made him a member of their
Vigilance Committee to avoid
him getting a suspension.
He became one of the most
committed members of the
committee, watching rugby
and soccer whenever he
could.Mackey was just as much
a maverick on the pitch,
inspiring Limerick to four
Munster crowns in-a-row
and All-Irelands in 1934 and
1936.Lory Meagher was Kilkenny’s
master during this period,
but the Kilkenny juggernaut
had rolled on even after he
retired in 1937, winning Liam
MacCarthy in 1939 to add to
the titles they had captured
in 1932, ’33 and ’35.Kilkenny were going for their
13th title in total, but just as
they had in 1936, it would
be Limerick who stalled the
Black and Amber advance.Mackey’s men were viewed
past their best by the time
of the 1940 decider and had
endured an arduous road
to Croke Park, overcoming
replays against Waterford
and Cork and a semi-final
battle with Galway.On the other hand, Kilkenny
had faced just Westmeath
and Dublin on their return to
the All-Ireland final.This was the golden age
of sports reporters withrepresentatives from Spain
and Canada.
Hempel was head of the
German legation in Ireland
during the war years and
would go down infamously
in Irish history as the man
visited by De Valera to offer
his condolences after Adolf
Hitler’s death.
As crowds plummeted during
the Emergency years due to
fuel shortages, Maffey, Gray
and Hempel would become
regulars at All-Ireland finals
for the duration of the War.
On the weekend of the 1940
final, the front pages led with
riots in Romania, air raids on
London and Berlin and an Irish
army recruitment drive.
There was only one story in the
sports pages that mattered.
Whether Mick Mackey’s
Limerick could dethrone All-
Ireland champs Kilkenny and
take Liam MacCarthy back
Shannonside.Mackey was the biggest
hurling star of the time,
a swashbuckling figure
known as the ‘Playboy of the
Southern World’.The man from Ahane
captured the imagination
of the country in the new
age of radio and was widely
regarded as the game’s
greatest individual talent.
According to Eamonn
Sweeney in his book ‘Munster
Hurling Legends’ Mackey
refused to follow the GAA’s
rule banning members from
attending foreign games, so
the Limerick County BoardLIMERICK CAPTAIN,
MICK MACKEY