Come Here To Me!

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you will have heard that Sam Maguire is to remain in Dublin at least a year longer. This year marked the 80th anniversary of the last time the Liam McCarthy cup resided in the Irish capital, something which went largely unmentioned. This wonderful clip from British Pathe, audio and all, captures the 1938 All Ireland Hurling Final and is criminally underviewed on YouTube. Dublin defeated Waterford 2-5 to 1-6.

The archive clip is noticeable for the wonderful shots of the Croke Park crowd and terrace. While the official attendance at the match was 37,129, the news clip gives a significantly higher estimate, and the ground seems packed.

Much has changed since 1938, evident even from reading the beginning of the Irish Press report on the occasion:

Liffey men, Lagan men, Suirsiders, Leesiders, country folk and city dwellers, some from every one of the 32 counties, encircled Croke Park’s playing pitch yesterday and saw Dublin win the nation’s premier atheltic trophy.

The actual match was not outstanding – spectators found it a ding-dong terrior-like game – but the unique atmosphere of an All-Ireland Hurling Final was present. It was more than a game, it was a national occasion. Sections of the crowd were still singing ‘Faith of Our Fathers’ when Padraig Mac Con Midhe, Preisdent of the GAA, escorted the Bishop of Waterford on the field to throw the ball in.

In time, the writer got to the action:

Dublin’s lead was reduced to two points shortly before the end, and Waterford, fighting hars gve its supporters – there in big numbers – some hope that they would win the day. The Metropolitan hurlers, however, kept their territory intact. All-Ireland Champions, they yet again have won the coveted trophy their opponents have yet to capture.

Remarkably, Jim Byrne of the 1938 Dublin hurlers is the only native Dubliner to have won an All-Ireland hurling medal. As Hell for Leather: A Journey Through Hurling in 100 Games notes, the strong Dublin sides of the 1920s and 30s were drawn from right across the island of Ireland, as “the exclusion of native Dubs from their own county team peaked in the 1920s and 1930s when legions of countrymen migrated Liffeyside to join the guards, army or civil service.” When Dublin won the 1927 All-Ireland hurling final, there was not a single native Dubliner on the team!