There were two games going on: first the Hurling Club final, and after that was the All Ireland Football Senior Club Championship. Now, we were a bit chilly and only stayed for the hurling. Then we walked back to the City Centre - working our way through the crowds and parade revelers, and watched the football match in the comfort of our hotel!
We sat in the Hogan Stand - because, well, we ARE Hogans!
Now, there are a gazillion championships and tournaments and everything, and there are a lot of different teams. Each Parish/Town may have a club team, and each county may also have a team. The County Teams are made up of people who play on the various local club teams. If a player has a Club match and a County match on the same day, the player is required to go to the County match. Clubs know to give County matches priority. The County finals are a pretty big deal as you can imagine, because an entire county population will be interested in it. The Club finals (like this one we attended) are a smaller deal in terms of spectators because it mostly only draws the interested locals to the game. Still, the stadium was probably about half full. For county finals the stadium sells out. Another note though, the Club final may be a tougher thing to get to, really, because there are so many more clubs to compete than there are counties.
There's our team!
I say this is our team because it is actually the Parish from which our ancestors hail! Kilmallock (or in Irish Cill Mocheallog) is where John Hogan and Ellen Ryan lived. They married there on February 26, 1835. Now, there were no Hogans on the team, but there was an Eoin Ryan playing for the club. Who knows, we could be related!
Sadly we lost the game to the Ballyhale Shamrocks from County Kilkenny. I also noted that in the last 45 years there has never been a County Limerick team that has won the club final. Still, it was fun to watch and feel sort of connected to it. Great Craic!
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