The Night The Sam Maguire Cup Came To Millstreet Poem by Francis Duggan

The night the Sam Maguire cup came to Millstreet
The cheering could be heard far as Rathmore
Ten thousand people in the Millstreet Town Square
I'd never seen the likes of it before.

Cork had beaten Galway in the All Ireland football final
And on the Cork team four players from Millstreet
Four players from a club team in Duhallow
By any standards an amazing feat.

Con Hartnett, Humphrey Kelleher and John Coleman
And the fellow from Annagloor Denis Long
Back then they were the heroes of Duhallow
And they inspired the songwriters to song.

It was a night I always will remember
The Town of Millstreet decked in red and white
Ten thousand people in their County colours
It lives on as a memorable sight.

Four young men honoured in the Town of Millstreet
For playing Gaelic Football they had won renown
Their fame spread through the length and breadth of Ireland
Far beyond Duhallow and Millstreet Town.

But that was years ago I well remember
Back in September in the Fall of seventy three
And the boy back then is now an ageing fellow
And not the man he one time used to be.

The night the Sam Maguire cup came to Millstreet
The celebrations went on through the night
Ten thousand people in their County colours
It lives on as a memorable sight.