Warm tributes have been paid to Avenue Road man Emmet Curran who was widely regarded as the very best on the quiz circuit in Dundalk and further afield during the 80’s and 90’s.
Emmet won countless quizzes both locally and nationally down through the years but his crowning moment came in 1989 when he was declared RTE Know Your Sport champion after a fantastic performance in the final. Know Your Sport was a notoriously difficult quiz hosted by George Hamilton and Jimmy McGee and for his victory Emmet and his wife Pat won a trip to New York City.
Emmet, originally from Ballintemple in County Cork, worked in engineering and would later become Assistant Chief Fire Officer for Louth County Council. He was a keen sportsman in his youth and played rugby, soccer and GAA for the likes of College Corinthians AFC and Ringmahon Rovers and later on he would become a valued member of Dundalk Tennis Club.
As good as he was on the sports field it was on the quiz scene that Emmet really made his name with his razor sharp mind making him a much sought after team member on the ultra competitive quiz scene in the 80’s and 90’s. According to another local quiz legend Peter Treanor, Emmet was the best without question.
“Many claimed to be the best but in my mind and many others nobody was as good as Emmet. I competed in quizzes against the brilliant Mick O’Brien in the 70’s and Pat Boland in the 80’s and they were great but when Emmet appeared on the scene he was in a different league. He was on a brilliant team with Andy Carolan, Jim Murphy and Paddy Prenderville who won five Childline All-Ireland tournaments and of course he was the Know Your Sport overall winner and he won countless quizzes locally and across the country down through the years. He just had an unbelievable ability to retain information and he was so humble with it. A real gentleman who never boasted about his many achievements on the quiz scene,” explained Pete.
Andy Carolan who travelled the country with Emmet along with Jim Murphy and Paddy Prenderville fondly remembers a very warm, friendly and brilliant man who he says he will miss dearly.
“We won five All-Ireland Childline quizzes together and we had a great time on the road entering quizzes all over the country. Emmet was a fabulous character who was extremely modest. He was very knowledgeable on all subjects but especially sport and classical music as well as being brilliant at the quirky odds and end questions you sometimes get in quizzes. We all got on very well together and I remember those days with great fondness. I was very sad to hear of Emmet’s passing and I will miss my old friend dearly,” stated Andy.
Emmet is very deeply regretted by his loving family, his wife Pat (née Kenny) daughters Neasa and Déirdre, grandchildren Theo and Jonah, brother Fr. Roddy, sister Mary Curtin, sons in law Eoin and Conor, nephews and nieces, extended family, relatives and friends.
