James Phelan (6 April 1917 – 5 January 2006) was an Irish hurler who played as a left corner-forward for the Kilkenny senior team.
[1][2] Born in Ballyragget, County Kilkenny, Phelan first played competitive hurling whilst at school in Mount Sion CBS.
At club level he enjoyed a distinguished career with Mount Sion, Tullaroan, Éire Óg and Carlow Town.
Described as one of the greatest Harty Cup players of all time, he enjoyed little success in this competition but was chosen for Munster in the inter-provincial colleges series.
Mount Sion, at their first attempt, won their way into the semi-final of the senior championship, where they caused a major shock by beating Decies kingpins, Erin's Own in search of an incredible ten-a-row.
The club, however, lost the game as a Tallow objection, due to one of the Mount Sion players having hurled in Wexford that same year, was upheld.
When that club disbanded for a short while he threw in his lot with Éire Óg, a highly regarded city team and it was with them he played his only championship decider in 1941.
The subsequent All-Ireland decider on 1 September 1940 brought Kilkenny and Limerick together for the last great game between the two outstanding teams of the decade.
Early in the second-half Kilkenny took a four-point lead, however, once Mick Mackey was deployed at midfield he proceeded to dominate the game.
A narrow 2–5 to 2–4 victory gave Phelan his sole Railway Cup medal, while it denied the southern province a remarkable fifth successive title.