You really don’t want to miss Waterford winning their first All-Ireland in nearly 60 years.
It’s no certainty, in fact, they may be the slight underdogs when they play Galway on Sunday afternoon but All-Ireland finals come rare enough to the county, the last one was back in 2008 when Davy Fitzgerald was at the helm.
Tickets have been hard to come by as it is a momentous day for either county and they’ll be coming in their flocks and droves from Connacht and Munster to witness the clash between Waterford and Galway on 3 September.
Most people will make the journey from their respective county, some will come from different pockets of the country but one man will be travelling from New York.
Brein McGinn is a 22-year-old that is Waterford through and through, he barely misses a match except for this summer.
After finishing up studying in DCU he decided to head over the New York to live and work for a few months as a caddy in renowned golf course Bethpage Black.
The course is one of the most prestigious in the whole country if not the entire planet, it has hosted two U.S. Open Championships with a certain Tiger Woods winning back in 2002.
Brein was actually born in New York and lived there until he was 11-years-old only to move to Dungarvan.
After falling short at the hands of Kilkenny last year, Brein knew that there was always going to be a possibility that Waterford could reach the All-Ireland final this year. It didn’t stop him travelling to New York though.
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“Well, when I decided I was going off to the States for a few months my friends were on to me asking what would I do if Waterford made the All-Ireland and I said I would definitely make to trip back across the pond,” the 22-year-old told SportsJOE.
After a loss to Cork in the Munster championship, the pressure began to ease on Brein, it was set to be another year of disappointment for the Deise but lo and behold Offaly, Kilkenny and Wexford all came and Waterford came out on top.
“When the third goal was scored against Cork that was it, I was booking my trip to Ireland for the final,” Brein said.
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Brein booked his flights into Shannon Airport a couple of days later, there was never a doubt in his mind.
“Some Waterford people have been born and have died without seeing their county win a Liam McCarthy because of the length of the drought so this occasion is not to be missed. I couldn’t ever forgive myself if I was over here and Waterford did the business,” he said.
It’s the first time Brein has been away from Ireland during the summer since he lived in New York but has spent a lot of time in a pub in Long Island not missing any GAA coverage.
“There is this one pub around here on Long Island that shows all the GAA games but watching it would not be anywhere the same as if I was back at home. The pub isn’t known for having a big Waterford support so if they won it would be more or less a one man celebration over here,” he remarked.
It’s going to be a tight squeeze for the New Yorker turn Waterford man, his flight from JFK lands in Shannon at about half past eight on Sunday morning and will have to get a train from Limerick up to Dublin to make the match, and he is amongst the rare few that successfully scrambled for a ticket and got one but it wasn’t without its struggle.
“The advice within the county to claim a golden ticket was to try and search outside Waterford for tickets since every club in the country got a certain number each,” Brein said.
“With having relatives in Meath, Wexford and Mayo and with my dad working in Cork I thought it would be easy but it now seems the rare nature of this year’s finalists has sent the country into fever pitch and tickets would not be easy to get a ticket.
“Luckily enough after more than a week of nagging at friends and family far and wide a ticket came from a county who will be competing in the football final, Mayo. And now just as I hope we end our wait for an all Ireland, I hope Mayo can do the same in as few weeks time,” Brein said.
At the time of writing, Brein is currently sitting in New York praying that his flight to Shannon doesn’t get delayed so he can come and see Kevin Moran lift the Liam McCarthy and then return to New York on Wednesday.
