Dan Walsh recalls a memorable day in Croke Park
The 1996 All Ireland senior hurling championship final was played in Croke Park, Dublin, on Sunday, September 1st where Wexford beat Limerick by 1-13 to 0-14 to claim their sixth All Ireland hurling title overall and a first title victory in 26 years.
The Wild Swans topped the musical charts with ‘Dancing at the Crossroads’, Larry O’Gorman was named ‘Hurler of the Year’, Damien Fitzhenry, Rory McCarthy and Martin Storey became household names, Tom Dempsey is remembered for the only goal of the game, Manager Liam Griffin became a legend, and every town and village in Co. Wexford went wild with excitement and celebrated like never before!
On that memorable day I travelled to the match on the train from Enniscorthy and although I didn’t qualify for a Press Pass to the game, I brought my recording equipment and convinced a Croke Park official who permitted me onto the pitch to do radio interviews after the game.
When the final whistle blew, I was allowed pass from the Nally Stand onto the pitch and since Wexford had won the game the plan was really coming together. As Martin Storey was receiving the Liam McCarthy Cup my microphone was rolling and to mark the 30th anniversary here is the historic audio from that day!
When the interviews were conducted, I took the first train out of Dublin and headed to Wexford Station, then onwards to South East Radio for a few hours of editing and the audio was transmitted on Monday morning on the Alan McGuire Show.
It was 7 o’clock in Monday morning before I left Wexford town as the celebrations were in full swing. On Monday evening it was the welcome home to Gorey Enniscorthy and Wexford town. New Ross held a welcome on Tuesday evening. And the celebrations continued for months afterwards.
The Liam McCarthy Cup wasn’t been back to Wexford since 1996, so it is fair to say that we are still celebrating that great September day, and hopfully, this remembrance article will remind an older generation and inform the present generation of days when all of Wexford was a sea of celebration and excitement.
WexfordLocal.com 