All Points North

Jimmy Brennan

His many friends in this country will be saddened to learn of Jimmy Brennan’s death.
Though resident for many years in Leeds, he was very well known to the Irish greyhound community because of his regular visits to Liscannor, Powerstown and the Irish Cup. Indeed, it is less than three years since he also spent a weekend at Lixnaw.
Jimmy Brennan hailed from Portlaoise and came from a greyhound background. Indeed, his maternal grandfather, James Conroy, had Glorious Event, Mick The Miller’s sire, at stud.
He often reminisced about first going to England in 1929 to work in the kennels of one of the Liverpool tracks. Other members of his family were also based there and a bevy of Brennans played for Lancashire against Waterford in the All-Ireland junior hurling final of 1931.
Jimmy Brennan more than once saw Mick The Miller run and had reached the ripe old age of 93 when his passing removed one of the last links with an historic era in greyhound sport.
Jimmy trained successfully, track and field, from kennels in Vicar Street, Kilkenny during the 1940s and 1950s. He returned to England in the late 1950s to take up a position with Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield, where he enjoyed a fruitful career.
Among his best-known greyhounds was Forward King, winner of the English and Scottish St. Legers in 1968. In the same year he produced Pool’s Punter to create a 20/1 upset in the final of the All England at Brough Park. Pool’s Punter soon afterwards came to Ireland and won a St. Leger at Limerick and ran up for a Laurels at Cork.
Toremore Flash and Kudas Honour credited Jimmy with successive Steel City Cups at his home track, Owlerton, but, despite his expertise at preparing greyhounds to race behind the artificial lure, if you scratched beneath the surface you would quickly realise that his first, and abiding, sporting love was coursing.
Altcar was for years one of his favourite stamping grounds. So were meetings organised by the Old Yorkshire Club and great was his joy when Haich Bee, trained by his brother, Ted, won the Waterloo Cup in 1968. Ted was also attached to Owlerton and making this victory all the sweeter was the fact that Haich Bee was acquired for just 38 guineas at Aldridges Sapling Sale.
In retirement, Jimmy Brennan never lost his interest in greyhound sport and regularly wrote letters to this newspaper and the trade publications in Brfitain, commenting on a variety of subjects.
His last visit to his native country was in February when, though wheelchair-confined, he attended the McManus Irish Cup meeting at Greenmount, where he renewed acquaintance with his host of friends. Powerstown and Limerick will not be the same without him.