The Greatest Achievement In GAA History

Straight Talker

I would like to hear peoples views on this topic. For me it's between the Kerry footballers run of success from 1975 to 1986. Kilkenny hurlers run of success from 2000 to 2015, the Cork Double of 1990, and Dublins 6 in a row in the football.

Obviously being from Cork i would go for Corks double in 1990. The last time it happened before 1990, was when Tipp did it in 1900. Both Cork teams were underdogs that year. The hurlers lot to Waterford in the 1989 championship, Tipp were reigning all Ireland champions, they were going for four munster titles in a row, but then Father O'Brien and Gerald McCarthys donkeys put a halt to their gallop! The all ireland final against Galway that year was quite possibly the greatest game of hurling i've ever seen along with the 2004 munster final.

Joe Cooney running riot in the first half, but then in the second half we had Ger Cunningham and that save against Martin Naughton, that goal by Tomas Mulcahy to bring us back into it, John Fitzgibbon banged in those two goals, and the first part of the double was achieved.

Then we had the footballers hammering Kerry and the all Ireland against that Meath team, who always seemed to have Corks number. That final wasn't a classic. It was a very dour physical foul ridden game. I think if it wasn't for the sending off then Cork would have been more comfortable winners. Everyone goes on about Shea Fahys four points, and by god they were crucial, but i think everyone forgets about Mick Slocums and Barry Coffeys performance in the half back line. And of course the late John Kerins save from Brian Stafford.

Apologies to all non Cork fans if i'm going on too long about the double, but i just wanted to highlight the individual achievement of both panels, in winning their respective all Irelands and the obstacles they overcame. The Double hasn't been achieved since. The last county that came close to doing it was Galway 20 years ago, and we had Teddy McCarthy winning 2 all Ireland medals in the one year. That will never happen again, because the modern game has rendered the dual player pretty much obsolete. Corks double in 1990 is a source of great pride to me, and any Cork fan im sure, and sure we've only won 4 senior all Irelands in both codes since 1990.:(

But taking my Cork glasses of, i find it very difficult to choose between Kerry under Mick O'Dwyer, Kilkenny under Cody, and the current Dublin football team. Kilkennys record under Brian Cody from 2000 to 2015 was awesome, and they won the four in a row. The first team to do that since the Cork team of the 1940's. As a Cork man i can't stand Kilkenny, but by god i admire them! Obviously Kerry under Micko were a machine, that ruined many's the summer for Cork football fans!

But i actually think Dublins run of success since 2011 was the better achievement. The Dubs have gone from being the startled earwigs as Pat Gilroy would say, to going by what the stats would say, the greatest football team of all time. Yeah i know the money, the population and all that, but the Dubs are the only county to win 6 all Irelands in a row.

Sure they have it easy in Leinster, but Kerry pretty much had it easy in Munster during the Micko years as well. Those finals in 2013 2016 and 2017 against Mayo were battles, and the Dubs were victorious in them all. Kerry threw the kitchen sink at them to stop the five in a row. They nearly did it the first day, but the Dubs beat them handy enough in the replay. So as a Cork man i would say the Cork double in 1990, but trying to look at it objectively, it's between Kilkenny hurlers 4 in a row, and Dublin footballers 6 in a row. But that's just my take on things. You are free to agree or disagree on that.:)

Rosita

Of the ones you mention probably the 1990 double if you are talking "GAA" history, rather than just hurling and football. It certainly seems the one we are less likely to see again.

But I wouldn't be looking to exaggerate the achievement by pointing to the Cork teams' underdog status. The footballers were defending All Ireland champions. Hardly gallant outsiders. And the 1989 defeat to Waterford fir the hurlers was, when you look at before and after, an absolute outlier. The hurling team that won in 1990 was full of All Ireland medal winners.

The difficulty with measuring "achievement" (rather than just numbers of cups) is that you need to take context into account and people never do. Terms of reference would help. Mullinaghta winning a Leinster club title is probably a greater "achievement" than Dublin winning any given All Ireland.

Clare winning two All Ireland titles in the 1990s from a background of modest achievement in a county where half is dominated by football might be a more realistic greatest achievement. For the very same reason someone might point to Offaly or Galway in the previous decade rather than already successful counties managing to finally walk the tightrope.

Tyrone winning three All Ireland titles and beating the defending All Ireland champions in all three having never won before is significant.

AllSquare

Kerry Footballers 1975-1986 who won 4 all Irelands in a row

As a galway man, i think our victory last week over waterford is surely up there.

Bass Reeves

Kilkenny Hurlers 2000-2015 who won 4 all irelands in a row

IMHO all you listed above are great achievements. However the greatest achievement in GAA history is that from its inception and first All Ireland championship it has completed every championship since. While some of these may have been late being completed they have been completed. This dispute two World Wars, a war of independence, a civil war, the Spanish flu and COVID.

It also had a huge unifying effect on the country after the civil war. People and players put aside there serious political difference to represent there club, parish and county in sport.

The people in the 6 counties keeping the games alive in face of everything thrown at em,and it still prospered


The gaa remains the only sporting organisation in the world,that people can get murdered for simply being members.




On a sporting level,the success of the great birr team in the late 90s stands apart and what they contributed to hurling from such a small catchment.....afaik crossmaglen won a dozen or so county titles in a row along with a couple all ireland clubs

blackcard

Dublin Footballers 2011-2020 who won 6 all Irelands in a row

Cork, with the second largest population, winning the double doesn't stand out. Offaly, with a fraction of the population of Cork, winning the hurling and runner up in football ball is a far greater achievement

Fr Tod Umptious

I'd have to put Donegal 2012 up there.

You got a perfect combination of players, coach and "buy in" that allowed them to come from relative obscurity to winning the All Ireland.

A few years previous they had lost to Antrim.

McGuiness got total commitment from the players so much so that he was able to jettison a guy who had saved their bacon 12 months earlier because he was not willing to be all in with the plan.

Now it could be argued that they won when Kerry were on the wane and Dublin were not up to their current invincibility but feck that what they did was phenomenal.

And the football they played was exciting, they way they countered with such pace and strength.

Obviously something like that is hard to repeat and that has been the case with Donegal, but that should not take away from 2012.

thefa

Kerry Footballers 1975-1986 who won 4 all Irelands in a row

blackcard wrote: »

Cork, with the second largest population, winning the double doesn't stand out. Offaly, with a fraction of the population of Cork, winning the hurling and runner up in football ball is a far greater achievement

Cork doesn’t have the second biggest population if you consider it a 32 county competition but downplaying the achievement based on population alone is silly anyways. By that logic, Dublin should have multiple and big counties knocking on the door regularly. Winning in both codes in the same year is the coming together of a lot of things.

blackcard

Dublin Footballers 2011-2020 who won 6 all Irelands in a row

Slaughneil's achievements in hurling, football (and camogie) should put them right up there

Straight Talker

Kerry Footballers 1975-1986 who won 4 all Irelands in a row

blackcard wrote: »

Cork, with the second largest population, winning the double doesn't stand out. Offaly, with a fraction of the population of Cork, winning the hurling and runner up in football ball is a far greater achievement

You're entitled to your opinion. But Cork is the only county to achieve a senior hurling and senior football all Ireland double, in the last 121 years. So I think it does stand out to be fair!

spurshero

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

I'd have to put Donegal 2012 up there.

You got a perfect combination of players, coach and "buy in" that allowed them to come from relative obscurity to winning the All Ireland.

A few years previous they had lost to Antrim.

McGuiness got total commitment from the players so much so that he was able to jettison a guy who had saved their bacon 12 months earlier because he was not willing to be all in with the plan.

Now it could be argued that they won when Kerry were on the wane and Dublin were not up to their current invincibility but feck that what they did was phenomenal.

And the football they played was exciting, they way they countered with such pace and strength.

Obviously something like that is hard to repeat and that has been the case with Donegal, but that should not take away from 2012.

They had the players though .. it was only a matter of getting them to give 100 percent . Personally don’t get all this mcguinness hype .for me if he was that good he would have got them over the line in 2014 when they were beaten by what have been seen as not a great Kerry team by there standards missing gooch as well .

blackcard

Dublin Footballers 2011-2020 who won 6 all Irelands in a row

thefa wrote: »

Cork doesn’t have the second biggest population if you consider it a 32 county competition but downplaying the achievement based on population alone is silly anyways. By that logic, Dublin should have multiple and big counties knocking on the door regularly. Winning in both codes in the same year is the coming together of a lot of things.

Don't get me wrong, it is a very fine achievement. Still Cork with 259 clubs has almost twice the number of clubs as any other county and three times most counties. I think Offaly's achievement with around 60 clubs was better

Straight Talker

Kerry Footballers 1975-1986 who won 4 all Irelands in a row

blackcard wrote: »

Don't get me wrong, it is a very fine achievement. Still Cork with 259 clubs has almost twice the number of clubs as any other county and three times most counties. I think Offaly's achievement with around 60 clubs was better

Offalys record in both codes for such a small county is amazing. Hurling and football is all the better when Offaly are competing at the top table. Offalys demise in both codes, especially the hurling is very sad.

Mad about baa baas

Dublin Footballers 2011-2020 who won 6 all Irelands in a row

Ballyhale must have more medals per head of population than any parish in the land.. both club and Inter county

El Gato De Negocios

Mullinaghta, a tiny parish in Longford beating the Kilmacud Crokes juggernaut to win the Leinster championship in 2018 cannot be understated imo.

Rosita

blackcard wrote: »

Don't get me wrong, it is a very fine achievement. Still Cork with 259 clubs has almost twice the number of clubs as any other county and three times most counties. I think Offaly's achievement with around 60 clubs was better

Number of clubs is not necessarily a significant indicator. Some clubs in rural Cork are tiny. Most clubs gave made little or no contribution to county teams.

Rosita

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

I'd have to put Donegal 2012 up there.

You got a perfect combination of players, coach and "buy in" that allowed them to come from relative obscurity to winning the All Ireland.

A few years previous they had lost to Antrim.

McGuiness got total commitment from the players so much so that he was able to jettison a guy who had saved their bacon 12 months earlier because he was not willing to be all in with the plan.

Now it could be argued that they won when Kerry were on the wane and Dublin were not up to their current invincibility but feck that what they did was phenomenal.

And the football they played was exciting, they way they countered with such pace and strength.

Obviously something like that is hard to repeat and that has been the case with Donegal, but that should not take away from 2012.

To be honest even though I didn't mention this it's one that immediately springs to mind. Not only did they come from the absolute depths (fine to say "they had the players" - by definition every winning team has) but they left (for better or worse) a huge influence on how the game was played. Real originality.

Rosita

blackcard wrote: »

Cork, with the second largest population, winning the double doesn't stand out. Offaly, with a fraction of the population of Cork, winning the hurling and runner up in football ball is a far greater achievement

Of course it stands out. It happened once in 120 years. How is that not standing out?

Never sure about population. Bigger population centres have far more going on which dilutes their apparent population advantage.

patmac

Westmeath winning the Leinster football championship in 2004, unfortunately never to be repeated under the current structure.

KurtVon

Clare’s emergence under Ger Loughnane to win All Ireland hurling titles is my pick. It might be hard to fathom now, but to achieve this Clare had to completely transform their mindset to break through. Arguably Offaly broke the mould before them, but there was something special about Clare’s hurling triumphs in the 90’s. Brilliant hurlers. I say all this as a Limerick man.

shipkast5

Kerry Footballers 1975-1986 who won 4 all Irelands in a row

spurshero wrote: »

They had the players though .. it was only a matter of getting them to give 100 percent . Personally don’t get all this mcguinness hype .for me if he was that good he would have got them over the line in 2014 when they were beaten by what have been seen as not a great Kerry team by there standards missing gooch as well .

But that 2014 team was the last team to beat the Dubs:)

Fr Tod Umptious

spurshero wrote: »

They had the players though .. it was only a matter of getting them to give 100 percent . Personally don’t get all this mcguinness hype .for me if he was that good he would have got them over the line in 2014 when they were beaten by what have been seen as not a great Kerry team by there standards missing gooch as well .

A lot of that team were there in 2009 when they lost to Antrim.

Donegal had done feck all since their 1992 win, not even an Ulster championship, and then they get on board with McGuinness and by 2012 they were a machine.

You say "only getting them to give 100%" as if it was easy.

I can think of many teams that would have won All Irelands if it was as easy as "only getting them to give 100%"

"only getting them to give 100%" is what made it such a good achievement, it was the total and utter focus and commitment that did it for them.

The fact that it was only sustainable for a single season was a testament to that focus and commitment.

thefa

Kerry Footballers 1975-1986 who won 4 all Irelands in a row

thefa wrote: »

Cork doesn’t have the second biggest population if you consider it a 32 county competition but downplaying the achievement based on population alone is silly anyways. By that logic, Dublin should have multiple and big counties knocking on the door regularly. Winning in both codes in the same year is the coming together of a lot of things.

You can’t really count the whole number when talking population of the 6 though.

Dublin Footballers 2011-2020 who won 6 all Irelands in a row

Hurling requires far more skill to play so... Kilkenny by default.

DJIMI TRARORE

Must be cavan, ulster championship to d4 in less than 6 months, that'll never be bettered

Boom__Boom

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

A lot of that team were there in 2009 when they lost to Antrim.

Donegal had done feck all since their 1992 win, not even an Ulster championship, and then they get on board with McGuinness and by 2012 they were a machine.

You say "only getting them to give 100%" as if it was easy.

I can think of many teams that would have won All Irelands if it was as easy as "only getting them to give 100%"

"only getting them to give 100%" is what made it such a good achievement, it was the total and utter focus and commitment that did it for them.

The fact that it was only sustainable for a single season was a testament to that focus and commitment.

Donegal won the league in 2007 playing 9 games and winning 8 drawing 1 all against Division 1 opposition (they beat Kerry, Dublin, Tyrone, Cork, Mayo (twice) Fermanagh and Kildare and drew with Limerick)

A huge amount of the players who won this league went on to form the core of the All-Ireland winning team in 2012 but the manager prior to McGuinness was a disaster.

In 2010 they only loss to Down (who got to the final that year) by 2 points in Ulster.

Prior to McGuiness arriving they had a serious cohort of players who massively underachived.

The situation was perfectly set up for McGuinness when he took over in terms of getting buy-in to his tactics from a talented but ill-disciplined group of players who had underachieved.

megadodge

Boom__Boom wrote: »

Donegal won the league in 2007 playing 9 games and winning 8 drawing 1 all against Division 1 opposition (they beat Kerry, Dublin, Tyrone, Cork, Mayo (twice) Fermanagh and Kildare and drew with Limerick)

A huge amount of the players who won this league went on to form the core of the All-Ireland winning team in 2012 but the manager prior to McGuinness was a disaster.

In 2010 they only loss to Down (who got to the final that year) by 2 points in Ulster.

Prior to McGuiness arriving they had a serious cohort of players who massively underachived.

The situation was perfectly set up for McGuinness when he took over in terms of getting buy-in to his tactics from a talented but ill-disciplined group of players who had underachieved.

The bottom line is that they hadn't won an Ulster championship since 1992 when McGuinness took over.

That Down team that reached the final in 2010 were one of the poorest teams to go that far in recent decades. And you forget to mention that Donegal were walloped by Armagh in the back door after that.

There is no doubt that they were regarded as ill-disciplined but in terms of talent, they looked like under-achievers only in terms of possibly having won an Ulster title or two. Nobody in their right mind - and I do mean NOBODY - would have regarded them as All-Ireland contenders if they got their act right.

The fact that he then brought them to an All-Ireland without their second best player and one of the best to ever play for Donegal makes the achievement even more impressive. And to do it in a county with no real history of success other than a once-off from a real 'Golden Generation' marks McGuinness's success as far more worthy than those in traditionally successful counties. People massively underestimate the psychology of winning/losing and the longterm affect it has on the minds of competitors. To take a 'losing' county/person and turn them into winners is exceptionally difficult.

The_Kew_Tour

Kerry Footballers 1975-1986 who won 4 all Irelands in a row

blackcard wrote: »

Cork, with the second largest population, winning the double doesn't stand out. Offaly, with a fraction of the population of Cork, winning the hurling and runner up in football ball is a far greater achievement

Yes, cause everyone in Cork plays GAA

blackcard

Dublin Footballers 2011-2020 who won 6 all Irelands in a row

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Yes, cause everyone in Cork plays GAA

As does everyone in all other counties too

RMAOK

Corofin becoming the first club in senior men's club football to win 3 All Ireland club titles in a row.

It would have been, possibly, easier for the 3 in a row to be done in hurling as there wouldn't be as many counties in the mix, but to do it in football was some achievement imo.

YFlyer

Limerick 73.

Rosita

Deleted User wrote: »

Hurling requires far more skill to play so... Kilkenny by default.

By that logic, on the face of it winning a World Snooker championship is a greater achievement than winning an Olympic 100 metres final. Sure what skill is there is running down a track? Not sure it holds true despite the attractiveness of the one-sentence declaration.

Rosita

RMAOK wrote: »

Corofin becoming the first club in senior men's club football to win 3 All Ireland club titles in a row.

It would have been, possibly, easier for the 3 in a row to be done in hurling as there wouldn't be as many counties in the mix, but to do it in football was some achievement imo.

Yeah, it is a fair one for sure.

The_Kew_Tour

Kerry Footballers 1975-1986 who won 4 all Irelands in a row

blackcard wrote: »

As does everyone in all other counties too

Bit yet you complained about the population:pac:

Adelman of Beamfleot

The greatest achievement by Kilkenny should probably be Kilkenny 2006-2015 - winning 8 all irelands finals over a 10 championship period rather than the four in the row

blackcard

Dublin Footballers 2011-2020 who won 6 all Irelands in a row

Rosita wrote: »

Of course it stands out. It happened once in 120 years. How is that not standing out?

Never sure about population. Bigger population centres have far more going on which dilutes their apparent population advantage.

I think you can ignore the 6 counties when talking about the effect of population as most of those of a Unionist persuasion have no interest in the GAA. Taking them out of the equation, the 4 counties with the highest population have won a total of 91 All Irelands. The four counties with the lowest population have won zero All Irelands. But yes, population is not a factor at all

munster87

Kilkenny Hurlers 2000-2015 who won 4 all irelands in a row

Micko’s All Ireland’s as a player and manager as well as managing 3 counties to provincial titles.

beggars_bush

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

A lot of that team were there in 2009 when they lost to Antrim.

Donegal had done feck all since their 1992 win, not even an Ulster championship, and then they get on board with McGuinness and by 2012 they were a machine.

You say "only getting them to give 100%" as if it was easy.

I can think of many teams that would have won All Irelands if it was as easy as "only getting them to give 100%"

"only getting them to give 100%" is what made it such a good achievement, it was the total and utter focus and commitment that did it for them.

The fact that it was only sustainable for a single season was a testament to that focus and commitment.

Didn't Donegal win an U21 AI with Murphy on board?

Straight Talker

Kerry Footballers 1975-1986 who won 4 all Irelands in a row

blackcard wrote: »

As does everyone in all other counties too

Only two counties have done the double. Cork and Tipp have achieved it on two occasions. Only Cork have achieved it in the modern era.;) Offaly achievement in getting to both finals in 1981, was a fine one as well to be fair.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Double_(Gaelic_games)

Rosita

Dublin Footballers 2011-2020 who won 6 all Irelands in a row

Rosita wrote: »

By that logic, on the face of it winning a World Snooker championship is a greater achievement than winning an Olympic 100 metres final. Sure what skill is there is running down a track? Not sure it holds true despite the attractiveness of the one-sentence declaration.

I'm comparing mandarins to oranges. You're comparing apples to a Massey Ferguson.

AllSquare

AllSquare wrote: »

As a galway man, i think our victory last week over waterford is surely up there.

Ha Ha

FromADistance

Kerry Footballers 1975-1986 who won 4 all Irelands in a row

Mullinalaghta, a small half parish in Longford, winning the Leinster Club Championship in 2018. What the GAA is supposed to be all about. I'm sure someone will come along and disagree with me but IMO it's one of the greatest achievements by a group of 15 players in the history of the GAA.

FromADistance

FromADistance wrote: »

Mullinalaghta, a small half parish in Longford, winning the Leinster Club Championship in 2018. What the GAA is supposed to be all about. I'm sure someone will come along and disagree with me but IMO it's one of the greatest achievements by a group of 15 players in the history of the GAA.

The Golden Miller

Of the options available, Corks double. What's more impressive though is that Cork led hurlings roll of honour for 80 odd years, despite having less chances to convert all Ireland's as split provincial success with Tipp. Had Cork played in Leinster would have 40+ all Ireland's I'd say

GAAs greatest achievements, if a top 10 was compiled, would have Meath taking about 7 spots. Their comebacks, and pulling games out of the fire when all hope was lost, are too many to count. They genuinely pulled off some huge feats, again and again, and saved their best to when they were pushed right to the edge. A team of warriors and war horses, their feats on a consistent basis are unmatched. We'll never see their like again. Their current team an embarrassment to what went before

Spirit, fight, heart, Meath had it all. They are the greatest champions in GAA history imo. They were the embodiment of a cast iron will

This is a great thread. Am sure that there are lots of local stories that will feature (must look for the auld Junior C jersey in the attic)

Fr Tod Umptious

beggars_bush wrote: »

Didn't Donegal win an U21 AI with Murphy on board?

And so what if they did.
As another poster has implied, nobody in the run up to 2012 ever considered Donegal as an All Ireland contender,and even less so after the infamous 0-08 to 0-06 SF v Dublin in 2011.

Straight Talker

Kerry Footballers 1975-1986 who won 4 all Irelands in a row

The Golden Miller wrote: »

Of the options available, Corks double. What's more impressive though is that Cork led hurlings roll of honour for 80 odd years, despite having less chances to convert all Ireland's as split provincial success with Tipp. Had Cork played in Leinster would have 40+ all Ireland's I'd say

GAAs greatest achievements, if a top 10 was compiled, would have Meath taking about 7 spots. Their comebacks, and pulling games out of the fire when all hope was lost, are too many to count. They genuinely pulled off some huge feats, again and again, and saved their best to when they were pushed right to the edge. A team of warriors and war horses, their feats on a consistent basis are unmatched. We'll never see their like again. Their current team an embarrassment to what went before

Spirit, fight, heart, Meath had it all. They are the greatest champions in GAA history imo. They were the embodiment of a cast iron will

I would just like to say that the GAA is all the poorer for Meaths demise. It would be great to see Meath Kildare and Offaly, put it up to the Dubs in leinster again.

Loved those Meath Dublin tussles (& I'm a Dub!)

Straight Talker

Kerry Footballers 1975-1986 who won 4 all Irelands in a row

On a side note i found the Cork crowd chanting the referees a wanker, to be amusing when the whistle blew for half time in that 1990 football final. It's not so much what they were chanting. It was how distinctive and pronounced the Cork accent sounded, when they were saying the word wanker. That's what i found amusing.:pac:

washman3

The referee leaving the pitch alive after the 2010 Leinster final.
Has to be up there with one of the greatest achievements in World sport, let alone GAA.

Straight Talker

Kerry Footballers 1975-1986 who won 4 all Irelands in a row

washman3 wrote: »

The referee leaving the field pitch alive after the 2010 Leinster final.
Has to be up there with one of the greatest achievements in World sport, let alone GAA.

Louth were badly robbed that day, but there was no excuse for the way some of their fans behaved. Ha ha ha the Louth manager Peter Fitzpatricks reaction. We want the weferee to offer us a weplay.:pac: