Jimmy Magee has passed away at the age of 82. Alongside Bill O’Herlihy, Fred Cogley and Micheál O’Hehir, he was one of the voices that barrated the growing up in Ireland of generations of sports fans.
Magee joined RTÉ in 1956 and covered an incredible 12 Football World Cups and 11 Olympic Games for the national broadcaster.
He loved all sport but it was perhaps in boxing that he will be most fondly remembered. Here is a reminder of the day Jimmy was on the mic when Michael Carruth won Gold at the Barcelona Olympics…
And spanning our national sporting history here he is remembering Ronnie Delaney from the Melbourne Games in 1956.
We had the pleasure of meeting Jimmy on many occasions most lately in November of last year at the Sport Industry Awards.
He was impish to the end, laughing and joking throughout, loving the fact that people thought so highly of him and even giving out with a stage whisper in my left ear when he thought that one of the interviews on the night was running on a bit late.
His likes will not be seen this way again. It was a pleasure to have listened in as a child and to have known him as an adult. Thank you, Jimmy.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
