Curran began his footballing career in 1903; in an article in
The Kerryman published 28 January 1961, he recounted how in summer he would begin training at the sports field at seven A.M., before working from nine A.M. to eleven P.M., and often being picked up from work by
Austin Stack for evening training, missing dinner due to having to return to work. Curran was one of
Kerry's players (as a forward) against Kildare in the
1903 All-Ireland home final series of games, contributing to their victory (over
London Hibernians)- the first ever win for the Kerry side at this level- by scoring a goal at a critical point in the final match, played on 12 November 1905, which was scored 0-11 to 0-3. The following year, he played again for Kerry, with the team defeating Dublin, in the
game played on 1 July 1906, by 0–5 to 0–2 in the final. Although Kerry dominated the game for decades afterwards, their failure to score in the first half of a 1966 game (which Kerry eventually won by two points) against Wicklow led to the players being jeered by their own fans; Curran observed 'Lord bless my soul, I never saw worse in my life.' ==Other activities==