1947 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final
 Official programme | |||||||
| Event | 1947 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Date | 14 September 1947 | ||||||
| Venue | Polo Grounds, New York City | ||||||
| Referee | M O'Neill (Wexford) | ||||||
| Attendance | 34,491 | ||||||
| Weather | 86 °F (30 °C)[1] | ||||||
The 1947 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was the sixtieth All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1947 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland. Cavan were captained by John Joe O'Reilly.
Pre-game
For the first and only time, the final was played outside Ireland, at the Polo Grounds in New York City, to cater for the large Irish-American community there. The New York final was also intended to observe the centenary of the Great Famine that triggered mass Irish emigration to the U.S. and other countries.[2]
It was decided that New York would host this match as a commemoration of the 1847 Irish famine which forced a large number of Irish people to emigrate to North America. This novel location for the game was chosen for the benefit of New York's large Irish immigrant population. It was the only time that the final has been played outside Ireland.[3]
Around 30,000 people were in the ground for the final.[4] Cavan travelled by air and Kerry by sea; the Cavan team credited their victory partially to their shorter time spent travelling. The Cavan team flew via the Azores, taking 30 hours. Kerry's trip by Ocean Liner took far longer.[4] The last Gaelic game at the Polo Grounds was on June 1, 1958 when Cavan played New York.
Mick Higgins, a key member of the Cavan team that day,[5] recalled in later life: "There was no huge send-off for us in Cavan, but both teams got a good reception in New York when we arrived. I remember the team stayed in the Commodore Hotel, but I stayed with my relatives." He also remembered there was "oppressive heat" during the game itself.[4]
The Artane Boys' Band travelled to New York to play before the match, as they do traditionally at all All-Ireland finals.[6]
Match
Summary
After a slow start, Cavan fought back to lead 2–5 to 2–4 at the break and went on to win by four points. Peter Donohoe scored eight points from frees and was called "the Babe Ruth of Gaelic football" in the New York press. Michael O'Hehir broadcast radio commentary back across the Atlantic Ocean.[7][8]
O'Hehir noticed that broadcasting delays would bring the radio link down five minutes before the final had ended.[9] O'Hehir later recalled his plea:'"If there's anybody along the way there listening in, just give us five minutes more, and I kept begging for five minutes more".[9] The link stayed open.[9]
Details
| Cavan | 2-11 – 2-7 | Kerry |
|---|---|---|
| P Donohoe (0-8), M Higgins (1-1), T P O Reilly (1-1), C Mc Dyer (0-1), | Eddie Dowling (1-0), Batt Garvey (1-0), Tom Gega O'Connor (0-6) & Paddy Kennedy (0-1). |
       Cavan |
  Kerry
|
Post-match
The Cavan team returned to Ireland aboard the RMS Queen Mary. Higgins recalled, "It was only after we arrived in Southampton that we realised the joy of it all. Large numbers of Cavan people turned up to see us in London and Birmingham. We were treated like kings in Cavan."[4]
The 1947 All-Ireland final brought about an understanding that a large audience existed for Gaelic games highlights.[2]
Mick Higgins, the last surviving member of the winning team, died in January 2010.[4]
This was the last All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final to be played on 14 September until the 2019 replay.[9]
References
- ^ "National Climatic Data Center". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 23 August 2013. High temperature recorded at "New York Central Park OBS Belvedere Tower, NY US" station.
- ^ a b Moran, Seán (30 November 2011). "'GAA Football Gold' is worth its weight in memories". The Irish Times. Irish Times Trust. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
- ^ "Funeral of man "who held nation spellbound" takes place in Dublin". Irish Times. 28 November 1996.
- ^ a b c d e "Cavan GAA legend Mick Higgins dies at the age of 87". BBC Sport. BBC. 28 January 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
- ^ Breheny, Martin (29 January 2010). "Cavan football mourns loss of legend Higgins, hero of 1947 Polo Grounds". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
- ^ The Artane Band History, www.artanemusic.ie, February 2002.
- ^ High Ball magazine, issue #6, 1998.
- ^ "1947 - Final in the Polo Grounds | the Official Website of the GAA". Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
- ^ a b c d Moran, Seán (11 September 2019). "Will time be on Dublin's side once more?". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
In the Croke Park Museum the current exhibition Tuning In – from Wireless to Wifi celebrates the broadcasting of Gaelic games. One of the most famous of these took place when Michael O'Hehir, commentating live from the Polo Grounds in New York, realised that because of delays the radio link, which was booked until five o'clock, would go down five minutes before the Cavan-Kerry All-Ireland final ended. 'If there's anybody along the way there listening in, just give us five minutes more, and I kept begging for five minutes more,' O'Hehir recalled in a later interview. Whether he was heard or not, the link remained open. That was 72 years ago and the only other football final until this year played on September 14th.