Athletics
James Sheehy

James Sheehy

When discussing the history of athletics in De La Salle one man stood out head and shoulders above everybody, namely James Sheehy. James established himself as one of the greatest athletes of all time, not alone locally, but also nationally. Son of Mr. and Mrs. Con Sheehy, Cork St., he came from a family with a proud tradition of athletics. James's uncles, Jim, Séan and Con Kelleher were very prominent athletes and County Footballers at the beginning of the century. Séan held the 440 yard Irish record in running at one time.

James was only eleven when he won his first high jump - at the Cork National School Sports in the Mardyke in 1957. He jumped 4 foot 2 inches. He cleared 4 foot 11 3/4 inches the following year to win again and break a school sports record for the first time - a feat he repeated often over the next couple of years.

He made his first appearance in secondary school sports in the Mardyke in 1960, as a fourteen year old. He broke three college records. He continued this sequence of winning events and breaking records for the next four years. He won two Munster and two All-Ireland titles in that year and was also chosen as 'Echo Sports Personality of the Year'.

James broke the six foot barrier for the first time at Yoghal Open Sports in 1961at the age of 15. Other successes that year included the All-Ireland Colleges Intermediate High Jump title at 5 foot 8 1/4 inches, which was a new record. He also won the pole vault and came second in the long jump and as a result All-Ireland Cleges Intermediate Team Shield by himself. He also won the high jump at Banteer Open Sports with a jump of 5 foot 11 inches.

In 1962 he broke four records at the South Munster Colleges sports and went on to retain the All-Ireland and Intermediate Team Shield Ballinasloe. There, he won the high jump ,with a new record of 5 foot 10 inches. He also won the pole vault with a height of 9 foot 9 inches and the 110 yard hurdle in a time of 15.6 seconds. He cleared 6 foot 2 inches to win the Cork County Senior Championships at Ballyhooley and topped that with 6 foot 3 inches a week later to take the All-Ireland Senior High Jump title at Killarney.

That year, at Ennis, he won three titles in the Munster Junior Championships. He followed that by winning three National Junior Titles at the Iveagh Grounds in Dublin. It came as no surprise when he ran away with the Cork County Decathlon title later that year. He was chosen as Cork's Sports Star of the year.

Records were again broken the next year, 1963. This included his own All-Ireland Senior High Jump record with a jump of 6 foot 1 1/2 inches. His own record was 5 foot 10 inches. But later he lost his All-Ireland Open Championship title at Killarney to his rival, Pat O' Shea of Millstreet. Then he jumped 6 foot 2 inches.

At the Tailteann Games at Croke Park, James won a gold medal. Later he represented Ireland at the Catholic Student Games at Lisbon and won one silver and three bronze medals. He also reached a new 'high' with 11 foot 9 inches in the pole vault at the Cork City Sports.

In his final year at Coláiste De La Salle, James again devastated all opposition in College Sports, winning no less than six titles in the South Munster section, four in the Munster section and three in the All-Ireland section. He stretched the record in the Hop, Step and Jump to 44 foot 5 inches. His talents were recognised by Cornell University, who awarded him an Athletic Scholarship in June 1964. Unfortunately this university only competed at inter-varsity events and so James did not have an opportunity to test his amazing prowess at world competition. James spent two years at Cornell and followed it with a year at New York's university in Buffalo, where he studied art. He ran in the New York marathon in 1980 with an amazing time of 2 hours 42 minutes. At present he is lecturing on Art in the Limerick School of Art and Design.

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