Review: A unique and valuable addition on the history of the Sam Maguire Cup

It has been nearly a decade in the making but finally this week the much-awaited launch of Chasing Sam Maguire — the All-Ireland Football Championship 1928-1977.

It is a heavy-weight chronicle of some 464 pages, published by The O'Brien Press in hardback form, which gives, not only the results, the score lines, the scorers of every All-Ireland final since the Sam Maguire Cup came on to the scene in 1928 but also includes a synopsis of each and every final, including the full names of each player along with his club.

At the end of each chapter, the authors have also included a number of paragraphs under the heading 'The Year That Was' which makes for some very interesting reading of the world in that particular year.

The first All-Ireland to be covered, 1928, is of course the year Kildare won it's fourth All-Ireland (and last) defeating Cavan in the final and was the first year the famous Sam Maguire Cup was presented.

Kildare made it back-to-back titles having also won it in 1927 with the same XV players lining out.

However, as is pointed out in the book, Naas man, Joe Curtis, picked up a rib injury following a cycling accident before that final and was due to be replaced by Peter Pringle of Rathangan.

However a delegation of Cavan officials arrived into the Kildare dressing room prior to the start with photographic evidence that Pringle had lined out illegally in a Laois club game and was duly demoted. Joe “was duly strapped up for action, given a swig of whiskey to numb the pain, and proceeded to make a major contribution as the Lilywhites retained their title.”

Fifty seasons in total are covered in this edition, with Part II to come, and it will no doubt settle many an argument of who played, who scored and all the other arguments we hear from time and time again when it comes to All-Ireland finals.

The book is the brainchild of Dermot Reilly and he, along with Colm Keys have put in an incredible amount of time and effort in their research to ensure that what it contains is accurate, precise and informative.

Kildare native Dermot Reilly played for Carbury and Kildare; lining out for Carbury from 1974 to 1986, winning two SFC in '74 and '85, as he says himself “a good start and a good ending.”

He wore the white of Kildare for a decade ('74 to '84) and while that was a barren time for The Lilies he says “it was an absolute privilege to wear the Kildare jersey and play alongside players of the calibre of Pat Mangan, John Crofton, Jack Donnelly, Tommy Carew, Denis Dalton , to name just a few, not forgetting player-manager Eamonn O'Donoghue.” Dermot is a former partner, now retired, with PwC.

Colm Keys needs little introduction, a Meath native he started his journalistic career in the Meath Chronicle, moving to the Irish Mirror as GAA correspondent and chief sports writer before becoming GAA correspondent with the Irish Independent in 2003, a position he still holds.

The foreword for the book was penned by Larry McCarthy, Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael, who recalled the day he recently represented the GAA at the unveiling in Kildare town of a life-size statue of Bill 'Squires' Gannon, captain of the All-Ireland winning Kildare team of 1928.

Larry McCarthy was the guest speaker at the official launch of the publication at Croke Park last evening (Monday October 16).