There’s an event that offers the sort of weekend every GAA person should try to experience at least once in their lives
Cork's win over Donegal has put them in a great position to win more respect and maybe even honours. Photograph: Nick Elliott/Inpho
Hosting an event of this kind takes years of preparation, and it requires a club to combine easy cordiality with ruthless, Germanic efficiency. From the second you arrived, you realised that Cill na Martra had pulled it off with aplomb. Their grounds were immaculate, the marquee was serving food all day, the pubs were packed and hopping from the early afternoon, and the football was high quality.
The history of Cork football for the last 50 years is easily enough told through the prism of Billy Morgan and Larry Tompkins. Morgan was the goalkeeper and captain in 1973, they were manager and captain together throughout the 80s, and then handed the job over and back to each other again – either one or the other managed the Cork football team for 21 consecutive years.They are responsible, in a lot of ways, for how Cork football sees itself.
But when Cork lost a league semi-final to Meath in April 1990, Morgan got down on his knees in the dressingroom in Croke Park and prayed that Meath would qualify for that year’s All-Ireland final. That streak of contrariness is not something you can teach.
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