James Finbarr Morrison (1 July 1923 – 30 August 1994) was an Irish hurler who played as a full-forward at senior level for the Cork county team. Morrison made his first appearance for the team during the 1944 championship and was a regular member of the starting fifteen for just one season. During that time he won one

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) is a term used to describe organisations and events whose interests extend over the entire island of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Irelan ...

medal and one

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

medal. At club level Morrison was a one-time county senior championship medalist with St Finbarr's.

Playing career

Club

Morrison played his club hurling with St Finbarr's and had much success. He first played for the famous "Barr's" club in the minor grade and collected three successive championship medals in that grade between 1939 and 1941. In 1942 Morrison played in his first senior county final with "the Barr's".

Ballincollig Ballincollig () is a suburban town within the administrative area of Cork city in Ireland. It is located on the western side of Cork city, beside the River Lee on the R608 road. In 2016 it was the largest town in County Cork, at which time the ...

, a team who had defeated nine-in-a-row hopefuls Glen Rovers in the semi-final, provided the opposition. St Finbarr's made no mistake and powered to a 5–7 to 2-2. It was Morrison's sole

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

medal with the club.

Inter-county

Morrison first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Cork minor hurling team in 1941. He won a

medal that year following a 4–6 to 3–3 defeat of Tipperary. He later lined out in an All-Ireland decider against

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

. A 5–2 to 2–2 score line gave Cork the victory and gave Morrison an

All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Minor Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Electric Ireland GAA Hurling All-Ireland Minor Championship) is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Associ ...

medal. In 1944 Morrison joined the senior team as Cork were attempting to capture a fourth All-Ireland title in-a-row. No team in the history of the hurling championship had won more than three consecutive titles. The year got off to a good start when Cork defeated Limerick by 4–6 to 3-6 after a replay to give Morrison a

medal. For the third time in four years Cork faced

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in an All-Ireland decider. Joe Kelly was the hero of the day and he contributed greatly to Cork's 2–13 to 1–2 victory. It was an

medal for Morrison. He died in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California in August 1994 at the age of 71.Le Père James Finbarr MORRISON
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Honours

;St Finbarr's *

Cork Senior Hurling Championship The Cork Premier Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Co-Op Superstores Cork Premier Senior Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Cork PSHC) is an annual club hurling competition organised by the Cork County B ...

1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...

;Cork *

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Championship, is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest-tier competition for ...

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

Munster Senior Hurling Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship, known simply as the Munster Championship, is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster GAA, Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the h ...

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

Munster Minor Hurling Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Minor Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Electric Ireland Munster GAA Hurling Minor Championship) is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster GAA, Munster Council of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Jim 1923 births 1994 deaths All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners Cork inter-county hurlers St Finbarr's hurlers Irish expatriates in the United States 20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests 20th-century Irish sportsmen