James Coffey was reared on a diet of Laune Rangers as the club was formed in his grandfather's pub which later passed into his possession.
Arising out of such a diet, it was no wonder that the man devoted almost his whole life to the promotion and development on CLG.
As a teenager, he played both football and hurling for the club. In the early 1950s, hurling was more prominent in Killorglin because of the promptings of Jim Tobin (Waterford) and Kevin Cremins (Cork).

In 1952, James became secretary of the fledgling hurling club at the tender age of 18 years. The club made great strides in a short time and actually reached the county semi-final in 1954, which was an extraordinary achievement.
The brand of hurling played by the boys from the Laune was of the tough, no-nonsense nature and, having defeated Stacks in the quarter final of the County Championship in 1954, during which a number of the Tralee players had to retire injured, the teams were drawn against each other again on the following year. The joke around Rock Street in 1955 was that the Tralee club was looking for 'volunteers' to play against Killorglin.

Emigration and migration contributed to the demise of the hurling club in 1957 but James retained a grá for the small ball game. He was elected as a hurling selector for the county senior team in 1959 and was a much sought-after referee in the code for many years.
James became secretary of the Mid-Kerry Board in 1954 at the instigation of Murt Kelly. He served in that role for the following 17 years, mostly under the chairmanship of Father Brian Kelly. He was at once secretary of the board and of his club, Laune Rangers.

Anybody familiar with the local GAA politics will immediately recognise the amount of diplomacy required to carry out both of those responsibilities simultaneously. He later served as Chairman of the Board for seven years.
During his time with the Mid-Kerry Board, the team was involved in six County Senior Football finals, winning two (1967 and 1971).

James became joint-treasurer of the Kerry County Board in 1973 and served until 2003. In the intervening 31 years, it can be truly said that he never made an enemy and the word most used to describe him by those with whom he worked was 'gentleman.'
He was on many Kerry delegations to Annual Congress throughout the country and whereas some of the congresses were ordinary enough, the home-comings with his good friends Gerald McKenna, Jacques Guerin and Micheal O Ruairc, were legendary!.
Despite his associations with both the Kerry and Mid-Kerry Boards, his greatest love lay with his club, Laune Rangers. He became player-secretary of the club in 1954 and served in that position for eight years. He then progressed to chairman for 20 years, Treasurer for a further 15 years and was President of the club at his death.

It cannot have been a coincidence that he was at the coalface when Mid-Kerry won its first County Senior Football Championship in 1967, Kerry won ten All-Ireland Senior Football titles, including the Golden Years, Laune Rangers won its first Mid-Kerry Senior Football Championship in 1958 and racked up 22 further titles, the JP O'Sullivan Park was paid for and developed into a first-class facility; the pavillion in the JP O'Sullivan Park was built; the club ran two Carnivals and Puck Fair for two years; the youth policy was developed in the 1970s that became a prototype for all progressive clubs. James had an active input to all those achievements. Indeed, he helped build a struggling club entity into the most powerful in the land.
Probably his most proud moment was when Laune Rangers came in from the cold in 1989 to win the County Senior Football Championship for the first time in 78 years. He celebrated when three further titles were added in 1993, 1995 and 1996. The winning of the All-Ireland Club Championship in 1996 was the ultimate reward for all his work and when the Hassett brothers, Liam and Mike, brought the Sam Maguire across the Laune in 1997 his cup of joy was full to overflowing.

James had been struck down with encephalitis in 1971 but the Lord relented and granted him another 40 years of life with his loving wife Kitty and his family, Finbarr, Aileen, Dervil, Carina and Hazel. His hostelry at the bridge was the Mecca of GAA in Mid-Kerry and further afield.
He was a raconteur par excellence. Myriads of arguments commenced in the bar, principally by the proprietor, and with twinkling eyes, he watched the arguments rage for days on end. So popular was the place that, when it closed some years ago, his customers were left like nomads seeking a replacement but, like the man himself, it was irreplaceable.
James went on to his eternal reward on Wednesday June 29, and was reunited with his parents and Eanna, his grandson, his old mentor, Paddy Foley, his former Mid-Kerry Board Secretaries, Patcheen Clifford and 'Small' Moss Harmon, his former officers of the Kerry County Board, Frank King, Murt Galvin, Andy Molyneaux and Tim Lenihan. We can only imagine the kip-o-the-reel that ensued for the past number of days - the defeat of Cork being suitably celebrated.

Go dtí go mbuailfimid le céile arís sna bhflthasaibh go hard, slán, a Fhánái uasail, séimh.

Courtesy of The Kerryman, 13th July 2011 Tweet

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