Jimmy was born in a small village in Tipperary, Ireland, the first of twenty one children.
The story Jimmy told, and if there was anyone who knew how to tell a good story it was Jimmy, was that he got tired of falling out of the bed and there not being enough room to get back in, so he left home at fourteen to seek his fame and fortune in England.
Not long after he found himself in Chertsey, finding work as a labourer before his father in law, who worked as a chippie at Nettlefold Studios, took him under his wing and Jimmy started his career as a grip.
In 1980 Jimmy, along with Kenny Atherfold, David Cadwallader, Tony Cridlin, Dennis Fraser and Chunky Huse founded the pioneering Grip House, which played an instrumental part in the future of gripping within the UK film industry.
Jimmy worked in commercials with director and friend Adrian Lyne and also found himself working with renowned cinematographer Ronnie Taylor and director Sir Richard Attenbourgh.
His career included some of the biggest films of his generation including Escape to Victory, Gandhi, Cry Freedom, 1492: Conquest of Paradise, Sexy Beast and The Beach to name just a few.
Throughout his career, Jimmy maintained his unique sense of humour, always with an Irish twinkle in his eye and was known on set for his tall stories and for famously coining the phrase ‘no lolly, no dolly.’
A keen golfer and a dedicated and loving husband, father and grandfather, nothing was more important to Jimmy than his family who all miss and remember him everyday after his passing in 2017.
