Death of Galway hurling legend Niall McInerney

Galway hurling is mourning one of the key figures in the county's emergence as a serious force 30 years ago following the death yesterday of Niall McInerney.

A native of Sixmilebridge in Co Clare, McInerney joined the Liam Mellowes club in Galway city in 1974 when he moved to study at UCG and he also switched his county allegiance to the Tribesmen.

Galway had not been a hurling force since the 1950s, but that was about to change, with the county announcing their arrival on the scene in 1975 when they won the league title, defeating Tipperary in the final, and having accounted for Cork and Kilkenny in the knockout stages.

McInerney was corner back on that team and, while they lost the All-Ireland final to Kilkenny, there was compensation for the tight-marking corner back with the first of his two All Star awards. The second came in 1980 when they bridged a 57-year gap to win the Liam McCarthy Cup. By then, McInerney had taken over the full back role from Joe Clarke.

Along the way he was part of a very talented UCG team which claimed the Fitzgibbon Cup in 1977, a side which contained Offaly's Pat Fleury, Kilkenny's Kieran Brennan and subsequent Galway legends such as Joe Connolly, Frank Burke and Joe McDonagh. A science graduate from UCG, he took a teaching post at Moneenageisha Community School in Galway city, where he became actively involved in promoting hurling.

He served as a selector on the Galway Vocational Schools team for 25 years, during which time they dominated the competition and picked up the senior title an incredible 15 times.

He was heavily involved in the promotion of hurling at various levels in Galway city and county and served a variety of administrative and coaching roles with Liam Mellowes.

He played for Liam Mellowes for years, but had to wait until 1993 for his sole county medal with the side when they captured the junior B title.

Remarkably, Niall McInerney was still playing this season and was part of the club's junior C squad. His health declined in recent months and he passed away yesterday, aged 55.