Johnny Brennan is probably the only Limerick man who can lay claim to possessing his own private museum.

Thousands flocked to view his wonderful rugby memorabilia, which started very small but soon grew to such an extent that he three times extended the family home, to accommodate the volume of items he had put on display.

Johnny Brennan with some of his extensive collection of rugby memorabilia, which he soon hopes to house in a dedicated Limerick rugby museum. Picture: Brendan Gleeson

Now, he has so many varying items from signed jerseys, balls, shirts, shorts, boots, pictures, videos, etc, that he has taken them from his own home and is awaiting a suitable location for what he hopes will be a showcase for Limerick rugby.

Son of Christopher and Josephine, Johnny was born in Hyde Road. He has three brothers, Michael, Patrick and Buddy. “My father was a taxi driver and used to drive the Young Munster players to matches. I was educated at St Vincent de Paul School in Henry Street and then at CBS. But I could not play hurling as I was a soccer man from the age of 13,” he told me.

Born and reared in Hyde Road, where he still lives, Johnny joined Prospect, under the guidance of the legendary Pa Wilmot.

“When under 15, I was left-back on the team that won the Liam Whelan Shield, when we beat Dominic Savio of Dublin 2-1 at Cals Park. Also on that side were Walter Shanahan, later of South Liberties hurling club, Ray Collins, Ger Tuohy, and Pa O’Donnell,” he said.

Johnny’s next port of call was to join the-then newly-formed Hyde Rovers under Denis and David McGuinness.

His sporting life took a new turn when he reached the age of 16, and he joined Young Munster. “Paddy Foley and Jimmy Carr were our coaches and, while there were no competitive games, we played Old Crescent on Sunday mornings. Tom Clancy was the bag manager at the time. I progressed to the under-20s and captained Young Munster in a final against Old Crescent who included Ken Lyons, Niall Cantrell, Pat Whelan and Timmy Donnelly and on the Young Munster side were Brendan Moynihan, Michael O’Shea, Eddie Upton, Gerry Ryan and Hubert Murray. We lost 0-11 in the final,” he reflected.

Johnny played junior with Young Munster in 1968 and while he was not in action in the Transfield Cup final he was a member of the panel.

“Our side, which beat Shannon in the final, included Michael O’Flaherty, captain Johnny Smalle, Johnny O’Brien, Richie Daly, Michael O’Doherty and Vinny O’Driscoll,” he recalled.