Search Results for 'Eamonn Cregan'

I was privileged several times to have been in Croke Park when Galway won All-Irelands but none of them compared to September 7, 1980 when we won our first hurling title in 57 years. All of those years of frustration, of being gallant losers, noble in defeat, worthy opposition, of being classed as also-rans, chokers, of being told we had some of the finest hurlers never to win an All-Ireland, were all forgotten in that never-to-be-forgotten moment when the final whistle went. All of the hard luck stories, the near misses, the controversial defeats, the emptiness, all vanished with the sweet music of that whistle. We had to look at the scoreboard to make sure it was true. Galway 2-15, Limerick 3-9. The tears. The huge outburst of emotion and frenzied celebration was beautifully captured in Stan Shields’ photograph, our first image today.

It was a joy to be a Galway person on the first Sunday of September 1980, the day our hurlers ended years of frustration, perennial underachievement, near misses, noble defeats, controversial defeats, the hard luck stories, the emptiness.