"Unprecedented." That's how secretary of Mallow GAA club Eugene Carey described the frenzied demand for All-Ireland final tickets in the north Cork town as he and other officers of the club attempt yet another miracle of the loaves and fishes.
"We got 20 stand tickets and 24 terrace tickets - we have a membership of over 700 people and a population in the town of around 20,000. It's impossible every year but this year because of Cork going for the three in a row, it's even more impossible," he said wearily.
It's a familiar refrain all over Cork city and county as an estimated 50,000 Leesiders plus try to make it to Croke Park on Sunday to see the hurlers' attempt to emulate the Cork hurlers of 1892-94, 1941-43, 1952 -1954 and 1976-1978 by winning three on the trot.
The demand for tickets yesterday led to two Hogan Stand tickets together with train tickets and accommodation fetching €3,700 on the Neil Prendeville Show on Cork's 96FM in a charity auction to raise funds for the children's ward at Cork University Hospital.
Elsewhere, two premium tickets were going for €1,291 on ebay and a second pair of stand tickets were fetching €900, while a ticket agency in London contacted by The Irish Times was offering a pair of stand tickets for £350 per ticket.
Iarnród Éireann's business development manager in Cork Andrew Roche said the company will carry some 10,000 passengers to Dublin over Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with the majority of these likely to be heading for Jones's Road on Sunday.
"We've put on three special trains on Sunday, with a total capacity of around 1,100, and they sold out over the web inside 11 minutes. The first train was filled within four minutes, the second inside nine minutes and the third train went two minutes later," he said.
Travel agent Declan O'Connell of Lee Travel reported a similar rush for seats on his 66-seat charter flight from Aer Arran on Sunday, which sold out at €234 return the day after Cork beat Waterford in the All-Ireland semi-final to reach their fourth consecutive final.
All-Ireland medal-winning Cork hurler John Horgan says the excitement is greater now than in 1978. "I fancy Cork but you can never underestimate Kilkenny - they won't go down without a fight."
