Hurling fans fly the Limerick flag in Australia ahead of All-Ireland final
SEAMUS Flanagan knows a thing or two about green and white flags and now he is on one.
A photo of the Feohanagh Castlemahon GAA forward is accompanied by the words, “We’re not here to take part, we’re here to take over”. And Seamus is doing that – not just in Ireland but in Australia.
The hurling mad McCarthy family from Ardpatrick eschewed important holiday items to bring their specially made Seamus Flanagan flag to Sydney.
“He was squashed into the bag. T-shirts and shoes were thrown out in order to make sure we made room for Seamus Flanagan! He came with us to Sydney Harbour Bridge and Bondi Beach and a couple of other places,” said Lorraine, married to Paul and they have two daughters Laura, aged 16, and Amy, 14.
Their grá for the big full forward stems from meeting him the day after the All-Ireland final last year in Davy’s bar in Effin.
“He was absolutely lovely. He was on a day out with his friends celebrating but he spent lots of time with the girls – he was just an absolute gentleman. We are big fans of all the Limerick hurlers but particularly Seamus. We got the flag specially made and we have car flags as well on both of our cars. He might think we are stalking him,” laughed Lorraine.
It is oft said that Limerick fans are the best in the country and the McCarthys epitomise that. They even planned a trip Down Under to visit Lorraine’s sister Caroline so they wouldn’t miss Limerick matches. It is also shows that we are not taking the recent years of success for granted.
“We were going to go in July but then we found out about the changes in the championship so we moved our flights to June. We went on the Monday after the Munster final,” said Lorraine.
After a lovely time in Sydney with Caroline, her partner Lassity and their two boys Finnbar, age 12, and Cormac, 10, they returned home the day before the All-Ireland semi-final and were in Croke Park the next day despite the jet lag.
“We had it well planned in the end,” smiled Lorraine. Fresh from Sydney the Seamus Flanagan flag got an airing as the team bus arrived in Croke Park.
And the McCarthys will be back there on Sunday. Not even free flights back to Sydney would dissuade them from missing the All-Ireland final against Kilkenny.
“Not a hope! The girls (Laura and Amy) have been going to all the matches from day dot. They would choose a Limerick match over anything else – Sydney, discos – they will always work around it to make sure they are going to the matches. They wouldn’t miss the All-Ireland for love nor money,” said Lorraine. Like all youngsters they have never experienced the bad days of following Limerick and when they came so close to All-Ireland glory.
“They are lucky to be able to get to go and enjoy the good times while they are here. We were there for the bad times so it is nice to enjoy the good times as well,” sums up Lorraine perfectly.