Death of Galway hurling legend
February 03, 2015
A Galway team from the late 40's. Front row: Miko McInerney; Colum Corless; Bernie Egan; Hubert Gordon; Sean Duggan; Mick Hughes; Tom Boyle. Back l-r: M.J. Flaherty; Lory Murray; Joe Salmon; Ned Quinn; Willie Fahy; Tommy Moroney; Frank Flynn; John Farragher.
The death has taken place of Galway hurling legend Colum Corless.
The Kinvara native, who resided in Dublin for many years, was one of the finest hurlers of his generation and regarded as an all time great West of the Shannon.
A minor in 1939, Colum was a household name in the hurling world at a time when Galway were rated amongst the second rate powers of the game.
Nevertheless and bar that elusive All-Ireland medal he went on to win most of the honours available.
He lined out at right corner back as the Tribesmen went under to the Christy Ring powered Cork in the All-Ireland decider of 1953. The Westerners' 3-5 to 1-10 semi-final victory over a fancied Kilkenny combination is still talked about in the hurling heartlands of south Galway.
Colum was a regular on Connacht Railway Cup teams when Munster and Leinster dominated the competition. The men from the West reached the final in 1949 and '52 but fell foul of Munster both times. The Kinvara man was centre-half-back in '49 and right-full three years later.
Until the emergence of Galway as a real hurling power during the '80s, the county had only one senior All-Ireland title to its name, 1923. But these men of the late '40s and early '50s rekindled the hurling flame West of the Shannon.
Their proudest moment arrived in late 1951 when they made the epic trip to New York, beat the locals 2-11 over 2-8 and thus captured the 1950/51 National Hurling League title. Colum Corless wore the number two jersey. Wexford were outscored 6-7 to 3-4 in the Home Final.
Colum continued to play his beloved game right into the 1980s and amazingly commenced running marathons in 1984. We will not see his like again.
Ar dheis De go raibh a anam.
Funeral Arrangements
Reposing at The Corless Funeral Home, Kinvara, Co Galway on Tuesday 3rd February from 6pm to 8pm with removal to St Joseph's Church, Kinvara. Funeral Mass at 12 noon on Wednesday (4th) followed by burial in Mountcross Cemetery. Family flowers only.
Tweet
