1947 - Final in the Polo Grounds

Gaelic Games followers in America had for years been pleading for the privilege of seeing the All-Ireland Senior Football Final played in New York. The appearance of Cavan and Kerry at the Polo Grounds in 1947 fulfilled their dream. Motions to have the football final played in New York had been turned down year after year at annual Congress and looked like meeting its usual fate once again until an adjournment was called, during which the delegates were canvassed for support, and shown a letter from an exiled priest appealing that the Gaels of first, second and third generation in the United States be privileged to see the great game in New York. When Congress resumed, the motion was passed and although it transpired subsequently that the heart-rending priest's letter had been a hoax, there were no regrets and everything went off magnificently. The persistent efforts of Canon Hamilton of Clare to have the final played in New York eventually paid off.With the prospect of a trans-Atlantic trip for the finalists, no championship was ever more eagerly contested, with Cavan, Kerry, Meath and Roscommon winning their respective Provincial Championships. Cavan defeated Roscommon by 2-4 to 0-6 in one semi-final, while Kerry defeated Meath on a score of 1-11 to 0-5 in the other semi-final.

The two teams travelled by different means to New York. The Cavan party mainly travelled by air, while their Kerry opponents opted to travel by sea. The victorious Cavan players were later to comment on the advantage of travelling by air as it gave them more time at home with their training and preparation for the final. The Kerry party on the other hand had a much longer journey travelling by sea. The historic game was played on the 14th September in the Polo Grounds, New York, home of the New York Giants Baseball team, on a bone hard dry pitch in blistering sunshine before a disappointing attendance of 34,941. Kerry were the red-hot favourites with the bulk of the attendance.

Kerry took the sensible precaution of wearing white, jockey-type caps as protection against the blazing sun and built up a commanding eight-point lead against a rather nervous Cavan side. The lead would have been much greater if two Kerry goals had not been disallowed and frees given instead.

It looked like an easy Kerry victory but then a switch by the Cavan mentors, which did not seem appropriate at the time, was to alter the course of the game. P.J. Duke, a brilliant wing half back, had started the game at midfield but was making no impression, while regular corner back John Wilson filled Duke's wing back berth. Wilson was having a torrid time on the elusive Batt Garvey, who finished the first Kerry goal to the net after a dazzling solo run. The switching of Duke to his usual wing back position alongside his captain John Joe O'Reilly and Simon Deignan saw an immediate tightening up of the Cavan defence and this changed the entire pattern of the game. Deignan incidentally had the unusual distinction of refereeing the Munster Football Final of 1947 which saw Kerry defeat Cork.

Gega O'Connor got through for the second Kerry goal while Cavan eventually got off the mark with a Peter Donohue point. Columba McDyer added a second Cavan point before Kerry edged further ahead with excellent points from Gega O'Connor and Paddy Kennedy to put the Kingdom well in command. The Cavan mentors then made the crucial changes which were to have a profound impact on the game.

As Cavan slowly edged their way back into the game an incident involving the flying Cavan half forward Tony Tighe had a major impact on the result. Tighe was heading for the Kerry goal when he was heavily tackled by the Kerry captain Jackie Lyne. The tackle would not have been deemed particularly hard at home but it drew a chorus of booing from the New York crowd. Referee Martin O'Neill from Wexford awarded a free to Cavan but the incident incensed the crowd and their sympathy lay with the Cavan team for the remainder of the game.

The renewed Cavan pressure was telling on the Kerry defence and Mick Higgins. Tighe, Peter Donohue, Joe Stafford and T.P. O'Reilly began to get the scores to whittle down the early Kerry lead. By half time Cavan had forged ahead on a score of 2-5 to 2-4 and eventually won the game on a score of 2-11 to 2-7.

The closing minutes were packed with tremendous excitement as Cavan led by only a single point with five minutes remaining, but the younger and faster Breffni side ended strongly with three points from Donohue (free), midfielder Phil Brady and Higgins.

Peter Donohue's eight points from frees were crucial in securing his side's famous victory. Donohue was later described in the New York press as the babe Ruth of Gaelic Football, probably the highest accolade any sporting individual could receive at the time.

What made Cavan's victory possible, and so memorable, was the superb play of the game's greatest artists of the time, such as John Joe O'Reilly, the red-haired P.J. Duke for his spectacular running out of defence, and the inter-passing speed and skills of Mick Higgins and Tony Tighe.

For Kerry there was the early brilliance of Batt Garvey and Gega O'Connor, the magnificent fielding of Eddie Dowling at midfield until he retired injured, the tireless defensive work of the two Lynes, Dinny and Jackie, and some glimpses of Paddy Kennedy, even though he was nursing an injury and fielded at right corner forward instead of his usual midfield position, which he took over form Dowling before he had to retire himself. Kerry people later expressed the view that had both Dowling and Kennedy been able to play for the full period of the game, victory might well have gone to the Kingdom.

The New York Football Final of 1947 saw the game transmitted live back to Ireland by Radio Eireann with Micheál Ó Hehir providing the commentary. It was to be the legendary broadcaster's most famous match commentary. The broadcast was scheduled for one hour but O'Hehir, on air, pleaded with the authorities not to cut him off but to give "five more minutes" to complete the broadcast of the game. Thankfully the authorities obliged.

Fifty years later the GAA authorities approved a proposal to bring the same two teams back to New York, this time to play a normal round of the National Football League to commemorate the historic 1947 final. With the Polo Grounds no longer in use the game was played in Downings Stadium. Travel on this occasion was by air for both teams and many supporters took the occasion to travel to New York to join in the historic event. The game was transmitted live on television by RTE. Kerry gained some revenge for their 1947 defeat with a comfortable victory, with the great Maurice Fitzgerald giving a five-star display of scoring from both play and frees. As in 1947 the organisation of the 1997 commemorate event was another triumph for the GAA in New York.