The West's Awake

“WELCOME back to the West Liam MacCarthy, we missed you lad!”

Those were the final words of Galway captain David Burke’s beautifully crafted acceptance speech on the most glorious of autumn days for people from the county of the 14 tribes, as 29 years of longing for hurling's biggest prize were finally ended.

Burke becomes the fourth man to lead Galway to a fifth All-Ireland hurling title, after Mick Kenny (1923), Joe Connolly (1980), and Conor Hayes (1987 and 1988).

“Fifteen years ago I was a 12-year-old lifting a cup for St Thomas’ down in Athenry, and the special thing about the GAA is when you can have dreams like that, and when dreams come through on days like this in September when you get up there to lift the cup for your county.”

He touched on many other poignant topics, noting the memories of two great former Galway hurlers, Tony Keady and Niall Donohue, and it was lovely to see Joe Canning standing beside Tony Keady’s daughter Shannon as the speech was going on.

Don't miss our full coverage of the historic win and homecoming in this week's Tuam Herald