The AUTHORS of a book marking an historic Limerick victory has raised more than €25,000 for two Limerick charities.
The authors of 1973 – Keeping The Dream Alive last week presented half of the net profits from the book to the Children’s Ark at University Hospital Limerick.
The book was written by James Lundon, Liam O’Brien, and Niall Deegan, and was officially launched last November at the Fitzgerald’s Woodlands House Hotel.
Mayor of Limerick City and County Councillor Gerald Mitchell did the honours at the launch and there were members of the the famous 1973 team also scheduled there on the night.
The €12,469.50 donated will go towards making the Children’s Ark unit a more child and family-friendly environment.
The other half of the book’s net profits will be donated to Limerick SVP at a mayoral reception planned for the authors at the end of this month.
Liam O’Brien said of the book, launched to mark the 50-year anniversary of the historic victory, that “if you look at it in the broader context of Limerick hurling, clearly now, the wonderful success we’ve had over the last years, the 74 final win is probably the single most important one because it’s in the middle of a 78-year gap, between 1940 and 2018, that was Limerick’s solitary All-Ireland win”.
“It was a big gap, but it would have been a huge gap had it not been for then when you see there are other counties, the likes of Cavan and Mayo in football, and Waterford in hurling.”
Mr O’Brien explained although he was born two years after the 1973 win, he “would have known all those players, watching them playing” and noted Willie Moore was a teacher of his, pointing to the influence and impact the team had on more than one generation of Limerick supporters.
