JAMIE Vardy may have been hailed by the football world on Saturday for goals in 11 consecutive Premier League games but he remains one match away from equalling the record set by a shy Dubliner more than 80 years ago.
Jimmy Dunne netted in 12 consecutive games in the 1931/32 season for Sheffield United, before lining out for Arsenal, Southampton and Shamrock Rovers.
Born in Ringsend, Dunne started his career with Shamrock Rovers in 1923, at the age of 18.
Returning as player-manager from 1937 to 1940, he led the club to back-to-back league titles and an FAI Cup, before he died suddenly in 1947 at the age of just 44.
Robert Goggins, who has written several books about Shamrock Rovers, including a chronological history of the club, said older fans he had interviewed decades ago recalled Dunne as "one of the top three in Shamrock Rovers' history."
Mr Goggins said: "Liam Tuohy (former Republic of Ireland national manager) once said that there isn’t really comparisons. They are different times."
"Jimmy would have had more support in that you had five forwards in those days but of course he played with a leather ball which would have maybe made it harder to score. Regardless, all of their achievements are remarkable."
After initially showing interest in GAA, Dunne reportedly switched to playing football during a period when he was interned during the Civil War.
However, the Shamrock Rovers historian – who knew Jimmy Dunne’s late son Tommy well – said the goalscorer’s republican sympathies have been exaggerated.
Mr Goggins said: "I am not sure about a lot of the stuff I have read about Jimmy. He didn’t hold very strong republican views."
"Jimmy had actually been interned by mistake. His brother, Christy Dunne, was the guy that was meant to have been interned. Jimmy didn’t say, being the type of fella that he was, that they had arrested him by mistake."
Having turned out for both northern and southern Ireland teams during his career, Dunne is also remembered for refusing to give a Nazi salute during a match between Germany and the Republic in 1937.
Should Vardy score against Newcastle this weekend, he will be just one game away from overturning the record.
Mr Goggins said: "Records are there to be broken. I don’t think there will be any sadness in Shamrock Rovers. I think Vardy’s goals have resurrected all of this, and it’s a lovely story."
The Shamrock Rovers historian added: "I am sure he is looking down on it all with a bit of bemusement."
