Galway GAA stars 'brothers in arms' graduating from UL together
There was also an All-Ireland winner graduating this week too
It was double delight for a set of Galway GAA siblings as they both graduated on the same day from UL.
Hurling brothers in arms Cianan and Darach Fahy proudly held their scrolls aloft after several years of hard work off the pitch finally paid off.
On the pitch, the Fahy brothers and Ardrahan clubmen have become familiar faces on Galway teams with their county paying tribute after the wonderful feat.
Galway GAA said: “Congratulations to our Senior Hurlers, Cianan and Darach Fahy who both graduated with a Professional Master of Education recently.
“They have shared many milestones on the hurling field, and now they celebrate another one together as they graduate from University of Limerick.”
Another notable GAA graduation from this week was Mayo All-Ireland winner Cian McHale who joined more than 3,000 students in being conferred as a Bachelor of Arts in English and History.
Unsurprisingly, Cian – a UL Sports Scholar and one of Mayo’s brightest rising GAA stars – is still coming down from the high of All-Ireland glory.
“I can’t put it into words. This is probably the first time I’ve sat down and talked to someone properly about it. It’s been crazy in Mayo.
“We were nine days celebrating after the final. You’re going around to towns and families; you’re doing events every day with the cup. It’s been so special.
“It’s probably only sinking in for us now, a month after. We don’t know the magnitude of what we have done with this. In the days after, you’re meeting older people who are in tears.
“It’s a lot more than just us who have done it in the end – it’s the decades before us as well. To be on [the panel] is ridiculous. I can’t even put it into words; it’s what you were dreaming of growing up.”
He said he ran straight to Tommy Conroy after the hooter went adding that there “are no words” for occasions like what he experience in Croke Park that day.
He continued: “Then we went down to The Hill after lifting the cup, and the whole place was packed. We were just looking up; the place had gone mad.”
Cian also played a vital role in securing UL’s first ever Sigerson Cup win scoring five points in the final against University College Cork and ending the campaign as the top scorer.
He said: “No one was talking about us [for Sigerson], and I think David [Power, GAA football team manager] brought that in brilliantly – we were the underdogs, and no one gave us a chance.
“We won the league back in December, and that was first one for UL as well; but even when we won that, going into Sigerson, no one was giving us a chance. And it was similar to Mayo – we knew that with the players we had, we would be able to do something; but we didn’t really know, until it got closer to the final, how close we could get.”
“The sense of togetherness at UL is unbelievable … It became a family thing, and I think that helped us along the way. We knew we had backing from everyone, and we could just go out and enjoy ourselves,” he said.
Up next for Cian is a two-year masters and a possible future in either primary or secondary school teaching.