Search Results for 'Frank Stockwell'

“Grey beards may tell tall stories of ‘The days when men were men’ but never, I feel certain, was there an All-Ireland Senior Football final so completely, and let me add, so distressingly satisfying as the 1956 decider yesterday in Croke Park where Galway defeated Cork by 2 – 13 to 3 – 7.

Galway made it to the All-Ireland final in 1956 for the first time since 1942. They beat Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo, and Tyrone on the way and faced Cork in the final. The match was delayed for three weeks because of an outbreak of polio in Cork. It was played on October 7 in front of more than 70,000 people and it turned out to be one of the most exciting and thrilling finals in the history of the sport.

Every generation has its heroes. The people to whom we all look up to for various forms of inspiration. These could be political, literary, sporting, or just in the field of sheer bravery. In most cases we use them as a form of escapism, as a distraction to take our minds off the realities of life. And in Ireland in the post-war period, there was much need for such distraction. The greyness of the fledgling state was mirrored in the lives of its citizens.

There was the end of an era this week in Galway football and in the town of Tuam itself with the death of the great Frank Stockwell at the age of 80 after a long battle with illness.

There was sadness in Tuam and Galway this week with the end of an era for Galway football with the death of the great Frank Stockwell at the age of 80 after a long battle with illness. Frankie was the second member of a foot-balling double act, which was almost as famous and successful as Laurel and Hardy in their prime.

Since I packed in competitive football the most regular question that I have been asked on numerous occasions is: