 Official programme | |||||||
| Event | 1947 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | 14 September 1947 | ||||||
| Venue | Polo Grounds, New York City | ||||||
| Referee | M O'Neill (Wexford) | ||||||
| Attendance | 34,491 | ||||||
| Weather | 86 °F (30 °C) [1] | ||||||
The 1947 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was the sixtieth All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1947 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland. Cavan were captained by John Joe O'Reilly.
For the first and only time, the final was played outside Ireland, at Polo Grounds in New York City, to cater for the large Irish-American community there. The New York final was also intended to observe the centenary of the Great Famine, which caused mass Irish emigration to the U.S. and other countries. [2]
It was decided that New York would host this match as a commemoration of the 1847 Great Famine, which forced a large number of Irish people to emigrate to North America. This novel location for the game was chosen for the benefit of New York's large Irish immigrant population. It was the only time for the final to have been played outside Ireland. [3]
Around 30,000 people were in the ground for the final. [4] Cavan travelled by air and Kerry by sea; the Cavan team credited their victory partially to their shorter time spent travelling. The Cavan team flew via the Azores, taking 30 hours. Kerry's trip by Ocean Liner took far longer. [4] The last Gaelic game held at Polo Grounds was on 1 June 1958, when Cavan played New York.
Mick Higgins, a key member of the Cavan team that day, [5] recalled in later life: "There was no huge send-off for us in Cavan, but both teams got a good reception in New York when we arrived. I remember the team stayed in the Commodore Hotel, but I stayed with my relatives." He also remembered there was "oppressive heat" during the game itself. [4]
The Artane Boys' Band travelled to New York to play before the match, as they do traditionally at all All-Ireland finals. [6]
After a slow start, Cavan fought back to lead 2–5 to 2–4 at the break, and went on to win by four points. Peter Donohoe scored eight points from frees, and the New York press called him "the Babe Ruth of Gaelic football" (Babe Ruth was a local baseball player of the time). Michael O'Hehir broadcast radio commentary back across the Atlantic Ocean. [7] [8]
O'Hehir noticed that broadcasting delays would bring the radio link down five minutes before the final had ended. [9] O'Hehir later recalled his plea:'"If there's anybody along the way there listening in, just give us five minutes more, and I kept begging for five minutes more". [9] The link stayed open. [9]
| Cavan | 2–11 – 2–7 | Kerry |
|---|---|---|
| Peter Donohoe (0–8), Mick Higgins (1–1), T. P. O'Reilly (1–1), Columba McDyer (0–1) | Eddie Dowling (1–0), Batt Garvey (1–0), Tom Gega O'Connor (0–6), Paddy Kennedy (0–1) |
       Cavan |   Kerry |
 | This section needs editing to comply with Wikipedia's Manual of Style. In particular, it has problems with the teams not being laid out as, for instance, at 2024 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final#Details, with full names visible, substitutes in numerical order and 'subon'/'suboff' templates included.(January 2025) |
Cavan team = 1 Val Gannon 2 Willie Doonan 3 Brian O'Reilly 4 Paddy Smith 5 John Wilson 6 John Joe O'Reilly (c) 7 Simon Deignan 8 P. J. Duke 9 Phil Brady 10 Tony Tighe 11 Mick Higgins 12 Columba McDyer 13 Joe Stafford 14 Peter Donohoe 15 T. P. O'Reilly
16 Edwin Carolan 17 Terry Sheridan 18 Owen Roe McGovern 19 John Joe Cassidy 20 Tom O'Reilly 21 Eunan Tiernan 22 Brendan Kelly
Kerry team = 1 D. O'Keeffe 2 D. Lyne (c) 3 J. Keohane 4 P. B. Brosnan 5 J. Lyne 6 B. Casey 7 E. Walsh 8 E. Dowling 9 Teddy O'Connor 17 T. O'Sullivan 15 D. Kavanagh 12 B. Garvey 13 F. O'Keeffe 14 Tom O'Connor 22 P. Kennedy
11 W. O'Donnell for T. Brosnan 18 M. Finucane for E. Walsh 16 T. Brosnan for W. O'Donnell 21 G. Teahan for P. Kennedy
10 G. O'Sullivan 19 T. Long 20 S. Keane
The Cavan team returned to Ireland aboard the RMS Queen Mary. Higgins recalled, "It was only after we arrived in Southampton that we realised the joy of it all. Large numbers of Cavan people turned up to see us in London and Birmingham. We were treated like kings in Cavan." [4]
The 1947 All-Ireland SFC final brought about an understanding that a large audience existed for Gaelic games highlights. [2]
Mick Higgins, the last surviving member of the winning team, died in January 2010. [4]
This was the last All-Ireland SFC final to be played on 14 September until the 2019 replay. [9]
John Joe O'Reilly was a legendary Gaelic footballer who played for the Cavan county team. He is the only man to lead a team to All-Ireland glory outside of Ireland, having captained the Cavan team to victory against Kerry in the iconic 1947 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final played at the Polo Grounds in New York City.
Lisselton is a village in County Kerry, Ireland. It is located 8 km northwest of Listowel on the R553 road to Ballybunion. The village is part of the parish of Ballydonoghue, which is located in the north of the county. The village contains three pubs, several shops and there are two primary schools in the parish.
The Cavan County Board or Cavan GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland, and is responsible for the administration of Gaelic games in County Cavan.
Michael James Hehir was an Irish hurling, football and horse racing commentator and journalist. Between 1938 and 1985 his enthusiasm and memorable turn of phrase endeared him to many. He is still regarded as the original 'voice of Gaelic games'.
Paddy "Hands" O'Brien was an Irish Gaelic footballer who played as a full-back at senior level for the Meath county team.
Mick Higgins was an Irish Gaelic footballer who played at senior level for the Cavan county team, winning three All-Ireland medals during his career. In later years he was a successful coach.
Philip Joseph Duke (1925–1950) was a Gaelic footballer who played for the Cavan county team.
Owen Roe McGovern was a former Gaelic footballer who played for the Cavan county team, winning two All-Ireland Senior Football Championship medals in 1947 and '48.
1944 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 1945 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 1946 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 1947 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 1948 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 1949 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 1950 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 1951 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 1955 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Joseph Stafford was a Gaelic footballer who played for the Cavan county team.
John Joe Cassidy was a Gaelic footballer who played for the Cavan county team.
The 1948 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was the 61st All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1948 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland. Contested by a team from the Ulster (Cavan) and a team from Connacht (Mayo), such a meeting in the decider between teams from these provinces would not happen again until 2012.
The 1949 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was the 62nd All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1949 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland.
The 1952 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was the 65th All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1952 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland.
The 1955 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was the 68th All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1955 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland. A then record crowd attended. The game went down in history as "famous" and a "classic". The team's relationship with the Hill 16 terrace has been traced to this day. It also marked the arrival of an indigenous Dublin team onto the national stage; previous Dublin teams had hired countrymen to fill their ranks.
The 1947 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 61st staging of Ireland's premier Gaelic football knock-out competition.
The 2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 127th edition of the GAA's premier inter-county Gaelic football since its establishment in 1887. It was played between 31 counties of Ireland, London and New York.
The 1997–98 National Football League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Church & General National Football League, was the 67th staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.
The Cavan county football team represents County Cavan in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Cavan GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Ulster Senior Football Championship and the National Football League.
Teddy O'Connor was an Irish Gaelic footballer who played for a number of clubs sides including Laune Rangers, Bantry Blues, Dr. Crokes and Killarney and at inter-county level with the Kerry senior football team.
In the Croke Park Museum the current exhibition Tuning In – from Wireless to Wifi celebrates the broadcasting of Gaelic games. One of the most famous of these took place when Michael O'Hehir, commentating live from the Polo Grounds in New York, realised that because of delays the radio link, which was booked until five o'clock, would go down five minutes before the Cavan-Kerry All-Ireland final ended. 'If there's anybody along the way there listening in, just give us five minutes more, and I kept begging for five minutes more,' O'Hehir recalled in a later interview. Whether he was heard or not, the link remained open. That was 72 years ago and the only other football final until this year played on September 14th.
