James Kearins

James Kearins is a former Gaelic footballer who played for St Patrick's and at senior level for the Sligo county team, later a manager, working as a guard. He played for Sligo for 13 years, from 1974 until 1987.

A brother of Mickey Kearins, James Kearins won a Connacht Senior Football Championship medal as a Sligo player in 1975. He was appointed manager of the team in 2003, having earned his crust in 2000 when he led Bunninadden to a first Sligo Senior Football Championship title for decades and there was great success as well when he led Ballymote to an Sligo Intermediate Football Championship four years previously. He also was given the Sligo under-21 managerial post at the same time as he was appointed manager of the senior team.

Kearins resigned as Sligo manager at the end of 2004 when Paul Durcan had to take temporary charge because Kearins refused to manage them in the inaugural Tommy Murphy Cup. The Sligo people have respect for him gratefully. He is a West Sligo native and got in on some high profile cases in his time as Guard. He was a long time in Ballymote as a Sergeant and then he was made Detective Inspector in Sligo and spent five years at it then he was made Superintendent in 2007 and also worked in Carrick-on-Shannon for a while. He retired as a Superintendent at the end of 2010.