Athenry man has been to 134 finals
Gerald hopes to see his tenth All-Ireland win
AN Athenry man is hoping to attend his 135th All-Ireland final, including replays, between hurling and football on Sunday.
Gerald Corbett is a well-known and avid Galway GAA supporter, and collector of GAA memorabilia. A room in his house in Athenry is dedicated to tickets, books, framed pictures, autographs, and programmes from games he has been to over the years.
He has matchday programmes dating as far back as the 1938 All-Ireland football final and the subsequent replay, won by Galway against Kerry.
“I’ve more stuff out in the shed,” said Gerald, whose first visit to Croke Park came in 1954, when his father James brought him to an All-Ireland hurling semi-final that Galway lost to Cork. “My first final in hurling was in 1958, when Tipperary beat Galway.
“Galway played Kerry in 1959 and that was my first All-Ireland football final. I was coming on 13 years of age. Seán Purcell was captain that day. Galway were in it with ten minutes to go, and Kerry got a goal and won it.”
Great days for Galway
Trips to Jones Road to watch Galway teams in All-Ireland deciders proved more fruitful in the 1960s, when Gerald got to see the footballers win their three-in-a-row of Sam Maguire Cups in 1964, ’65 and ’66.
“They were great days for Galway followers. Enda Colleran said it was a purple patch for the county,” said Gerald.
The final year of that trio of All-Ireland titles marked the introduction of the parish rule by the Galway County Board, which brought teams from the same area together as one adult club.
Gerald’s father James was involved in setting up the St. Mary’s club in Athenry in 1966, along with Pake Ruane, Tommy Lally, Anthony Freeney, Jim Ruane, Mike Quinn and Jackie O’Shea.
“With Athenry, I was secretary and involved in teams for 35 years. After that I just went to matches myself. I was always a member of the club,” said Gerald, originally from the Newcastle area on the outskirts of Athenry.
“I would have gone with a lot of different people to matches over the years. Going to Dublin, you’d get the train most times. You’d be driving then to Thurles or Limerick, or down to Roscommon or Castlebar.”
Gerald has missed very few All-Ireland finals since he first started making his annual journeys, and he has also appeared in Croke Park in a different guise.
“I was involved with the Galway minor team as a selector from ’72 to ’75. The minors were beaten in the ’73 final by Kilkenny. That was a heartbreak final. We lost by one point. It was one of the damndest days ever in Croke Park, it rained out of the heavens,” explained Gerald.
“JP Cusack from Loughrea was the team manager. Noel Treacy (former TD) from Gurteen was a selector, as were Johnny Furey from Oranmore, Brendan Murphy from Gort and Sean Fahy from Tommy Larkins.”
A day to remember in 1980
A first All-Ireland hurling crown in more than five decades arrived in 1980 on a day when Galway defeated Limerick and Joe Connolly made one of the most revered speeches ever seen by an All-Ireland winning captain.
“We had been beaten in ’79 by Kilkenny. We beat Offaly in ’80 in the semi-final and won the final after that,” said Gerald.
“It had been 57 years since we won it. We’d been to finals in between and not won any of them.
“There were great men who stayed at it for a long time and got their All-Ireland medals, like John Connolly. He made his Championship debut in ’67.
Some 46 years since that famous Liam MacCarthy Cup win, Galway and Limerick will meet again in an All-Ireland final.
“I will rate them highly if they can put in a display like the one they had against Cork. It will be a hard pressure game,” said Gerald of Galway’s chances on Sunday.
“Limerick are an experienced team and are on the road for a few years. It’s a big occasion for our young lads.”
Gerald Corbett has seen Galway win nine All-Ireland titles across hurling and football. On Sunday, he is hoping to make to make that a perfect ten.