Seán "Seánie" Duggan (2 November 1922 – 26 September 2013) was an Irish hurler who played as a goalkeeper for the

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

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 or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

inter-provincial team at various times throughout his career, winning one

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship () or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster GAA teams are co ...

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 sys ...

medals with

Liam Mellows William Joseph Mellows (, 25 May 1892 – 8 December 1922) was an Irish republicanism, 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 Ireland, ...

. Throughout his career, Duggan made 12 championship appearances for Galway. His retirement came following Galway's defeat by

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

in the 1953 All-Ireland final. His brothers,

Jimmy Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

and Paddy, all played with distinction for Galway, while their sister, Monica, was a renowned

camogie Camogie ( ; ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game "hurling" (which is played by men only), it is organised ...

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) is a term used to describe organisations and events whose interests extend over the entire island of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Irelan ...

medal.

Playing career

Club

Duggan played his club

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

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 ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

secured victory in the "home"

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...

final. A narrow 2-11 to 2-8 defeat of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in the actual league final gave Duggan a National League medal. Two years later in 1953, Galway defeated a star-studded

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

team in the penultimate stage of the championship. This victory allowed Duggan's side to advance to the All-Ireland final where

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 The 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. Founded in 1817, the current structure was completed in 1927 and ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

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

Christy Ring Nicholas Christy 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 championship ...

. 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

medal in 1947 as his side defeated

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duggan, Seanie 1922 births 2013 deaths Liam Mellows hurlers Galway inter-county hurlers Connacht inter-provincial hurlers Hurling goalkeepers 20th-century Irish sportsmen