Ballycumber man with 'excellent memory' passes away in 102nd year

Jimmy Guinan from Ballycumber who passed away recently at 102 years of age has been remembered as a “gentleman” with “excellent memory.”

He worked for Bord na Mona for over 30 years and was the village's oldest resident. He was described as a “good neighbour and family man” and an “avid reader” by Ballycumber GAA Club. “He enjoyed completing crosswords and he was much sought after as a teammate on table quiz teams.” He also enjoyed watching quiz programmes on TV.

As a result of having an incredible capacity to retain information Jimmy was a great source of information to the authors of the locally produced book, 'A Walkers Guide to Ballycumber Past.' Impressively, he remembered a horse race meeting which was held locally in 1929 to raise funds for the renovation of Boher Church and could vividly recall the Jockeys in their coloured silks in the village before the races began.

Jimmy was very interested in GAA and he could recall teams and players from years ago. He recently entertained his family by naming all the Offaly All Ireland winning teams in both hurling and football.