An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir March 2019 www.dfmagazine.ie 52 | BY SGT WAYNE FITZGERALD M ost sports probably haven't changed a whole lot over the last 100-years or so, rules maybe, but clothing has really developed with technol- ogy advancements and we will see this in the adjoining article. For now, we look at a big game in 1919 - where in the midst of a World War, and the War of Independence the GAA held the All Ireland Football Final. The 1919 All-Ireland final would be the last one to be played in the same year of the championship for several years. Because of the War of Independence and the Civil War that followed the 1920 final wasn't played until 1922, and the succeeding All-Irelands were also deferred for a number of years. In Leinster, Kildare had beaten Dublin in the run up to the final, Kildare were surprise winners as Dublin had been 'tipped' to be the team to put a stop to Wexford's bid for five in a row. Kildare then beat Cavan in the semi- final and were to meet Galway in the final. This would be Galway's first time reaching the final and it was well earned after they defeated Kerry in a semi- final replay. The final was played in Croke Park on 28th September 1919, in front of record crowd of 32,000 - according to the GAA's official historian Marcus De Burca. Kildare were led by one of the great names in football his- tory Larry Stanley and Galway had their infamous 'Knacker' Walsh for inspiration. Galway's talisman Walsh was kept under wraps only kick- ing one point the whole game – it wasn't looking good for the Galwaymen. Kildare were leading at halftime going in at 1-2 to 0-1 ahead. They put the one sided game to bed early in the second-half with Stanley cleaning up at centrefield and a second goal settled the matter. The goals were scored by Frank 'Joyce' Conlan and Jim O'Connor. The final score was Kildare 2-5 and Galway 0-1. Galway were also beaten finalists in 1922, but went on to win their first All-Ireland football title in 1925. ALL IRELAND FOOTBALL FINAL The Galway and Kildare teams walk out before the 1919 final. Michael Collins, Luke O'Toole and Harry Boland at Croke Park for the 1921 Leinster Hurling Final. Galway: T Egan, D Egan, J Egan, P Higgins, M Walsh, P Roche, J Hanniffy, G Jennings, L Raftery, M Flannelly, H Burke, G Feeney, Knacker Walsh, T McDonnell and M Cawley. Kildare: L Cribben, J Conlon, J Moran, T Goulding, M Buckley, J O'Connor, P Doyle, L Stanley, M Sammon, G Magan, J Stanley, C Flynn, B McGlade, James O'Connor and F Conlon.

• Cover