Archive News
St. ThomasÕ on cloud nine!
Date Published: 20-Mar-2013
St. Thomas’ 1-11
Kilcormac/ Killoughey 1-9
STEPHEN GLENNON IN CROKE PARK
IT was a day for the history-makers and St. Thomas’ – following a gutsy final victory over Offaly and Leinster champions Kilcormac/Killoughey – were not to be left out of the limelight as they became the first Galway outfit to win an All-Ireland senior club hurling title at the first time of asking.
When you think of all the great Galway teams that have claimed the Tommy Moore Cup in the past – Castlegar, Kiltormer, Sarsfields, Athenry, Portumna and Clarinbridge – they all needed to test the waters at some stage before finally plotting a successful course to take them to the title.
In front of almost 29,000 people in Croke Park on St. Patrick’s Day, though, St. Thomas’ showed this does not always have to be the case and – on a day when St. Brigid’s of Kiltoom claimed a first ever football title for Roscommon and the Ireland women’s rugby team won a first ever Six Nations Grand Slam – they created their own little bit of history.
Was it pretty? Hell, no! Yet, it’s better to grind out a victory in almost sub zero temperatures, a torrential downpour and on a pitch that was as bare as a baby’s ‘you know what’ than to lose playing the type of free-flowing hurling that the Kilchreest/Peterswell outfit have shown they can produce on any day.
So, let’s forget about the negatives for a moment and bask in the glory of a tremendous, hard-fought victory, earned off the sweat of the brow of the many. To the fore was man of the match Richard Murray and just as he tallied the vital scores in the county final win over Loughrea, the former Galway star, once again, was proof of that old adage in that whatever about form, class is permanent.
St. Thomas’ had led at the half-time break by 1-7 to 1-5 following a topsy-turvy half, but when Kilcormac/Killoughey rallied in the third quarter to hit four unanswered points, the Galway champions suddenly were staring defeat in the face after falling two points in arrears.
As the old Bonnie Tyler tune went, St. Thomas’ were ‘Holding out for a Hero’ and he duly arrived when the game needed saving. Fine play by substitute Eanna Burke – who was also instrumental in swinging the contest back in St. Thomas’ favour – and Kenneth Burke presented Murray with the opportunity and he made no mistake with his 46th minute effort.
A little under two minutes later, St. Thomas’ – who went without being awarded a single free in the first quarter – finally claimed their first free of the second half almost 18 minutes in following a foul on Cathal Burke. In any event, St. Thomas’ made the most of it as Darragh Burke’s long range strike was plucked from the clouds by Murray and, in a flash, he steered his effort over the bar to tie the game at 1-9 apiece.
As noted, it wasn’t pretty but the Galway champions – who, in truth, looked that bit classier throughout – really put the shoulder to the wheel in what would turn out to be an incredible ten minutes.
In this time, two Kilcormac/Killoughey players would receive their marching orders and this was a reflection of the way Cork referee John Sexton officiated the contest – which, although uncompromising, was not a dirty one – and some of his decisions outside of the sending offs were questionable.
Of course, it’s easy to be critical of the referee but as much as the atrocious conditions could be used as an excuse to explain some of the calls, in equal measure, Sexton could have given the same benefit of doubt to Kilcormac/Killoughey midfielders Damien Kilmartin and Killian Leonard.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
People’s living conditions less than 100 years ago were frightening. We have come a long way. We talk about water charges today, but back then the local District Councils were erecting pumps for local communities and the lovely town of Mountbellew, according to Council minutes, had open sewers,” says Galway County Council archivist Patria McWalter.
Patria believes we “need to take pride in our history, and we should take the same pride in our historical records as we do in our built heritage”. When you see the wealth of material in her care, this belief makes sense.
She is in charge of caring for the rich collection of administrative records owned by Galway County Council and says “these records are as much part of our history as the Rock of Cashel is. They document our lives and our ancestors’ lives. And nobody can plan for the future unless you learn from the past, what worked and what didn’t”.
Archivists and librarians are often unfairly regarded as being dry, academic types, but that’s certainly not true of Patria. Her enthusiasm is infectious as she turns the pages of several minute books from Galway’s Rural District Councils, all of them at least 100 years old.
Part of her role involved cataloguing all the records of the Councils – Ballinasloe, Clifden, Galway, Gort, Loughrea, Mountbellew, Portumna and Tuam. These records mostly consisted of minutes of various meetings.
When she was cataloguing them she realised their worth to local historians and researchers, so she decided to compile a guide to their content. The result is For the Record: The Archives of Galway’s Rural District Councils, which will be a valuable asset to anybody with an interest in history.
Many representatives on these Councils were local personalities and several were arrested during the political upheaval of the era, she explains.
And, ushering in a new era in history, women were allowed to sit on these Rural District Councils – at the time they were not allowed to sit on County Councils.
All of this information is included in Patria’s introductory essay to the attractively produced A4 size guide, which gives a glimpse into how these Rural Councils operated and the way political thinking changed in Ireland during a short 26-year period. In the early 1900s, these Councils supported Home Rule, but by 1920, they were calling for full independence and refusing to recognise the British administration.
“I love the tone,” says Patria of the minutes from meetings. “The language was very emotive.”
That was certainly true of the Gort Rural District Council. At a meeting in 1907, following riots in Dublin at the premiere of JM Synge’s play, The Playboy of the Western World the councillors’ response was vehement. They recorded their decision to “protest most emphatically against the libellous comedy, The Playboy of the Western World, that was belched forth during the past week in the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, under the fostering care of Lady Gregory and Mr Yeats. We congratulate the good people of Dublin in howling down the gross buffoonery and immoral suggestions that are scattered throughout this scandalous performance.
For more from the archives see this week’s Tribunes here
Date Published: 23-Jan-2013
SLIGO 0-9
GALWAY 1-4
FRANK FARRAGHER IN ENNISCRONE
GALWAY’S first serious examination of the 2013 season rather disturbingly ended with a rating well below the 40% pass mark at the idyllic, if rather Siberian, seaside setting of Enniscrone on Sunday last.
The defeat cost Galway a place in the FBD League Final against Leitrim and also put a fair dent on their confidence shield for the bigger tests that lie ahead in February.
There was no fluke element in this success by an understrength Sligo side and by the time Leitrim referee, Frank Flynn, sounded the final whistle, there wasn’t a perished soul in the crowd of about 500 who could question the justice of the outcome.
It is only pre-season and last Sunday’s blast of dry polar winds did remind everyone that this is far from summer football, but make no mistake about it, the match did lay down some very worrying markers for Galway following a couple of victories over below par third level college teams.
Galway did start the game quite positively, leading by four points at the end of a first quarter when they missed as much more, but when Sligo stepped up the tempo of the game in the 10 minutes before half-time, the maroon resistance crumbled with frightening rapidity.
Some of the statistics of the match make for grim perusal. Over the course of the hour, Galway only scored two points from play and they went through a 52 minute period of the match, without raising a white flag – admittedly a late rally did bring them close to a draw but that would have been very rough justice on Sligo.
Sligo were backable at 9/4 coming into this match, the odds being stretched with the ‘missing list’ on Kevin Walsh’s team sheet – Adrian Marren, Stephen Coen, Tony Taylor, Ross Donovan, David Kelly, David Maye, Johnny Davey and Eamon O’Hara, were all marked absent for a variety of reasons.
Walsh has his Sligo side well schooled in the high intensity, close quarters type of football, and the harder Galway tried to go through the short game channels, the more the home side bottled them up.
Galway badly needed to find some variety in their attacking strategy and maybe there is a lot to be said for the traditional Meath style of giving long, quick ball to a full forward line with a big target man on the edge of the square – given Paul Conroy’s prowess close to goal last season, maybe it is time to ‘settle’ on a few basics.
Defensively, Galway were reasonably solid with Gary Sice at centre back probably their best player – he was one of the few men in maroon to deliver decent long ball deep into the attacking zone – while Finian Hanley, Conor Costello and Gary O’Donnell also kept things tight.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Date Published: 23-Jan-2013
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