For a while, Limerick’s All-Ireland win of 1973 was a topic Eamonn ‘Ned’ Rea didn’t wish to speak about, not publicly at least. Until last August, when Limerick finally ended their 45-year hoodoo, the 1973 full-forward fielded plenty of media requests to talk about the county’s ‘last’ MacCarthy Cup win but always knocked them back.
“I didn’t want to be seen talking about 1973, you can imagine people, ‘Here he is back again talking about ’73 — let it go!’ I didn’t want to be intrusive or to allow ’73 to be talked about,” said Rea.
The irony, of course, is that now that Limerick have a new team of All-Ireland winning icons, the phone calls to Rea looking to speak about ’73 have dried up. Which is just fine by him. If he’s honest, watching a new breed of champions lift the MacCarthy Cup in green jerseys was incredibly emotional for the Dublin-based publican.
“People were saying to me I’d go mad on the drink afterwards but I didn’t actually,” he smiled.
“I was home at half six because I was going to the banquet. I savoured the whole occasion. We always dreamed we might win it but the way they played all year, and since then, the happiness it’s brought all of Limerick, and Limerick people living all over the world, is incredible. What it meant was amazing.
“I was at the Listowel Races afterwards and everyone from Limerick was wearing jerseys rather than jackets. I went into the bar to meet someone and I never got to back a horse because I kept meeting people who wanted to talk about how we won it.”
Three wins from three so far in the Allianz League, virtually securing a quarter-final place in advance of Sunday’s hosting of Cork at the Gaelic Grounds, is proof that Limerick also avoided an All-Ireland hangover. But Rea isn’t convinced they’re destined to retain the title.
“There are seven or eight teams capable of winning it,” he said. “Anyone who says Kilkenny are gone are codding themselves. Clare and Galway are still strong. Cork were only a puck of a ball away last year. Tipp, Liam Sheedy back involved, Dublin maybe.”
Irish Life is one of the founding supporters of TILDA which is the Irish Longitudinal Study on ageing, led by Trinity College Dublin.