Puts everything into perspective.
Niall Donoghue was one of Galway hurling’s brightest sparks. He was a brave defender who looked to have had years ahead of him in the maroon and white of the Tribesmen.
Donoghue sadly passed away in 2013, but his legacy has lived on within the Galway panel, and within the county as a whole.
More than half of the Galway panel that contributed to their first All-Ireland victory in 29 years, when they defeated Waterford on Sunday, were also part of the set-up in 2012, a year when they came up narrowly short in a replay against Kilkenny.
They went down that year, but they went down fighting, and Niall Donoghue was one of their warriors.
A man who wasn’t involved in 2012 was Conor Whelan, but ever since his senior breakthrough in 2015, as an 18-year-old, Whelan has been fighting, he’s been carrying on the legacy of his fallen cousin.
Whelan is inspired by the memory of his cousin, of his friend, and he regularly pays tribute to him on match days, like he did in his first senior All-Ireland final, his first final without him, two years ago.
You can be guaranteed the lost Kilbeacanty soldier was smiling down as his teammates, his comrades, but especially on his cousin, when he won the battle that they were unable to win for so long.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYsq5Hojftz/?hl=en&taken-by=conorwhelan10
Galway’s victory on Sunday was tinged with poignancy.
David Burke’s captain speech to accept the Liam MacCarthy cup that they have coveted for so long was powerful, and it was truly fitting.
Burke paid homage to the fallen soldiers that weren’t there to witness their great victory, those that the Galway lads looked up to, those that they went to battle alongside.
The Galway captain paid beautiful tribute to the late legend Tony Keady, sparking chants all around the stadium for the man of the match of the 1988 final.
He spoke of Donoghue’s passing, the effect it had on the tight-knit bunch, and you just knew that they were fighting for him, in honour of him.
David Burke's captain's speech in its full 8 minutes of glory. Drink it in, Galway fans #RTEGAA #GalvWat pic.twitter.com/K3aQUmhNQD
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) September 3, 2017
“One other person that I can’t let the day pass without mentioning. He was soldiering with us for years. A good friend of mine, a first cousin of Conor Whelan, Niall Donoghue, we’ll never forget him, we remember him today.
For Jason Flynn it was all about family. His brother, a man who won an All-Ireland under-21 with Galway in 2005, tragically passed away after a car accident in 2008.
Flynn did it for him. They all had a cause, they all have come through their own personal battles, and it’s truly beautiful that sport can provide us with a chance to express this love.
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