The Greatest Achievement In GAA History

Formosa

YFlyer wrote: »

Limerick 73.

Lol...I think you should be in the "Opposite of greatest achievement in GAA History" thread.

gormdubhgorm

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

I agree. Cluxton is great with placed balls and set pieces. Dublin perfected kickout strategy but this is dependent on an accurate kicker, excellent movement of the outfield players and the coaching staff to coordinate - i think Cluxton gets a disproportionate amount of credit for this strategy

He still has to aim the ball in the right areas and had the still to be accurate.
If it was as easy as you say every one would be doing it.

Plus not only that Cluxton was the first keeper to really revolutionise the position in Gaelic football it was no longer hit and hope stuff.

This article here shows how Cluxton was not keen on short kick outs at the start. But Gilroy persuaded him. And then Cluxton worked like mad at developing him technique. The free kicks only happened by chance when Dublin were stuck one day in a pre season game or something.

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/stephen-cluxton-the-skinny-lad-in-goal-who-forged-dublin-s-endless-empire-1.4571398?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fsport%2Fgaelic-games%2Fgaelic-football%2Fstephen-cluxton-the-skinny-lad-in-goal-who-forged-dublin-s-endless-empire-1.4571398

If it is not one of the greatest achievements in GAA history to revolutionise a position and redinfine it, it certainly is the greatest achievement in the goalkeeper position?

Cluxton also inspired his contemporaries in the game such as Niall Morgan:

https://www.irishnews.com/sport/gaafootball/2016/09/17/news/stephen-cluxton-the-keepers-keeper-698459/

Pogue eile

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

He still has to aim the ball in the right areas and had the still to be accurate.
If it was as easy as you say every one would be doing it.

Plus not only that Cluxton was the first keeper to really revolutionise the position in Gaelic football it was no longer hit and hope stuff.

This article here shows how Cluxton was not keen on short kick outs at the start. But Gilroy persuaded him. And then Cluxton worked like mad at developing him technique. The free kicks only happened by chance when Dublin were stuck one day in a pre season game or something.

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/stephen-cluxton-the-skinny-lad-in-goal-who-forged-dublin-s-endless-empire-1.4571398?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fsport%2Fgaelic-games%2Fgaelic-football%2Fstephen-cluxton-the-skinny-lad-in-goal-who-forged-dublin-s-endless-empire-1.4571398

If it is not one of the greatest achievements in GAA history to revolutionise a position and redinfine it, it certainly is the greatest achievement in the goalkeeper position?

Cluxton also inspired his contemporaries in the game such as Niall Morgan:

https://www.irishnews.com/sport/gaafootball/2016/09/17/news/stephen-cluxton-the-keepers-keeper-698459/

You are kind or arguing against Cluxton there if I'm honest - sounds like Gilroy is the one who 'revolutionised' the Goalkeeper role and Cluxton was the beneficiary.

gormdubhgorm

The greatest achievement in GAA history has yet to occur.
It will be the journalist who persuades Stephen Cluxton to do an interview.

jmayo

There is no way I would see Cork's double winning year as greatest ever.

Cork are or were anyway a predominant hurling county.
They had won 7 in the preceding 20 years.
So nothing special to win another one.

Yes in football they were under the shadow for years of one of the greatest teams ever, but by 1990 it was their fourth final in a row.

And the county is so large that it has always been able to cope with both codes.

So really the 1990 double was not massive achievement.
It was that both codes happened to have dominant teams at the time.

Now Offaly's achievement of getting to both finals in 1981 was far more of an achievement.
They had much smaller player pool, had no history of success in hurling,
were in their first hurling final and first football final for 9 years.
And fell short against one of the greatest teams ever in Kerry.

So OP should maybe take off the old red tinted glasses.
Cork winning an All Ireland in either code back then was nothing special.

Anyway I would rate the achievements of the underdogs, the ones without all the resources, the massive playing pools, the ones facing adversity, the ones bucking the odds as the the greatest achievers.

Yes it may be corny as the yanks say, but they are what are good about the GAA.

So Down in the 60s, the Northern teams in the 90s, and the likes of Birr, Slaughtneil, Mullinalaghta, Crossmaglen, Corrofin.

gormdubhgorm

jmayo wrote: »

There is no way I would see Cork's double winning year as greatest ever.

Cork are or were anyway a predominant hurling county.
They had won 7 in the preceding 20 years.
So nothing special to win another one.

Yes in football they were under the shadow for years of one of the greatest teams ever, but by 1990 it was their fourth final in a row.

And the county is so large that it has always been able to cope with both codes.

So really the 1990 double was not massive achievement.
It was that both codes happened to have dominant teams at the time.

Now Offaly's achievement of getting to both finals in 1991 was far more of an achievement.
They had much smaller player pool, had no history of success in hurling,
were in their first hurling final and first football final for 9 years.
And fell short against one of the greatest teams ever in Kerry.

So OP should maybe take off the old red tinted glasses.
Cork winning an All Ireland in either code back then was nothing special.

Anyway I would rate the achievements of the underdogs, the ones without all the resources, the massive playing pools, the ones facing adversity, the ones bucking the odds as the the greatest achievers.

Yes it may be corny as the yanks say, but they are what are good about the GAA.

So Down in the 60s, the Northern teams in the 90s, and the likes of Birr, Slaughtneil, Mullinalaghta, Crossmaglen, Corrofin.

1981 is a good point relative to the strength of the county.

Not that I want to make a habit of agreeing with a Mayo person. But I agree with you. Achievements are either against the odds, or maybe glorious era based - consistency/longevity etc. Those would be the two people would think of when they think achievement.

At club level in football based on the two above, I would be thinking Crossmaglen for consistency. Or Portumna in hurling who had to get out of a seriously competitive county for a start.

On one offs in football you would have to say another Ulster team St Galls who won an all-ireland. Still baffles me how they managed it from nowhere. Or Mullinalaghta winning Leinster.

In hurling as well I would argue the achievements of Cuala from Dalkey are outstanding. Given the numbers that play hurling in Dublin and the area of Dublin that Cuala are based in. It is like they have created a hurling oasis from nothing.

If I was too look at the opposite end of the spectrum biggest underachievers in football would be - Kildare, Ballymun and Portlaoise. Based on the players they had/have and what they have achieved.

jmayo

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

1981 is a good point relative to the strength of the county.

Not that I want to make a habit of agreeing with a Mayo person. But I agree with you.

Careful now.

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Achievements are either against the odds, or maybe glorious era based - consistency/longevity etc. Those would be the two people would think of when they think achievement.

At club level in football based on the two above, I would be thinking Crossmaglen for consistency. Or Portumna in hurling who had to get out of a seriously competitive county for a start.

The reason I would rate Crossmaglen as special achievers is the tumultuous history they had in 70s and 80s.
Hell the guys that laid the foundations for the later domination had to put up with some awful sh** when they were coming through the ranks.
It would have been easy to give up.
Corrofin because they are small and they appear to do the right things time and again.

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

On one offs in football you would have to say another Ulster team St Galls who won an all-ireland. Still baffles me how they managed it from nowhere. Or Mullinalaghta winning Leinster.

In hurling as well I would argue the achievements of Cuala from Dalkey are outstanding. Given the numbers that play hurling in Dublin and the area of Dublin that Cuala are based in. It is like they have created a hurling oasis from nothing.

What Cuala did was special in attracting players where there was no history, but then I think of the massive financial clout they have and their achievements lose a bit of the gloss.

spurshero

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

The greatest achievement in GAA history has yet to occur.
It will be the journalist who persuades Stephen Cluxton to do an interview.

There won’t be too many rushing to buy that paper . One of all time greats absolutely no doubt about that.

gormdubhgorm

jmayo wrote: »

Careful now.

What Cuala did was special in attracting players where there was no history, but then I think of the massive financial clout they have and their achievements lose a bit of the gloss.

They were already rich in Dalkey anyway , it never helped them in the GAA before that! Mick Holden was their only legend for years.

It all comes down to training and putting the effort in allied to talent levels, the funding thing is a misnomer. The real change was organisational and structural. But I am not getting sidetracked with the Dublin funding debate, there are other threads on that.

Oh another great GAA achievement was Caltra (Galway) beating An Gaeltacht (Kerry) in the AI club in 2004. A lot of them looked liked mascots beside the Kerry lads. This was a Gaeltacht team full of O'Sé's.

cms88

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

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

1981 is a good point relative to the strength of the county.

Not that I want to make a habit of agreeing with a Mayo person. But I agree with you. Achievements are either against the odds, or maybe glorious era based - consistency/longevity etc. Those would be the two people would think of when they think achievement.

At club level in football based on the two above, I would be thinking Crossmaglen for consistency. Or Portumna in hurling who had to get out of a seriously competitive county for a start.

On one offs in football you would have to say another Ulster team St Galls who won an all-ireland. Still baffles me how they managed it from nowhere. Or Mullinalaghta winning Leinster.

In hurling as well I would argue the achievements of Cuala from Dalkey are outstanding. Given the numbers that play hurling in Dublin and the area of Dublin that Cuala are based in. It is like they have created a hurling oasis from nothing.

If I was too look at the opposite end of the spectrum biggest underachievers in football would be - Kildare, Ballymun and Portlaoise. Based on the players they had/have and what they have achieved.

To be fair you can't really say St.Galls came from nowhere to win it in 2010. They'd been in the final in 06 and had been in the Ulster final in 07 so they'd been around for a while at that stage.

gormdubhgorm

cms88 wrote: »

To be fair you can't really say St.Galls came from nowhere to win it in 2010. They'd been in the final in 06 and had been in the Ulster final in 07 so they'd been around for a while at that stage.

Jayus makes it worse that I was probably at one of them as well, when I think of it. Anyway I think it is very impressive that a team from Antrim is able to get that far. On paper they have no notion of it. I can't remember the year of the one I was at, but it dour low scoring.

megadodge

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

They were already rich in Dalkey anyway , it never helped them in the GAA before that! Mick Holden was their only legend for years.

It all comes down to training and putting the effort in allied to talent levels, the funding thing is a misnomer. The real change was organisational and structural. But I am not getting sidetracked with the Dublin funding debate, there are other threads on that.

Oh another great GAA achievement was Caltra (Galway) beating An Gaeltacht (Kerry) in the AI club in 2004. A lot of them looked liked mascots beside the Kerry lads. This was a Gaeltacht team full of O'Sé's.

I certainly agree with Caltra.

I had been in school with two of the Meehans and as a result used to look out for Caltra's results in Galway (I'm from Roscommon). They are a very small club and they won two Galway 'A' U21 titles in a row and I thought that was a savage achievement. They then won the Galway Intermediate title and I thought that was a fine achievement too, but reckoned they could be back down in a few years. So, All-Ireland Senior club champions??? And I was at it too, cheering them on.


Just to clarify something mentioned a few posts back - Corofin is a very big club, both geographically and numbers-wise. Anybody in Galway will tell you that. Which is not to denigrate their fantastic achievements. But don't call them 'small'.

cms88

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

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Jayus makes it worse that I was probably at one of them as well, when I think of it. Anyway I think it is very impressive that a team from Antrim is able to get that far. On paper they have no notion of it. I can't remember the year of the one I was at, but it dour low scoring.

I think that was 06 when they lost to Salthill. I actually thought they had won more Ulster titles in that time but it was only the two in 05 and 09.

seligehgit

cms88 wrote: »

I think that was 06 when they lost to Salthill. I actually thought they had won more Ulster titles in that time but it was only the two in 05 and 09.

It was 2006.

I was at it.

It was a double win for Galway,attended with a mate from hurling country in Galway.

Portumna won the hurling.

My abiding memory was of the near arctic conditions.

I nigh froze to death.

It was a great effort by St. Galls.

cms88

cms88 wrote: »

To be fair you can't really say St.Galls came from nowhere to win it in 2010. They'd been in the final in 06 and had been in the Ulster final in 07 so they'd been around for a while at that stage.

Remember vividly the All-Ireland senior club football final in 2010 when St Galls came on top. They defeated Kilmurry Ibrickane from my own county Clare. And on that I think that KIB's Munster football senior club Championship successes of 2004 and 2009 is worthy of one of the finest achievements when you consider the population and location. A great club indeed.

Golf Crazy Guy

Golf Crazy Guy wrote: »

Remember vividly the All-Ireland senior club football final in 2010 when St Galls came on top. They defeated Kilmurry Ibrickane from my own county Clare. And on that I think that KIB's Munster football senior club Championship successes of 2004 and 2009 is worthy of one of the finest achievements when you consider the population and location. A great club indeed.

By same vain,newtownshandrum of cork surely worthy of a mention

Something 600 of a population,contested 2 all ireland club finals,winning one.

cms88

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

Golf Crazy Guy wrote: »

Remember vividly the All-Ireland senior club football final in 2010 when St Galls came on top. They defeated Kilmurry Ibrickane from my own county Clare. And on that I think that KIB's Munster football senior club Championship successes of 2004 and 2009 is worthy of one of the finest achievements when you consider the population and location. A great club indeed.

Dromcollogher/Broadford from Limerick winning Munster in 08 would also be one. I think they even beat Nemo Rangers along the way.

Hammer Archer

Local to me, but Kilbride's achievement of winning five Meath Senior Football Championships in the 1960s/70s was incredible when you think about it. Kilbride is a tiny village right on the Meath/Dublin border. It probably has about 200-300 people, a church, a pub, a primary school, has had a petrol station on and off and that's it. They would have been a junior club for the vast majority of their history but in the 1960s, they happened to cobble together one of the greatest club sides in the history of Meath football (possibly in Ireland itself).

They won their first ever Junior title in 1960, followed by the Intermediate title in 1962. From 1964, they reached 7 of the next 8 senior finals, winning 5 of them. They were beaten by Kells in the second replay of the 1966 final. The 1965 final was abandoned because Kilbride's Martin Quinn was sent off and refused to leave the field (he sat on the ball). Meath's All Ireland winning side of 1967 had 7 Kilbride players on the panel which is astonishing given the size of the village.

Since their last senior championship win in 1971, Kilbride haven't won a single adult championship and for some time they were on the brink of going out of existence, but have had some good success at underage level recently sparking hopes of a rejuvenation of their adult side in the not too distant future.

Rosita

spurshero wrote: »

There won’t be too many rushing to buy that paper . One of all time greats absolutely no doubt about that but the personality of a stone.

I think this personalised post is very poor form.

BENDYBINN

Surely Tipps win in 89 will never be forgotten.......the way they took Galway out without ever puckin a ball was pure class....and Galway goin for the three in a row..

Rosita

BENDYBINN wrote: »

Surely Tipps win in 89 will never be forgotten.......the way they took Galway out without ever puckin a ball was pure class....and Galway goin for the three in a row..

Surely the real achievement was Galway "goin for three in a row" in just their sixth championship game over three years. They won two All Ireland titles playing five matches one agin' London. Greatest achievement surely. They played 6 games to get out of Leinster in 2018 and were blamed for not winning the All Ireland.

Rosita

Rosita wrote: »

I think this personalised post is very poor form.

Agree

randd1

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

Rosita wrote: »

Mmmmmm..........last year Waterford beat Kilkenny by 4. Limerick beat Waterford by 11.

11 + 4 =.................

Stranger things have happened when you look at the margins.

The year before (2019) Kilkenny beat Limerick by 1.
The year before (2018) Limerick beat Kilkenny by 2.
The year before (2017) Kilkenny beat Limerick by 3.


Limerick are very good, but they're not unbeatable, and Kilkenny have given them plenty of their fill too in recent years, and they're hardly pulling up trees the last few years.


I suppose time will tell, but as of now, Limerick have a long way to go, especially when you think there's more than a few of them Kilkenny players with as many AI medals as Limerick have in their history.

Rosita

randd1 wrote: »

I suppose time will tell, but as of now, Limerick have a long way to go, especially when you think there's more than a few of them Kilkenny players with as many AI medals as Limerick have in their history.

Don't see the relevance of this to a possible outcome between the counties this year

randd1

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

Rosita wrote: »

Don't see the relevance of this to a possible outcome between the counties this year

There isn't.


But there is a relevance when we're talking about achievement (or potential achievement in Limericks case), which the thread is about.

Rosita

randd1 wrote: »

There isn't.


But there is a relevance when we're talking about achievement (or potential achievement in Limericks case), which the thread is about.

No, there isn't a relevance. I never made any claim about Limerick's potential achievements. That's in the future and unknowable. The debate here is about actual past achievement not future potential achievement. In any event your point was more in the 'biggest genitilia' realm (who has won most etc.) than any serious credible attempt to add to the admittedly uneven, paranoid, partial, and erratic so-called debate here.

randd1

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

Rosita wrote: »

No, there isn't a relevance. I never made any claim about Limerick's potential achievements. That's in the future and unknowable. The debate here is about actual past achievement not future potential achievement. In any event your point was more in the 'biggest genitilia' realm (who has won most etc.) than any serious credible attempt to add to the admittedly uneven, paranoid, partial, and erratic so-called debate here.

Riiigghhhttttt.....

Rosita

spaceCreated wrote: »

A top tier hurling team? DUBLIN :pac::pac::pac::pac:
Youre surely not being serious, come off it, do you watch hurling? Nah youre joking... surely

Not such a joke now is it?

gormdubhgorm

Rosita wrote: »

Not such a joke now is it?

Lovely hurling - posting

spaceCreated

Rosita wrote: »

Not such a joke now is it?

1 good win doesnt make a top tier hurling team, 1 loss doesnt make a top tier team terrible. Sure, if they consistently beat what would be regarded as traditional hurling counties over the next 2 years then I could take the comment seriously. Nothing in the last few years would point to Dublin being capable of competing for an All Ireland final, maybe that changes with one win in Leinster but I'd disagree