James Edward Young (16 October 1915 – 23 August 1992) was an Irish hurler and Gaelic footballer who played in various positions for the Cork senior teams.
In 1938 Young joined the senior team as Glen Rovers set out to make history by besting Blackrock's twenty-five-year-old championship record of winning successive titles.
The success continued once again the following year as Glen Rovers faced Blackrock in their first championship decider meeting in almost a decade.
Nine-in-a-row proved beyond Glen Rovers and a defeat by Ballincollig in the championship semi-final brought the teams great run of success to an end.
The Glen made it two-in-a-row in 1945 with Young adding a sixth championship medal to his collection as divisional side Carrigdhoun were bested by 4–10 to 5–3.
In his final season with the Glen Rovers senior team, Young played in a ninth county decider.
While a draw looked likely as the hour drew to a close Paddy Phelan sent a seventy-yard free in towards the Cork goalmouth.
The sliotar was gobbled up by the defence and cleared, but only as far as Jimmy Kelly who sent it straight over the bar for a one-point lead.
Young lined out in the final against Dublin, however, it turned into a one-sided affair thanks to contributing goals from Johnny Quirke and Ted O'Sullivan.
The year got off to a good start when Cork defeated Limerick by 4–6 to 3–6 after a replay to give Young a fourth Munster medal.
Under the captaincy of Christy Ring, Cork subsequently faced old rivals Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final.
With ten minutes remaining Cork's lead was reduced to just two points, however, goals by Mossy O'Riordan and Joe Kelly secured the victory.
Cork retained their provincial dominance in 1947 with Young picking up a sixth winners' medal following a three-point victory over Limerick.
A Joe Kelly goal put Cork one point ahead with time almost up, however, Terry Leahy proved to be the hero of the day.
A thrilling Munster quarter-final replay defeat by Tipperary in 1949 brought the curtain down on Young's inter-county career.
[8] He won his first Railway Cup medal as a non-playing sub in 1942, however, he would be a member of the starting fifteen as the province went on to dominate the rest of the decade.
Defeats of Leinster (1943), Connacht (1944) and Ulster (1945, 1946) gave Young four successive Railway Cup medals on the field of play.
He became Munster squash champion and served as non-playing captain of the Irish Davis Cup tennis team in 1967.
On 23 August 1992, Young died aged 76 at his home in Cork, survived by his wife Eileen, two sons and two daughters.
In delivering his graveside oration, former club and county teammate John Lyons said: "When he played with Cork, he was part of a team that had Christy Ring, Jack Lynch and a host of other great players.