For me, hurling is the ultimate game, but it is more than just a game, a team contest of speed, skill, style, hand-eye co-ordination, a national passion which is woven into the social fabric of Irish society, a game that is played for pride, not money, and quintessentially Irish. As a lady once said, “When you think of it, apart from the Irish language, there is nothing more Irish in this country than the game of hurling.” The game has always flourished in Galway and this county has made a major contribution to its history.
The first senior All-Ireland hurling final was played in 1887, the first junior All-Ireland final was played in 1912 for players before progressing to senior level, and the first minor All Ireland, for players under 18, was played in 1928. For the first few years the minor final was between the champions of Munster and of Leinster, eventually the Ulster champions were included and finally, in 1931, all four provincial champions competed in All Ireland semi-finals. The final was invariably a curtain-raiser for the senior game.
In the early days, the trophy invariably went to one of the ‘big three’ - Cork, Tipperary, or Kilkenny. Galway competed in many finals but had to wait a long time to win one. The breakthrough came in 1983 when Galway beat Dublin by 10 points to seven. Since then, our minors have won the title in 1992, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. (I really enjoyed typing that last line ). These successes were epitomised by the courage, grit, and resilience of the team that won the 2020 title recently. They made history by winning their fourth title in a row. So, to celebrate minor hurling in Galway and the current All-Ireland champions, we thought to bring you one of the teams that were not victorious but paved the way for the more recent teams.
The team of 1941 were beaten by Cork by a score of 3 – 11 to 1 – 1. Because of a clash of colours, either Galway or Cork changed jerseys, usually Galway in white and Cork in blue. In this game, Galway wore the Killimor jersey, red with a blue stripe. The team is, back row, left to right: Seán Murphy, Kinvara; Dermot Solon, New Inn; Colm Crean, Gabriel McNamee, Loughrea; Declan Quigley; Kevin Kenelly; Willie Fahy, Castlegar. Middle row: Jack Whelan, Killimor, county secretary; Bill Keane, Liam Mellows; Joe Meaney, Liam Mellows; Dick Behan, Mullagh; Pádraig Brophy, Killimor; Frank Murphy, Clarinbridge; Joe Muldoon, selector. Front row: Billy Joe Coen, Killimordaly; Mike Doyle, Kinvara; and ‘Hockey’ Nestor, Liam Mellows.
Jack Whelan was a highly respected official and in front of him, you can see his famous bag which he carried everywhere with him. They knew he had a sliothar in there and a bottle of iodine and a bandage, but whatever else it contained remained a mystery to players and supporters alike. There was no such thing as collective training for this team, they simply came together on the day of the match and hardly knew each other.
Our thanks to Michael Donoghue for this photograph.
Two weeks ago in this column, writing about Druid, we mentioned the name of Adrian Taheny. It should have been Gerard Taheny. Apologies.
Listen to Tom Kenny and Ronnie O'Gorman elaborating on topics they have covered in this week's paper and much more in this week's Old Galway Diary Podcast.
