The Following article is about Jack Doyle who played prop for Athy in three successive Towns Cup finals for Athy in 1928, 1929, 1930. Know as Skurt he was also a renowned Boxer, Played soccer for the British army during WWII, which was effectively a full International Side. Skurt also played Inter County football for Kildare. The article is taken from Frank Taafe's 'Eye on the Past' in the Kildare Nationalist.

Jack Doyle was the name of a local sporting legend who was known far and wide as Skurt Doyle. What was the origin of the nickname Skurt I cannot say,, but it was a name proudly borne by the Athy man, whose prowess on many sporting fields ranked him in the fore-front of sporting heroes of his time. Skurt Doyle as a young man enlisted in the Dublin Fusiliers a few years after the dawning of the 20th century. The year was 1904 and just months previously Athy had been en fête for the Gordon Bennett Race which thrilled and excited the locals and visitors alike who thronged the streets of Athy and the roads leading out of the town on that famous day in July 1903. Skurt was sent to England for training with the Dublin Fusiliers following which he was based for a few years in Egypt and Malta. It was while in Egypt that Skurt's sporting prowess first came to prominence. He participated in a boxing tournament while stationed in Khartoum and became the British Army Novice Cruiserweight Champion when he defeated Jim Lillis, a Dublin born one time professional boxer.

I have often heard accounts of Skurt's prowess as a runner and the story of how he ran in a marathon race across the Egyptian Desert, only to lose out to a fleet footed Arab. The story goes that Skurt only managed second place, simply because he had consumed a quantity of porter before the race and was not in peak condition for the desert run. But for that, we were told, the Arab would have found himself floundering in the wake of the Athy man! Skurt as a regular soldier was part of the British Expeditionary Force which landed in France at the start of World War I. He was captured during the Battle of Mons and like so many other Irish men spent the remaining years of the war as a prisoner in the Limburg P.O.W. camp. It was in Limburg that Skurt met Fr. J.T. Crotty, the Dominican priest who had previously served in the Athy Priory, who was then one of the chaplains to the 3,000 or so Irishmen imprisoned in Limburg. Three Athy men, Michael Bowden, Martin Maher and John Byrne who like Skurt Doyle were soldiers of the 2nd Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers were to die in Limburg before the end of the war. On his release from the German P.O.W. camp Skurt returned to his regiment and before his dis-charge from the Army he played both soccer and rugby for the British Army in what is generally regarded as international games. As an Army soccer player he played with well known English soccer players such as Steve Bloomer of Derby County and Dickie Bond of Bradford City. In rugby he lined out for the National Army team against the English Navy team and also against the Belgium Army team.

Skurt Doyle, on being demobbed in 1919, returned to Athy and rejoined the local G.A.A. Club. He played football for Athy G.F.C. for the next four years. Before long his talents came to the notice of the County Selectors and from 1920 to 1922 he was the regular goal keeper on the County Kildare senior team. His last game for the county was in Croke Park in April 1922. Athy Hockey Club was another beneficiary of Skurt's talents and he fielded for the Showgrounds based club on several occasions. It was however his prowess as a rugby player and a Gaelic footballer that Skurt Doyle was best remembered. Skurt played with Athy Rugby Club from 1924 onwards and featured in three memorable, if ultimately disappointing, Towns Cup finals. Athy, ably assisted by their powerful prop forward Skurt Doyle, were involved in the Towns Cup finals of 1927, 1928 and 1929 but on each occasion victory was denied. Following one memorable final played in Landsdowne Road, a teammate Jerry O Neill noticed that Skurt had difficulty taking off his shirt. It was later discovered the not so old warrior had broken his collarbone just before half time, yet had played out the entire match without complaint.

Apart from the British Army and Athy Rugby Clubs, Skurt also played for the Dublin Club, Monkstown, and I believe he may have ended his rugby playing days there. On retiring as a player Skurt continued his involvement in Gaelic football and rugby. He was trainer to both the Rugby Club and the G.A.A. Club in Athy and he is to be seen photographed with teams from both codes during the 1930's and 1940's. James Skurt Doyle married Mary Lawler of Ardreigh and they lived at No. 18 Convent View. He worked in later years as a helper on the local C.I.E. delivery lorry. Skurt Doyle, one of the greatest local sporting legends of his time, died 50 years ago and is buried in St. Michael s cemetery. He was truly one of the great sporting legends of this town.