“It’s mental, it’s manic, it’s mayhem,” that’s how one Cork hurling fan described the desperate frenzied search for All-Ireland hurling final tickets that has engulfed both city and county since the Rebels booked their place in Sunday’s decider in Croke Park.
Cork’s 260 affiliated GAA clubs are reporting the same story – a major shortage of tickets to meet the hundreds of requests, with the demand in some clubs exceeding the supply by as much a factor of 10, leaving thousands of fans facing disappointment.
Ever since Cork won the National League title in April, Rebel fans have ensured every game has been a sell out, with full houses at Cusack Park, the Gaelic Grounds, Páirc Uí Chaoimh and Croke Park – where two weeks ago 62,000 Cork fans turned the venue into the Red Sea.
Cork GAA has issued its initial allocation of tickets, with senior hurling clubs receiving 20 stand and 24 terrace tickets, Intermediate and Premier Junior 16 stand and 20 terrace, Junior A 10 stand and 18 terrace, and junior B and junior C four stand and 16 terrace.
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Since then Cork GAA has issued a second allocation, but only to clubs with players on the senior panel – which in the case of North Cork hurling club Ballygiblin, just outside Mitchelstown, has brought in an extra 24 tickets thanks to having club member Darragh Flynn on the extended panel.
“It was ferocious at the start, but we got an extra 10 tickets because Darragh is on the panel and then today we got another 14 because of him – Darragh was worth 24 tickets to us so we have 24 on top of our initial allocation of 36,” said club stalwart, Liam O’Doherty.
“Those extra 24 tickets thanks to Darragh have given us some chance of meeting the demand because we had over 100 people looking for tickets. We’re on the Tipp border and I suppose because there are fewer clubs in Tipp, they have more tickets there to go round.”
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Down in East Cork Killeagh club secretary, Mary Fitzgibbon – aunt of Kingfishr’s Eoin Fitzgibbon, writer of the hit song, Killeagh – was reporting a similar shortage of tickets, with fewer people able to source tickets themselves this year compared with last year.
“We’re senior hurling and junior football so we got 72 tickets – we fulfilled about one-fifth of requests. We thought the demand last year was huge, but it seems to be even bigger this year,” said Mary Fitzgibbon, who is a cousin of Cork 1990 All-Ireland winner, John Fitzgibbon.
A diehard fan who puts up a Cork flag outside the Church of St John the Baptist in Killeagh whenever the Leesiders are playing, local parish priest Fr Tim Hazelwood has also witnessed the enormous demand, with conversations turning to tickets at all sorts of events in the parish.
“Everywhere I go, I’m hearing of people looking for tickets – it’s phenomenal, but I suppose it’s understandable. It’s been 20 years since Cork won the All-Ireland so everyone wants be there – it’s gone so bad now we could do with a ‘loaves and fishes’-type miracle here at this stage.”
