Seán "Seánie" Duggan (2 November 1922 – 26 September 2013) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

hurler who played as a goalkeeper for the

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

senior team. Born in

, Duggan arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of twenty-one when he first linked up with the Galway senior team. He made his debut in the 1943 championship. Duggan went on to play a key part as the last line of defence for more than a decade, however, he enjoyed little success in terms of silverware. He was an All-Ireland runner-up on one occasion. Duggan represented the

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Del ...

inter-provincial team at various times throughout his career, winning one Railway Cup medal in 1947. At club level he won two

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

medals with

Liam Mellows William Joseph Mellows ( ga, Liam Ó Maoilíosa, 25 May 1892 – 8 December 1922) was an Irish republican and Sinn Féin politician. Born in England to an English father and Irish mother, he grew up in Ashton-under-Lyne before moving to Irelan ...

. Throughout his career, Duggan made 12 championship appearances for Galway. His retirement came following Galway's defeat by Cork in the 1953 All-Ireland final. His brothers, Jimmy and Paddy, all played with distinction for Galway, while their sister, Monica, was a renowned camogie player. Duggan is widely regarded as one of the greatest hurlers in the history of the game. He has been repeatedly voted onto teams made up of the sport's greats, including as goalkeeper on a special Team of the Century composed of players never to have won an

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

medal.

Playing career

Club

Duggan played his club hurling with his local

club and enjoyed some success. He won back-to-back county titles with the club in 1945 and 1946.

Inter-county

Duggan first came to prominence on the inter-county scene when he made his debut in a 7-0 to 6-2 All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Antrim in 1943. The rest of the decade saw Galway lose consecutive All-Ireland semi-finals. In 1951 Galway made a long-overdue breakthrough on the national scene. A 6-7 to 3-4 defeat of

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 ...

secured victory in the "home" National Hurling League final. A narrow 2-11 to 2-8 defeat of New York in the actual league final gave Duggan a National League medal. Two years later in 1953 Galway defeated a star-studded Kilkenny team in the penultimate stage of the championship. This victory allowed Duggan's side to advance to the All-Ireland final where Cork provided the opposition. The game itself is remembered as one of the ugliest championship deciders ever and is clouded in controversy due to the injury to the Galway captain, Mick Burke. Galway lost the game by 3-3 to 0-8. After the match at the

Gresham Hotel Hotel Riu Plaza The Gresham Dublin, formerly The Gresham Hotel, is a historic four-star hotel on O'Connell Street in Dublin, Ireland. It is a Dublin institution and landmark building which was refurbished in the early 2000s. History Hotel foun ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

a fight broke out when another Galway player struck Cork's

Christy Ring Nicholas Christopher Michael Ring (30 October 1920 – 2 March 1979) was an Irish hurler whose league and championship career at senior level with the Cork county team spanned twenty-four years from 1939 to 1963. He established many champions ...

. The following morning another fight broke out when another member of the Galway panel attempted to hit Ring. The fights, however, ended just as quickly as they had started. This defeat brought the curtain down on Duggan's inter-county career.

Inter-provincial

Duggan also lined out with

in the inter-provincial hurling competition. He won his sole Railway Cup medal in 1947 as his side defeated Munster.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duggan, Seanie 1922 births 2013 deaths Liam Mellows hurlers Galway inter-county hurlers Connacht inter-provincial hurlers Hurling goalkeepers