1947 Final Remembered in New York

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Irish Voice Sport

1947 Final Remembered in New York

September 13, 2007

By Eugene Kyne

IF you could take yourself back to Ireland in 1844 you would find a large, vigorous population that, despite living through famines in 1816-17, 1822, 1826 and 1831 had survived and rebuilt itself and was now approaching eight million people.

The life expectancy was 38, which was on a par with the rest of Europe, and the main staple diet was the potato, which had been introduced in the 1590s. An acre and a half of potatoes could feed a family of five or six people for six months, and it also fed some of the livestock with products such as butter, eggs, poultry and bacon sold for money.

The Irish people were resilient and they lived on their means and thrived. What was around the human corner was so devastating and severe that it was incomprehensible then or now. It has left a mark on our history that will never go away.

In 1845 reports began to come in from Europe that blight had been noticed in Belgium. It is not known where it came from but it spread into France, Germany, the Netherlands, England and Switzerland.

In these countries people were less dependent on the potato, but when it hit Ireland it had catastrophic effects. The potato blight was later found to be a fungus, and it was 40 years before a spray was developed against it.

In the years that followed, 1845 to 1852, horrific numbers were recorded in Ireland in deaths while actual numbers were higher in all areas — 123,000 in 1846, 208,252 in ‘48, 240,797 in ’49, 249,335 in ‘47, from the Census of Ireland records. The real numbers in a 10-year period — close to 1.5 million. Meanwhile, 1.5 million took the only recourse they had. They emigrated to America.

In 1947, the Clare County Board put a motion before Congress with Canon Hamilton from Newmarket on Fergus who had been in touch with John “Kerry” O’Donnell, the proposer, that the All-Ireland football final of that year would be played in New York as a commemoration of the devastation of 100 years before.

It was immediately investigated with the logistics of the game looked at, and the Polo Grounds was found as a suitable pitch to accommodate the fixture. The Polo Grounds were located at 155th Street across from Yankee Stadium and was home at the time to the New York Giants baseball team.

The All-Ireland semifinals took on new meaning now as the reward for qualifying for the All-Ireland was a trip of a lifetime to the Big Apple. The semis pitted Cavan against Roscom-mon; the Breffni boys won 2-04 to 0-6 while Kerry defeated Meath 1-11 to 0-5 in the other game on consecutive weekends in August.

The teams traveled to New York by two methods. Some went by plane, the TWA Skymaster, a DC 4, which took 29 hours to reach its destination with stops for fuel in the Azores, and Newfoundland to repair a faulty engine. Still more went by Ocean Liner the Mauritania, part of the Cunard ship line.

Upon arrival functions on each night included Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral with Cardinal Spellman, while Mayor Bill O’Dwyer, a Mayo man, gave the teams a mayoral reception.

On September 14, 1947, Good Shepherd played St. Luke’s in a minor match, and St. Pius beat St. John’s in an intermediate match before finally the mayor threw the ball in for the game of the century, 60 years ago this week.

The referee was Wexford man Martin O’Neill, and soon after he got proceedings underway, Kerry was in a 2-2 to no score lead. They also had two goals disallowed.

Cavan took action on the sideline; P.J. Duke was moved on Kerry danger man Batt Garvey. Tony Tigue and Mick Higgins moved to midfield with Peter Donahue starting to click from free.

Eddie Dowling was starring for Kerry but he retired injured and Higgins had a goal to put Cavan in front at the break 2-5 to 2-4.

Mick Finucane, Gaga O’Connor and Tim Brosnan impressed in the second half for Kerry, but Donaghue and Higgins both slotted over a brace of points to take the title 2-11 to 2-07 and mark Cavan’s day in history.

Mick Higgins had another unusual facet to his game. He was born in New York and returned to live in Ireland with his family in Kilnaleck.

Due to the arduous journey by plane, both the teams and supporters decided to return to Ireland by boat. They traveled by liner with the journey to Southampton taking eight days.

The teams socialized together on the boat and were feted by the Irish community in London upon arrival. They were treated to civic receptions in Dun Laoghaire and feted at Aras an Uachtarain, the home of the president of Ireland.

Cavan went on to further success with the 1948 and ‘52 titles going their way, while Kerry have annexed titles in all decades since the famous trip.

The event was commemorated in 1997 when Cavan played Kerry in New York at Randall’s Island, and then Mayor Rudy Giuliani was at the center for the ceremonial throw in. Now on its 60-year anniversary, the games are remembered while the lasting memories of the Great Famine will never be forgotten.

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