Joe Connolly (hurler)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Irish name | Seosamh Ó Conghaile | ||
| Sport | Hurling | ||
| Position | Centre-forward | ||
| Born |
13 October 1956 Castlegar, County Galway | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
| Occupation | Teacher | ||
| Club(s) | |||
| Years | Club | ||
1970s-1990s | Castlegar | ||
| Club titles | |||
| Galway titles | 2 | ||
| Connacht titles | 2 | ||
| All-Ireland Titles | 1 | ||
| Inter-county(ies) | |||
| Years | County | ||
1976-1983 | Galway | ||
| Inter-county titles | |||
| All-Irelands | 1 | ||
| NHL | 0 | ||
| All Stars | 1 | ||
Joe Connolly (born 13 October 1956 in Castlegar, County Galway) is an Irish former sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club Castlegar and was a member of the Galway senior inter-county team from 1976 until 1984. Connolly captained Galway to the All-Ireland title in 1980.
Biography
Joe Connolly was born in Castlegar, County Galway in 1956. He was educated locally at Briarhill national school and later attended St. Mary’s College in Galway. Here Connolly's hurling skills were first developed, however, he faced the disappointment of losing three consecutive Connacht colleges' finals. He later attended University College Galway (UCG) where he became a star on the university's hurling team. Connolly won a Fitzgibbon Cup winners' medal with UCG in 1977 following the defeat of Maynooth.[1]
Playing career
Club
Connolly played his club hurling with his local club in Castlegar and enjoyed much success. He first tasted victory with his club in 1979 when he captured a senior county championship winners' medal following a 2-13 to 0-6 trouncing of Kinvara. Castlegar later represented Galway in the provincial club championship and duly defeated Tremane of Roscommon to take the Connacht club title.[2] Castlegar subsequently qualified for the All-Ireland club final with Ballycastle of Antrim providing the opposition. Connolly and his five brothers line dout against the six Donnelly brotehrs of Ballycastle. A first-half goal for the Ulster champions failed to ignite the team. Five minute safter the restart Liam Mulryan turned Connolly's pass straight into the net for a decisive goal. Ballycastle cut the lead back to a point, however, Gerry Connolly scored another point before Joe sent a penalty over the bar. At the full-time whistle Castlegar were the champions by 1-11 o 1-8. It was a first ever All-Ireland club title for Galway.[3]
After losing back-to-back county finals in 1982 an 1983 Castlegar bounced back in 1984 and avoided being three-in-a-row losers. A 3-10 to 0-11 defeat of Killimordaly gave Connolly a second county title. Castlegar later defeated Tooreen of Mayo by 2-14 to 2-7, giving Connolly a second Connacht club winners' medal.[4] Connolly's side later qualified for a second All-Ireland club final. St. Martin's of Kilkenny provided the opposition on this occasion. An exciting contest ensued, however, a later goal for Castlegar forced a 2-9 to 3-6 draw and a reply. The second outing saw Connolly coming on as a substitute, however, victory went to the Kilkenny men.[5]
Inter-county
Connolly first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Galway senior team in the 1975-1976 National Hurling League. He became a key member of the team in time for the subsequent championship campaign, however, Wexford defeated Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final.
Connolly enjoyed little success in his first few seasons with Galway, however, in 1979 he lined out in the National League final. Tipperary trounced Galway on that ocacsion by 3-15 to 0-8, however, it was a sign that Galway had intent.[6] In the subsequent championship Connolly's side shocked four-in-a-row hopefuls Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final and qualified for an All-Ireland final showdown with Kilkenny. In one of the worst All-Ireland finals of recent decades Galway goalkeeper Séamus Shinnors had an absolute nightmare of a game. A 70-yards free by Liam 'Chunky' O’Brien after just four minutes dipped, hit off Shinnors and ended up in the Galway net. Galway fought back and went two points up twelve minutes into the second half, however, they failed to score for the rest of the game. Four minutes before the end of the game another long-range free for Kilkenny ended up in the net behind Shinnors. It was a score which summed up the day for Connolly's side as Kilkenny went on to win by 2-12 to 1-8.[7]
In 1980 Connolly was appointed capatin of the team as Galway defeated Kildare and Offaly to reach a second All-Ireland final. Munster champions Limerick provided the opposition on this occasion and an exciting championship decider followed. Bernie Forde and P.J. Molloy goals for Galway meant that the men from the west led by 2-7 to 1-5 at half-time. Éamonn Cregan single-handedly launched the Limerick counter-attack in the second-half. Over the course of the game he scored 2-7, including an overhead goal and a point in which he showed the ball to Conor Hayes and nonchalantly drove the ball over the bar. It was not enough to stem the tide and Galway went on to win the game.[8] It was the county’s first All-Ireland title since 1923 and the celebrations surpassed anything ever seen in Croke Park. It took Connolly ten minutes to reach the rostrum in the Hogan Stand to collect the Liam McCarthy Cup, however, once there he delivered one of the most famous acceptance speeches of all-time. Delivered through his native Irish, Connolly was clearly overcome with emotion. The following is an excert in English of that famous speech:
"People of Galway, after fifty-seven years the All-Ireland title is back in Galway...It’s wonderful to be from Galway on a day like today. There are people back in Galway with wonder in their hearts, but also we must remember (Galway) people in England, in America, and round the world and maybe they are crying at this moment…People of Galway, we love you!"
The final phrase is an echo of Pope John Paul II’s address to the young people of Ireland the previous year. The celebrations didn’t just end with Connolly’s speech as Joe McDonagh seized the microphone and lead the crown in a version of the West’s Awake. Connolly rounded of the year by collecting a coveted All-Star award, as well as being named as the Texaco Hurler of the Year.
1981 saw Galway reach a third consecutive All-Ireland final and Offaly were the opponents. Everything seemed to be going well for Connolly's side as Galway hoped to capture an unprecedented second consecutive All-Ireland title. Offalt 'keeper Damien Martin was doing great work in batting out a certain Galway goal early in the second-half. With twenty-three minutes left in the game Galway led by six points, however, they failed to score for the rest of the game. Johnny Flaherty hand-passed Offaly's second goal with just three minutes remaining. At the long whistle Galway were defeated by 2-12 to 0-15.[9]
The following few years proved difficult as Galway were knocked out of the championship at the All-Ireland semi-final stages in 1982 and 1983. Connolly retired from inter-county hurling following a serious knee injury in 1984.
Inter-provincial
Connolly also lined out with Connacht in the inter-provincial hurling championship and enjoyed some success. In 1980 Connolly was captain of his province as Connacht qualified for the final. Munster provided the opposition on that occasion and, after a poor game, Connacht emerged as the winners by 1-5 to 0-7.[10] It was Connolly's first Railway Cup winners' medal. Two years later in 1982 Connacht were back in the final with Leinster lining out against Connoll's province. This game was a much more exciting affair with victory going to Connacht by 3-8 to 2-9. It was Connolly's second Railway Cup title.[11]
Honours
Castlegar
- All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship:
- Winner (1): 1980
- Runner-up (1): 1985
- Connacht Senior Club Hurling Championship:
- Winner (2): 1979, 1984
- Galway Senior Hurling Championship:
- Winner (2): 1979, 1984
- Runner-up (1): 1974, 1982, 1983
Galway
- All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship:
- Winner (1): 1980 (C)
- Runner-up (2): 1979, 1981
- National Hurling League:
- Winner (0):
- Runner-up (1): 1979
Connacht
- Railway Cup:
- Winner (2): 1980 (C), 1982
- Runner-up (1): 1979
References
- ^ Fullam, Brendan (2002). Captains of the Ash. Wolfhound Press. p. 50.
- ^ Des, Donegan (2005). The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games. DBA Publications. p. 99.
- ^ Corry, Eoghan (2005). The GAA Book of Lists. Hodder Headline Ireland. p. 429.
- ^ The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games p. 100
- ^ The GAA Book of Lists p. 431
- ^ The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games p. 100
- ^ The GAA Book of Lists p. 360
- ^ The GAA Book of Lists p. 360
- ^ The GAA Book of Lists p. 360
- ^ The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games p. 82
- ^ The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games p. 82