Joe Connolly we love you
Things were much simpler in the 1980s in Ireland and especially in the GAA.
Very few jersey’s had sponsors, hardly any hurlers wore helmets and the All-Ireland final speech was something that could really pack a punch.
The 80s saw some very memorable moments in the steps of the Hogan Stand but one that remains in the memory above all others is probably the 1980 hurling final as Joe Connolly got his hands on Liam McCarthy.
The Galway half-forward captained his side to a victory over Limerick and he conducted his speech entirely as Gaeilge until the final lines, when he famously told the crowds below ‘People of Galway, we love you’ in reference to the Pope’s famous speech on his visit the year previous.
Well this week to mark 35 years since that moment he was invited by the GAA to be part of the legends series of tours of Croke Park.
The GAA gets well known players a few times a year to explain to some lucky customers their own memories and few stories from their time in Croker.
What made Connolly’s tour as the more unique was that as it was the eve of St Patrick’s Day he conducted the tour totally in Irish. RTE decided to do a special report to mark the occasion and in fairness Connolly doesn’t look like he has changed too much.
