“I decided discretion was the best part of valour.”
In September 1980, Galway’s hurlers were up in Dublin ahead of their second consecutive All-Ireland final.
The Tribesmen had missed out on the Liam MacCarthy in 1979 but were back to right that wrong. All was going to plan, including the players hitting the hay for a relatively early night, when all hell broke down on the street below.
Galway hurling legend Sylvie Linnane was rooming with Steve Mahon at the time and recalls that trouble started when a couple got into an almighty row down on the street below.
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Linnane’s tale is recounted in John Scally’s book ‘Blood, Sweat, Triumph and Tears: Tales from the GAA’. He says:
“I ran into the bathroom, got the waste-paper basket, filled it with water and ran over to the window and threw the water over the man. It did the trick and he stopped and the woman ran away.
“A happy ending, or so I thought, until the man recovered from the shock and got really, really angry and started to climb up the drainpipe to pay back the person who threw water on him.
“I didn’t think the night before the All-Ireland was the best time to get involved in a brawl – especially as the guy looked like a pure psycho – and I decided discretion was the best part of valour. I turned off the light so he wouldn’t know where to find me.
“I went quietly back to bed and listened attentively to see what would happen. What I hadn’t known at the time was that the light immediately below my room was on.
“The room belonged to the former Galway great Inky Flaherty. Inky was not a man to mess with and, a few minutes later, I heard him forcefully eject the intruder out the window, which was not the typical way to prepare for an All-Ireland.”
It certainly was not [as far as we know] but it did not stop Galway’s march to glory.
The men from the West defeated Limerick 2-15 to 3-9 and the cup was captured in style.
