Our special supplement will look back on Carlow GAA’s glory days in 1944
The Carlow and Kerry teams parade around a packed Croke Park ahead of the 1944 All-Ireland Football Championship semi-final
30 JULY marks the 80th anniversary of the greatest day in Carlow GAA history. That was the day in 1944 that Carlow defeated Dublin in Athy to win the county’s first, and to date only, Leinster Senior Championship. To commemorate the occasion, will be publishing a 16-page pull-out supplement.
The special supplement will be more than just the story of that game and instead, relying on the back catalogue of the inimitable Leo McGough, we will delve into the story of the years leading up to that success and how Carlow came within a kick of a ball of reaching the All-Ireland Final in 1944.
The build-up to that Leinster success began many years previously, and Carlow were fancied to annex their first provincial title in 1941 but fate intervened and an outbreak of foot and mouth meant that the game was delayed and Carlow’s chances were severely hampered.
Unfortunately, Carlow’s Leinster success in 1944 wasn’t greeted by the usual pomp and ceremony that you might expect by today’s standards, and there is no actual record of a photographer covering the final in Athy, or of any presentation at the time, but the supplement will feature many photos from the games and years around that time.
It will also have a blow-by-blow account of the 1944 All-Ireland semi-final between Carlow and Kerry. The account was found among the memorabilia of former Carlow county secretary Martin Lynch: it was tightly typed on brown paper and took up some eight pages. It gives a fascinating account of that semi-final and is a remarkable piece of history.
Although all the heroes of the 1944 team have passed on to the great football pitch in the sky, Leo has had the opportunity to interview many of them down through the years and we feature some of those interviews to get a real insight into what life was like for a successful inter-county footballer at that time.
The supplement will also feature many of the untold stories in what we hope will be the definitive historical resource of this tremendous success, such those of trainer Joe Dundon, and how the Carlow Supporters' Club helped fund the time. Finances being the backbone of footballing success isn’t just a modern phenomenon!
It's a supplement that will hopefully be of huge interest to all GAA lovers around the county and beyond, so make sure to grab your copy on Tuesday 30 July.
