And 90% of them married to Tipp wimin.
I can tell you put your heart and soul into that. And thats whats most disappointing about it.
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Iâd imagine thatâs fairly mild compares to what would happen at Ulster Championship/Ulster Club Championship games
A solo run for sure. It wasnât crowd sourced amongst @thelimericks on their telegram group. They havenât even fired him a few solidarity likes.
Theyâll have to come in and bail him out, but they wont be happy doing it.
Galway v Tipperary ramblings
Tipperary were the first hurling team I âfollowedâ. My grandad who I never met was from Cahir but this wasnât the reason. I donât know what the reason was. Maybe my oulâ fella said he wanted Tipp to beat Cork. Maybe I was impressed by the Sunday Game highlights of Tipp pummelling Clare in the Munster semi-final replay. I mentally associated Tipperary with Steffi Graf and Cork footballers - the young, coming forces, who I wanted to beat the old masters. I associated Cork hurlers with Martina Navratilova, and Kerry footballers.
On July 12th, 1987 me, my brother and me oulâ fella played hurling with a tennis ball and kicked football for an hour or more on the Fifteen Acres. My oulâ fella had brought me to Kilkenny v Wexford at Croke Park three weeks previous. He bought hurleys for myself and the brother. As we got into the car to go home, Tipperary v Cork was starting. As we rounded the bend going past St. Maryâs hospital coming out of the park, Aidan Ryan was putting Tipperary 0-2 to 0-0 up. Despite this being maybe only the third or fourth time I had heard live radio commentary of a GAA game and the first I had consciously listened to, I was transfixed. When we got home we put the radio on and didnât move. The names - Nicholas English, Pat Fox, Aidan Ryan, Teddy McCarthy, John Fenton, Denis Mulcahy, Donie OâConnell, Pat Fitzelle, Kevin Hennessy, Kieran Kingston, Ken Hogan, Ger Cunningham. Tipp looked like they were going to win. Then Cork looked like they were going to win. The finish to the game was unbelievably tense. Tipp saved it.
I was in my grannyâs house in Galway the following week and I listened to the whole lot of the replay. Tipp winning felt like the Berlin Wall coming down. The good guys had won. I spent the next three weeks banging a tennis ball off the front wall of that house, pretending I was Nicholas English or Pat Fox or Aidan Ryan.
The semi-final was on August 9th. Tipperary v Galway. Again I watched this in grannyâs house in Galway, the same room Iâm in right now. I was MAD for Tipperary to win. My oulâ fella said Galway were good, and that Galway would win. I disputed this furiously. Tipp would win. Tipp, Tipp, Tipp. English scored a point at the start and this confirmed what I knew. Then Galway, out of nothing, scored a goal. Galway were on top for most of the time after that. But then Pat Fox scored a genius goal, he ran through like Maradona and buried it. Tipp were going to win. Then English scored a point. Tipp were definitely going to win. It was disallowed. I didnât know why. English didnât know why. Then Galway scored two goals. Eanna Ryan threw the ball into the net. I was devastated. I was angry.
Myself and my oulâ fella went down to play hurling in the field at Dangan immediately afterwards, I was a Dublin young fella in Galway desolate that Galway had beaten Tipp, my face ashen, growling. I growled some more when my oulâ fella produced a sliotar, and I couldnât hit the thing properly because I was used to hitting a tennis ball, and the sliotar stung my hands. I expressed the bitter hope that Kilkenny would win the final. In the end I was up for Galway in the final. I think it was the banner over the road in the centre of Athlone that shouted âGood Luck Galwayâ that swung it for me. My allegiances were very changeable in those days.
In 1988 I wanted Galway to beat Tipp. I cheered when Noel Lane got the goal at the end. It felt like a script, because he scored a late winning goal as a sub with a pull off the ground the previous year too. It felt like Galway would always win the hurling and Meath would always win the football forever more.
I didnât see Tipperary v Galway in 1989. We were in Cork, on the last night of a few days away, after being in Dingle and Valentia, and visiting BĂ©al na mBlĂĄth. I was disappointed we didnât go to the Japanese Gardens in Glengarriff. We didnât have time. We stayed in some B&B on the western road. The morning of Tipp v Galway we went to Blarney Castle. I didnât kiss the Blarney Stone because I was a windy fucker. I didnât want to fall to my death. I believed I would slip, and the grill stopping you falling to your death would collapse. My 76 year old granny kissed the Blarney Stone, cool as a breeze, laughing. I recall lazing on a green, my oulâ fella had the Sunday Indo. All the talk was of Tony Keady. Keady told the Sindo âIâm finished with hurlingâ.
We went driving. Kanturk. Newmarket. We were going to Abbeyfeale, to see New Street, beside the Allaghaun river, where my Mam grew up. We listened to Offaly v Antrim, but in Irish. There was no English commentary on the radio. Antrim were playing well, putting up a surprisingly good show. Offaly would want to improve for the final. Then somewhere on the back roads to Abbeyfeale, Antrim started banging in goals, and it suddenly became apparent Antrim were about to actually win. This was completely implausible. Antrim in the final? Theyâll be massacred. The All-Ireland final was about to happen this afternoon.
I was mildly up for Galway, I think. Galway seemed to be playing terribly. It seemed like they only got two scores in the entire first half, a goal right at the start and a goal right at the end. But it felt like Tipperary were petrified of them. RTE radio missed the vital goal by Pat Fox, which happened somewhere around Newcastlewest. Once that happened, Tipp were going to win. Then Galway downed tools and players tried to get sent off for posterity, throwing tantrums like I threw a tantrum after Tipp had lost in 1987. I recall saying Tipp would win the final by 15 points, which was conservative. I sort of enjoyed seeing Antrim being slaughtered, just because it felt good to be right. My main memory of that day was seeing Tipperary supporters in cars wearing hats with strings with âhandsâ which would clap together when the wearer pulled the strings.
In 1993, when Galway v Tipperary played in the All-Ireland semi-final, I was in Naples. We got a taxi man to give us a bit of a tour. We went to Pompeii that morning. Then he dropped us down to Sorrento, and we got a ferry to Capri. I had brought a short wave radio, in the deluded hope that I might pick up a commentary of the hurling. As we walked around Capri, I was more interested in messing around with the bands on the radio. Band 1, nothing except gibberish, Band 2, heth theth theth. Band 3, this is the BBC World Service, band 4 up to band 10, feck all. Meehaul OâMurrahurtig never came in. I should never have brought the bleedinâ radio. As Ken Hogan was dropping the ball into his own net, my Mam was screaming as a small boat went in through the tiny entrance to the blue grotto cave. I was thinking âI wonder did Antrim beat Kilkennyâ, because I thought they might. I thought Tipp would beat Galway. On the way down to the coin phone box at the railway station that night we saw the taxi driver again, smoking a fag standing against the bonnet of his car talking to another taxi driver. We waved. I rang home from the railway station to hear Kilkenny had slaughtered Antrim after Antrim had led by 3 at half time, and Galway had beaten Tipp. Babs Keating had apparently said âthe public deserves a Tipp-Kilkenny finalâ. Babs never learned, and thatâs why we loved him.
I attended Galway v Tipperary in 2000. Leahy was in his late pomp in the first half. I have a notion he went off injured. Galway won it late. My general impression is Joe Rabbitte was immense.
The only other time I attended a Galway v Tipperary hurling championship clash was July 13th, 2003 at Pearse Stadium, which was my first time in the new venue. This was not a memorable game, which is why my main memories of the day are Gaelic football related. On the way down I nipped into PJâs to see Benny Coulter burying the football in the the Tyrone net at Clones, and Gregory McCartan throwing the football at Brian McGuigan, and McGuigan playing dead, and McCartan getting sent off. Down then knocked in a load more goals in quick succession after half time which I heard in my earphones.
At this moment I was only thinking about how Iâd been talking to Jerome Quinn walking up Clonliffe Road after Armagh had beaten Dublin the previous week. I had told Jerome that I wouldnât write Down off in the Ulster final. âI wouldâ, he sarcastically yet dourly replied. Now, Down were nine points up. I thought of firing off an âup yoursâ tweet to him on my smartphone to remind him of who had been right and who had been wrong but it was 2003 and I only had a Nokia and Twitter hadnât been invented yet. Then Tyrone came back, and Down were lucky to get a draw. Tyrone won the replay by 38 points, and Jerome Quinn was proved right.
I wore a Dublin jersey to this game. As I was walking behind the terrace, about to go through the gate, a man in an Armagh jersey passed me. We nodded and smiled at each other. He had the psychological advantage in this brief encounter. You have to know when youâre beaten and smile. Denis Byrne was playing for Tipperary. Tipp were not good. Galway were worse, they lost by one point, but could have lost by 10 and only put up a show at the very end. This was a classic of the genre of listless, gutless Galway performances which stretched from the mid 1990s to the early 2010s. Galway supporters didnât seem too bothered. Most of the Galway jerseys at this match were of the Tommy Varden variety, not Supermacâs. The Tiger was roaring, the footballers were still there, there was an eveningâs drinking to be had, and the Arts festival and the Races were on the horizon.
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@Lazarus is keeping a tight leash on the Galwegians on here; usually a game vs Tipperary would have them frothing at the mouth and firing all sorts of missives but other than the odd lob over the fence it has been very quiet
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He was class.
The mullocking and untidiness of that clip is fantastic to watch.
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Nickyâs point was disallowed because the Galway goalie was fouled after he cleared the ball. It was a free from where the ball landed.
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It was a remarkably soft free.
The split season has taken the sting out of it completely.
There is simply no comparison between an All Ireland Hurling Quarter Final on a Sunday in late July to a Saturday evening in June in terms of âbignessâ.
An icy start to the heated Galway v Tipp rivalry
A championship rivalry that reads eight-seven in Galwayâs favour since 1987, it will likely be as close on Saturday.
1987: Nicky English of Tipperary in action against Conor Hayes of Galway during the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Semi-Final match between Tipperary and Galway at Croke Park in Dublin. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
FRI, 23 JUN, 2023 - 16:00
JOHN FOGARTY
âNothing was intense as it was against Galwayâ â Babs Keating.
Just as they are born, rivalries have to be conceived. Galway and Tipperaryâs ferocious five-year friction may have started in 1987 but the genesis was eight years earlier when Babs Keating was Galway skills coach.
Invited by the players via former Clare hurler Fr Jack Solan, then curate in Kiltormer, Keating together with trainer Cyril Farrell brought the group to a first All-Ireland final in four years, overcoming the great four-in-a-row hunting Cork team in the semi-final.
Just as goalkeeper Seamus Shinners was blamed for the final loss to Kilkenny, so too was Keating for starting him when the selectors, not he, had the authority.
Keating was never contacted by Galway following the game. Legend has it the players met him at a league match in Dungarvan in December 1981 when they angrily queried why he didnât return, to which Keating replied, âIs it not manners to wait to be asked?â
By that stage, they had won the countyâs second-ever All-Ireland title led by a 30-year-old Farrell who had assumed control of the team.
Speaking three years ago about the disappointment of 1979, Farrell said he felt like he was âthe only one that was really hurting.â
Just how much input Farrell had in Keating not coming on board for 1980 might be disputed but the perception at least added to the coolness between the two avid horse-racing men in the years to come as Galway and Tipperary managers.
In both the 1987 All-Ireland semi-final and â88 All-Ireland final, it was a past student of Keatingâs in Noel Lane who proved Tippâs undoing with second-half goals as a sub.
âItâs a funny one because Babs was my idol growing up as he was for many hurling people around the country,â says Lane. âThe barefoot wonder when he threw off the shoes, I really looked up to him. I love his style, personality and character, so you can imagine me being fascinated by him and him coming up to coach us in â79.
âWhatever happened in later years, Babs taught me everything I know about hurling. I might have come back to haunt him with a couple of goals that snuck over the line but what he did for me in â79 really helped me mature as a player. The confidence he gave me. We didnât win in â79 but I performed well in the semi-final against Cork and final against Kilkenny and we had a great friendship forever afterwards. I am honoured and privileged to say Babs is a friend.â
Others who were on the â79 team mightnât have been as fond of Keating. Sylvie Linnane didnât break into the team until Farrell took over. âSylvie wasnât making the team under him (Keating) at the time so that probably gave him an edge,â recalls Michael âHopperâ McGrath.
Hostilities grew in 1989 when Tony Keady was reported for playing illegally for a Galway-dominated Laois against Tipperary in New York.
A 12-month suspension was recommended and later upheld by Central Council by two votes. With many accusing Tipperary of collaring him for punishment, a Keady-less Galway lost a bitter All-Ireland semi-final by three points.
Keating, speaking to this newspaper in 2019, recalled the Keady affair two years after the great centre-backâs passing.
âThe Galway game was a nasty affair and I prefer not to dwell on it too much because of Tonyâs passing. He was an exceptional player and a really nice guy.
âI thought Galway blamed us unfairly on Tony not playing. Whatever meeting that decided Tonyâs fate, (then Tipperary secretary) Tommy Barrett was our representative and I didnât have to discuss too much with him but I said to him, âWhatever you do, vote for Keadyâs reinstatement,â which he did. I donât ever remember Galway acknowledging that or thanking Tommy for that.â
In Galway minds, that was just the half of it. In Keadyâs Laochra Gael, Pete Finnerty blasted referee John Dentonâs performance. After Linnane was sent off for an off-the-ball blow on Nicky English, McGrath, an All-Star the two previous seasons, also saw the line for jumping into Conor OâDonovan.
McGrath says now: âAt the time, we didnât like each other, We were the top two teams for a four or five-year period. We were on top in â87 and â88 and then the â89 semi-final was so controversial it added to the dislike and then they beat us in â91. It was fierce. Maybe we would have won more were it not for them and vice versa.
âIt probably did boil over at times but any game we played, league or whatever, there were massive crowds. There was fierce interest whenever we met. We had a great â89 league final as well. The two managers at the time built it up a bit as well. They werenât afraid to talk out of turn.â
As it did with the Cork and Meath teams of that era, tension dissipated over time and bereavement.
âWhen Tony Keady passed prematurely, the whole Tipperary team were there,â says Lane. âSomeone said you wouldnât have gotten as many at one of their reunions.â
A championship rivalry that reads eight-seven in Galwayâs favour since 1987, McGrath reckons it will be as close as it has been the last four occasions when only a score has separated them.
âI canât see it any other way. Whoever wins this has a great chance of an All-Ireland.
âHenry Shefflin probably could have done with a bit of silverware. It was a sickener to lose the Leinster final like that but then Cork were a point away from sending Tipperary out of the championship. Both teams will throw the shackles off because they have to go for it. There is no safety net."
Lane concurs.
âThereâs nothing between them. You just want someone with a cool head to take their chance when it comes their way.â
He should know.
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It was the fellow miserable Connacht cunts that did for Keady, never to be forgotten.
There was no great animosity between Galway and Tips of that era, mutual respect for two outstanding teams with great individuals. Rather thaatTiGalway were mad at the world
What will never be forgotten in Galway was the Tipp team driving through a storm to come to Eanna Ryanâs fundraiser.
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Muriel OâConnor.
The Championship doesnât start till after Raceweek
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A few of your county men, many still in nappies back then, could do with hearing that more often. Fuck Mayo.
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All four of them allegedly, I mean Leitrim ffs.
I also listened to those Munster Finals of 1987 on the radio, the radio of my aulâ lads two-tone (green & white) Volkswagen mini-bus. We used to head down to Leitir Aird, near Carna, every Sunday afternoon to see my Grandmother. There would be a gang of my motherâs family there and theyâd all be blabbering away as gaeilge, except for the aul lad, who didnât even have a cĂșpla focal. Inevitably, he would slip out to listen to Sunday Sport on the radio and Iâd often accompany him.
I remember being absolutely captivated by these two games and OâMuircheartaighâs commentary. I was was rooting heavily for Tipp, I knew very little about them as a Hurling power at the timeâŠIn my young mind, only Cork, Kilkenny, Galway and Offaly were serious hurling counties, so I was excited by these ânew kids on the blockâ. The Galway-Tipp semi-final of that year remains one of my favourite Galway hurling performances of all time, just a vintage performance from our best ever vintage. I was still fond of Tipp but we showed the new kids whatâs what that day.
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