue in Burnaby Park just a jest. Great to have some more information on the great man’s time in Greystones though…
Cheers
Paul