Tipp GAA's links remember Kennedy assassination 50 years on
It was a Wednesday morning as the Tipperary senior hurlers were enjoying their first week in New York as they looked forward to playing the two legs of the National Hurling League final.
The attempt to play the first leg on the previous Sunday 2nd June fell through due to a heavy downpour which deemed Gaelic Park unplayable. It was rearranged for Saturday 8th June but was postponed once more, for a far more serious reason, the funeral of Sentor Robert Kennedy who had been assassinated earlier in the week in Los Angeles, hours after winning the Californian Primary.
Newport native Seamus Shinners was sub goalkeeper to John O’Donoghue and one of the youngest players on the Tipperary squad. Seamus transferred to Galway in the mid seventies but still recalls the events in America that week almost like it was yesterday.
“The first match never took place because the pitch was waterlogged. We were amazed it was postponed because of what I saw falling in New York would not wet a hankie. The pitch was like concrete. Yet we had to travel (from the hotel) to Gaelic Park to meet Irish people coming from Chicago and Boston for the League final. The game was to take place the following Sunday.
“However the news of Bobby Kennedy’s death changed plans for a second time. With his passing on Thursday, his remains lay in state at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York on Friday 7th June when thousands of people queued to file past Senator Kennedy’s casket.
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