ALL-IRELAND HOMECOMINGS
SKYLINES MAY have soared, hemlines may have yo-yoed and the Celtic Tiger may have come and gone but Sam Maguire was brought home by the Cork footballers last night to a welcome every bit as thunderous as the last time he visited Leeside.
An estimated 50,000 Cork football fans thronged Parnell Place and the South Mall in the city centre to welcome back Sam after 20 years in exile – since Larry Tompkins held it aloft in Patrick Street in 1990 as the Rebels completed the second leg of a rare All-Ireland Hurling and Football Double.
Back then, few Corkonians would have predicted that it would be two decades before Cork won another All-Ireland football crown. Four final defeats in 1993, 1999, 2007 and 2009 only added to the sweetness of Sunday’s victory by Conor Counihan and his team.
The current crop may have frustrated fans at times (including up to half-time on Sunday) like no other Cork team before but last night there was a genuine sense that justice had been done with the team fully deserving their win after knocking on the door for the past six years or so.
Martin O’Donovan from Wilton, who was with his wife, Angela and daughters, Fiona (6) and Orla (4), summed up the feeling of many Cork fans when he paid tribute to the team for their resilience in coming back from defeats in 2007 and last year to win the All-Ireland title.
“They’ve had some bad days and even yesterday they were poor in the first half but the introduction of Graham Canty and Nicholas Murphy made a big difference – I’m delighted for all of them but particularly those two after all they’ve given Cork football over the years.”
Already exuberant as they bopped along to Cork rapper GMC's Bring Back Sam Maguire, the crowd erupted when the team finally made it to the podium some 30 minutes late and the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Mick O'Connell introduced Conor Counihan and the team.
Noted GAA fan, Bishop John Buckley paid tribute to the team before veteran Cork entertainer Billa Connell was joined in a stirring version of The Banks of My Own Lovely Leeby the thousands of fans who stretched nearly all the way up the South Mall.
Huge cheers greeted all the players from No 1 Alan Quirke right through the whole panel but it was clear there was a particular affection for veterans, Canty and Murphy and forwards Daniel Goulding and Donncha O’Connor who between them got 14 of Cork’s tally of 16 points.
Ger O’Leary was particularly pleased for her fellow Ballydesmond native O’Connor who kicked some sublime scores as he put in a hugely impressive second-half performance to propel the Rebels to victory.
“I was delighted – I thought Donncha was the real man of the match – not that I’m biased,” said Ger with a smile. “We wouldn’t have got to the final if he hadn’t scored the penalty against Dublin and he was outstanding yesterday too and silenced all his critics – they all did.”