TWO-TIME champion Pat Hartigan has been inducted into the Poc Fada Hall of Fame.
Hurling legend Hartigan was winner of the coveted title in 1981 and 1983. At the weekend, the South Liberties stalwart said: “You have no idea the honour I feel today for receiving the Hall of Fame.”
“To be invited here to Croke Park by the Poc Fada committee and be presented with it 42 years after winning the Poc Fada for the first time is an incredible feeling.”
He added: “I’m so honoured to be a Poc Fada Hall of fame recipient, I just cannot put it into words, and I tend to be a quite expressive person. But whatever I could say just couldn’t sum up the feelings I have. It’s beyond my wildest dreams.”
This year’s championship once again will take place over Annaverna Mountain, county Wicklow.
Kilkenny’s Killian Phelan caused something of an upset last year when he won last summer at his very first attempt.
He narrowly beat back-to-back Colin Ryan of Limerick (Pallasgreen) into second place and is looking forward to giving it his all again this year.
”It’s great to be there again and I’m really looking forward to defending the title,” he told GAA.ie
“It was incredible to win it last year because it was neck and neck between myself and Colin Ryan the whole way around. The feeling when I knew I had won it last year was just unbelievable. I’m just hoping to give it a good go again this year.”
Vincent Godfrey of Bruff was the competition’s first winner way back in 1961.
Current Limerick goalkeeper Nickie Quaid’s late father Tommy, was triumphant in 1991, while Albert Shanahan (South Liberties) captured the title twice in the 2000s.
