Goodwill for Galway hurlers in Mayo as they bid for glory on Sunday
The excitement is palpable everywhere and there is a huge swell of neighbourly friendship across the two counties
The excitement is palpable everywhere and there is a huge swell of neighbourly friendship across the two counties. Facebook is filled with messages ‘Galway for Liam and Mayo for Sam’ as both counties become decorated with flags and bunting ahead of the big showdowns.
The goodwill in Mayo for the Galway hurlers is nothing new. The Connacht hurling teams in the interprovincial Railway Cup series in former decades featured almost always an entire Galway selection that enjoyed the support of Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo and Leitrim. Joe Henry of Tooreen was among the rare exceptions and made a number of appearances on the Connacht ‘First 15’ teams as did Mayo goalie, Dave Sinnott, who was a native of Wexford.
The Donoghue family of Clarinbridge also have ties to Mayo. While Micheál was manager of the Galway team that defeated Waterford in the 2017 final and is again at the helm in taking the team to the final next Sunday, his brother Liam spent three years as a coach with the Mayo hurlers.
The management of the current Mayo hurling team features Ray Larkin (Kilnadeema-Leitrim), former Galway senior hurler Nigel Shaughnessy from Loughrea, and Padraig Mannion from Ballygar.
Galway will be bidding to win the All Ireland title for the sixth time with their previous victories coming in 1923, 1980, 1987, 1988 and 2017. Limerick are going for their fourteenth title, having won five titles since 2018, and becoming the outstanding team of the last decade.
Young players
Like the Mayo football team, Galway has introduced some outstanding young players this season and, along with some of the seasoned players like Conor Whelan, Tom Monaghan, Daithi Burke, and Padraic and Cathal Mannion, they were on fire in the second half against Cork in the semi-final.
The bookies have installed Limerick as strong favourites on Sunday but they also had Cork in the same position ahead of the semi-final when the betting odds matters not a whit as Galway coasted home.
One has to have huge respect for this fine Limerick side and what they have achieved under the guidance of John Kiely. Along with the Kilkenny team of the previous decade or so, they have to be among the top teams in GAA history.
Still, there is a fresh exuberance about Galway this season and they will hold no fear of Limerick. All-Ireland Hurling Final Day is one of our great annual cultural days and let us hope that Sunday’s game will do justice to this most Irish of traditions.
Here’s wishing Galway all the best from the neighbours in Mayo and hoping they bring the Liam McCarthy Cup west of the Shannon again!