29 long years buried under the falling night sky of Pearse Stadium.
It’s been non-stop for the Galway hurlers since 3.30pm on Sunday. From Croke Park to the City West to Our Ladies Children’s Hospital in Crumlin through Ballinasloe, Athenry, Galway and into Salthill.
They’ve been playing hard all year long. From National League champions to Leinster success to wrapping both hands firmly around Liam MacCarthy only a couple of hours after their minor team conquered Ireland, the Tribesmen attacked their celebrations with similar purpose and aggression and downright relentlessness.
Joe Canning was stopping for photos and chats with just about everyone and it took him an age just to get back into the changing room after the game.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYm5MyylH89/?taken-by=sportsjoedotie
En route to the Children’s Hospital on the Monday morning, the mood was still as light, even if the heads weren’t.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYnpQ1BFQvu/?taken-by=sportsjoedotie
It wouldn’t have been too hard to keep picking themselves up though. The crowds that were lining the sidewalks and streets as the All-Ireland champions crossed the Shannon and rolled into town after town was the stuff of dreams – perhaps they were the dreams that the 12-year-old David Burke had.
By the time they had reached Pearse Stadium, the place was bloody packed.
In the stands and on the pitch, maroon and white filled the western air as Liam and his deliverers were presented before an adoring public, taking pictures, waving flags, lapping it in under the sun went down over the Atlantic Way.
If you were lucky enough to be in the crowd, you made memories that will last forever. If you were lucky enough to be on stage, you saw images that would stir the soul.
Joe Canning isn’t a serial social media user but how could he not let the world see through his eyes if only for a few seconds? And what he saw was pure magic.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYqfIo9nnIK/?hl=en&taken-by=seosamh_oc
A county has come together. The west has awoken.
