Ian O'Riordan talks to some of the players who played in the 1947 All-Ireland final between Cavan and Kerry in New York.

Any excuse for a reunion will suffice when you're part of the most unique and arguably the most famous football teams in GAA history.

Come September it will be 58 years since Cavan beat Kerry for the All-Ireland title, which is not particularly distinctive, except it remains the only final to be played on foreign soil, and nothing will come close to rivalling the memory of being there.

Those memories grow increasingly precious with each day, and the unique story of their journey to New York in 1947 fascinates now more than ever.

That was the only excuse the Association of Sports Journalists in Ireland needed when organising a luncheon in Dublin yesterday for the surviving members of both teams - seven from Kerry, and just four from Cavan.

Each of those players has a thousand stories to tell - starting with why the final went there in the first place. It was under the drive of the late Monsignor Michael Hamilton that Congress was persuaded to allow the final be played outside Ireland as a gesture to those exiles who had been cut off during the war years. New York chairman Tom McNamara also had a dream to see the final played in his adopted city, and on September 14th that became a reality.

The first concern the players had was how to get there, and only then could they concentrate on the momentous final that lay in store in the old New York Polo Grounds. Tony Tighe was one of the four Cavan players in attendance yesterday, and recalled a journey of considerable apprehension.

"It was the first time we'd all flown," he said, "and at one stage somebody asked for a pair of rosary beads. TP O'Reilly was one of the Cavan players and so he started to say the rosary, and most of us joined in."

While most of the Cavan players travelled by plane, some of the Kerry team preferred the transatlantic voyage by boat. Mick Finucane was one of the Kerry players, coming on a substitute in the final, and he sounded equally relieved as Tighe just to get there.

"I think some of the players from both teams went by boat," said Finucane. "They were probably afraid of the flying, but if the rest of us knew what lay ahead we would have been afraid too.

"It still took us about 32 hours altogether to get there by plane. We left from the old Shannon airport, because the only other option at that time was the seaplanes that left from Foynes. Then we hit a storm in the mid Atlantic, and headed down to the Azores for the plane to cool off. Then we headed up to Gander, the stop off in Newfoundland. On the way up the captain came on to say engine one had failed, and we'd be an hour late. Later he announced that engine two had failed, and we'd be two hours late. One of the Kerry players down the back then says if any more of the engines break down we'll be up here all night."

The game itself was played in searing temperatures before a crowd of around 35,000. Kerry's Teddy O'Sullivan, still looking sprightly fit, recalled the finer details of the game with remarkable clarity.

"I remember it was the New York Mayor Bill O'Dwyer who threw in the ball, and there were about 16 of us crowded in the middle of the field. The ground itself was like a car park. The field was 140 yards by 80 yards wide, and because it was used for baseball it had a mound in the middle for the pitcher. The admission rate was $6, come rain or shine."

Although Kerry went into an early eight-point lead, Cavan soon wore them down to win by 2-11 to 2-7. Tighe always felt Cavan had the ability to prevail.

"We were trained by Hughie Reilly, from Cork. To him it was all about discipline. In fact I think in today's football there is very little discipline compared to years ago. We did collective training in Ballyhaise from 1944 onwards, and later trained in Cornafean. We trained very hard over those three of four years. We got to know each other, and it was like a big family. We mightn't have been the greatest footballers ever but with that spirit we were always hard to beat."

Having endured another arduous journey to get home, the Cavan footballers finally got their hands on the Sam Maguire at a presentation at the Gresham Hotel in Dublin. Why the cup never travelled over is another story.