Hurling hero John Connolly's Hall of Fame honour

By JIM CARNEY IT'S that time again â€â€ the announcement of the Co. Galway Sports Stars of the Year, promoted by the Connacht Tribune, Tuam Herald and Raidio na Gaeltachta. This high-prestige awards scheme has run unbroken since 1965, when it was started by Mickey Walsh of Galway Lawn Tennis Club and a group of journalists led by the late Jim Lydon. The inaugural selection had eleven categories, which has now grown to 20-plus most years. There will be 22 awards presented at the 46th Galway Sports Stars of the Year â€Ëœblack tie' banquet in the Ardilaun House Hotel, Salthill, on Saturday night, January 22nd. Guest of honour will be one of Irish horse racing's leading personalities, Ted Walsh. Local, national and international stars will be honoured. Into the latter category goes Cheltenham Gold Cup winning jockey Paddy Brennan, a native of Ardrahan, while there are awards for Galway people who excelled in big national sports events, including Derby winning greyhound racing trainer Conor Fahy, Renvyle-born David Mortimer, PGA champion; girls' soccer star Dora Gorman from Salthill, captain of the U-17 Rep. of Ireland team; Galway city swimmer Dairine Ryan, Adam Caulfield of N.U.I.G. in water polo; Paul Gilligan from Craughwell, one of the West's top National Hunt trainers; Abbeyknockmoy-born soccer star Alan Keane who helped Sligo Rovers win the Cup final; Monivea boxer Kieran Forde, who had a brilliant year; young handball champion Martin Mulkerrins from Moycullen, athletics award winner Gary Thornton, Siobhán McCrohan, now a star name in Irish rowing, and Calasanctius College, Oranmore girls' basketball squad, Irish Cup and League champions three years in a row. As always, Gaelic Games feature prominently, with the main football and hurling awards going again to Padraic Joyce and Damien Hayes. The camogie award goes to Brenda Hanney, outstanding for Galway in 2010 and an inspirational figure in her club Mullagh's historic County Senior Championship triumph. County and Connacht Intermediate football champions St James's get the Team of the Year award, and into the Hall of Fame goes legendary hurler John Connolly. The year just gone by marked the 30th anniversary of the 1980 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship triumph. When the Tribesmen defeated Limerick 2-15 to 3-9, at Croke Park, with John Connolly's younger brother Joe a brilliant captain, older followers of Galway hurling were especially glad they lived to see the day John would finally win the medal he so richly deserved. John Connolly of Castlegar holds a special place in the affections of Galway people â€â€ at home and all over the world. A great personality, a legend of the game, he is as popular, as respected and as revered today as when he was a player. He is also, of course, the senior member of one of the truly great sporting families of all time. Mention Galway hurling and what's one of the first things you think about? The Connollys! And let us remember, too, that 1980 was also the year Castlegar won the All-Ireland Club Hurling Championship â€â€ with SEVEN Connolly brothers in the winning panel. By then, John had long been carrying Galway hurling on his broad shoulders. From the mid-1960s on, when he first hit the scene as a brilliant minor, he was destined for stardom and his Roll of Honour tells the story of a remarkable career, high up among the most distinguished of all the great Irish sportsmen of our time: All-Ireland S.H.C. medal 1980; National Hurling League medal, 1975; two All-Star awards, 1971 and 1979; six Galway S. H.C. medals with his beloved club, Castlegar; All-Ireland Club Championship in 1980; Texaco Hurler of the Year, 1980. Those were the medals and the honours, but they tell only half the story. Would Galway hurling have risen to the top, as it did in the 1970s, without the inspirational presence and leadership of John Connolly? It's doubtful. Would Galway hurling have commanded recognition and respect from the other major hurling counties without the towering presence of John Connolly in the middle of the field when they took on Galway? It's doubtful. As a hurler, he had it all: physical strength, wristwork, long striking, a great head, accuracy from play or off frees and 70s, and a special ability to coax the best out of his team-mates who, with club and county, idolised him. He was the son of a Connemara couple who moved into Galway city, across the road from Ballybrit racecourse, to rear their young family. It was an Irish-speaking household, something that to this day John and all the Connollys are hugely proud of, for they have a pride in their Connemara heritage. Indeed, John himself was born in Leitir Móir and spent his first few years there. It was as a teenager, playing hurling with Cashel' as they're known, that John showed the marvellous talent which would blossom into genius in its own time. Great Castlegar hurling men such as Paddy Egan and Stephen Francis saw they had a star in the making and it wasn't long before he was blazing the trail for club and county. 2010 Award Winners Athletics: Gary Thornton (Galway City Harriers). Basketball: Calasanctius College, Oranmore. Boxing: Kieran Forde (Monivea B.C.). Camógie: Brenda Hanney (Mullagh and Galway). Gaelic football: Padraic Joyce (Killererin and Galway). Golf: P.G.A. Irish champion David Mortimer (Renvyle). Greyhound Racing: Conor Fahy (Tyrur Kennels, Glenamaddy). Handball: Martin Mulkerrins (Moycullen). Horse Racing: National Hunt jockey Paddy Brennan (Ardrahan). Hurling: Damien Hayes (Portumna and Galway). Rowing: Siobhán McCrohan (Claregalway; club Tribes, Galway). Rugby: Michael Swift (Connacht). Soccer: Alan Keane (Abbeyknockmoy; club Sligo Rovers). Ladies Soccer: Dora Gorman (Salthill Devon and Ireland). Swimming: Dairine Ryan (Galway S.C.). Water Polo: Adam Caulfield (N.U.I.G.). Tennis: Marion Hanley (Barna; club G.L.T.C.). Special Achievements: Paul Gilligan, racehorse trainer (Craughwell). Club of the Year: St James's G.F.C. Team of the Year. Portumna Junior Cup Golf team. Special Dedication: Tom Tuohy (N.U.I.G. Rowing Club). Hall of Fame: John Connolly (Castlegar Hurling Club and Galway). The Co. Galway Sports Stars of the Year were selected by: John McIntyre, Sports Editor of the Connacht Tribune, and his staff colleagues Francis Farragher, Stephen Glennon, Keith Kelly, Dara Bradley and Declan Tierney; Jim Carney, Sports Editor of the Tuam Herald; Noel Carney, and Mártan Ó Ciardha and Seán Bán Breathnach from Raidio na Gaeltachta. â€Â¢ For tickets to the Co. Galway Sports Stars of the Year presentation banquet, please contact John McIntyre at the Connacht Tribune, Market Street, Galway. Tel. 091 536222.