‘Your strongest steel is forged in fire’: how Armagh used their years of heartache to win Sam MaguireKieran McGeeney’s team had enough of losing and designed a gameplan to keep Galway at arm’s length throughout a tense and dogged finalMon Jul 29 2024 - 06:00
Armagh player ratings: Oisín Conaty and Barry McCambridge outstanding for the new All-Ireland championsKieran McGeeney’s zonal defence wins the day as Aaron McKay gets forward for the only goal on the finalSun Jul 28 2024 - 18:52
Rian O’Neill has spent his Armagh career trying to live up to his promise and now he can secure it for goodThe Crossmaglen all-rounder has had his best season yet and is one match-winning display away from being the probable Footballer of the YearSun Jul 28 2024 - 06:00
Malachy Clerkin: Dorothy Dermody was so much more than her OlympicsThe Games are the Games. They are the be-all and end-all this week and next week and then they’re history. But however brief their appearance, an Olympian is an Olympian foreverSat Jul 27 2024 - 06:00
Tony Kelly conjured up the required magic for Clare when nothing short of it would have sufficed The Clare captain finished as the leading scorer from play against Cork and his 1-4 contained some of the most incredible scores an All-Ireland final has ever seenSun Jul 21 2024 - 21:29
Cork v Clare: Five key moments in the All-Ireland hurling finalRobert Downey and Tony Kelly score two of the best ever final goals, Johnny Murphy makes a huge call and Kelly finishes it offSun Jul 21 2024 - 18:12
Malachy Clerkin: The reasons why it’s impossible to begrudge either Cork or Clare an All-Ireland final winFrom Ger Loughnane to Jimmy Barry-Murphy, from Shane O’Donnell the astronaut to Patrick Horgan the record breaker, nobody outside the counties involved has a bone to pick this weekendSat Jul 20 2024 - 06:00
Magic Olympic rings have the power to pull the biggest Ireland team ever to go to the gamesHere’s where we are - this team will win medals and possibly the most everSat Jul 20 2024 - 06:00
Tougher road to final meant Armagh and Galway were that bit more battle-hardenedPerhaps surprisingly, both Donegal and Kerry found the pace too hot during the crucial final period of their respective semi-finalsMon Jul 15 2024 - 15:00
Galway kick on to make the All-Ireland final as Donegal run out of steam‘The batteries ran a wee bit lower,’ says Jim McGuinness as Donegal miss out on their chance to face Armagh in the All-Ireland final in two weeks’ timeMon Jul 15 2024 - 06:00
FT Galway 1-14 Donegal 0-15: All-Ireland semi-final as it happenedFollow all the action as both teams look to book a place in the final to play ArmaghSun Jul 14 2024 - 19:06
Armagh make first All-Ireland final since 2003 after thrilling win over KerryOrchard county come from five points down in second-half to earn victory after extra-time in a truly titanic tussleSat Jul 13 2024 - 20:25
Malachy Clerkin: All four teams know there is an All-Ireland on offer, if they can reach out and grab itEverybody was wrong about the football championshiop being a three-horse race. The upshot is that each of the semi-finalists are legitimate contenders for Sam MaguireSat Jul 13 2024 - 06:00
Kieran Donaghy’s four years with Armagh have been the making of him - and vice versaWhen the former Kerry full-forward joined Kieran McGeeney’s backroom team, it felt like an unlikely marriage. But his worth as a forwards coach and dressingroom presence has been hugeSat Jul 13 2024 - 06:00
For the FAI, this has the potential to be the most harmful scandal of allHopefully, the upsetting revelations over the weekend will embolden more people to come forward and tell their storyMon Jul 08 2024 - 13:35
For Cork to bring Limerick’s five-in-a-row odyssey to an end, only an epic like this would doJohn Kiely: ‘We haven’t tasted defeat very often. But any time we have, it has tasted very sour.’Mon Jul 08 2024 - 06:00
What I Read This Week: ‘Brilliant writing is all about small details’ Here are a few of the bits and bobs that caught my eye this week while I procrastinated from attending to all the fun stuffSat Jul 06 2024 - 07:00
Shane O’Donnell: ‘The stone wall I ran into when trying to interact with the GAA about my concussion was extremely frustrating’Whether it’s explaining the art of the pick-up or outlining his problems with the GAA, the Clare full-forward is always one of the most interesting and singular figures in the gameSat Jul 06 2024 - 06:00
Malachy Clerkin: Clare have to be ready for the Kilkennyness that’s coming their way Conor Fogarty sums up everything that makes Derek Lyng’s side such a consistent, dependable presence at the latter end of the championship every yearSat Jul 06 2024 - 06:00
Jack O’Connor makes no apologies for Kerry’s eyesore win over Derry Kerry boss Jack O'Connor ‘If you think you can play a kind of gung-ho open football against that type of structure then that’s not living in the real world’Mon Jul 01 2024 - 06:00
Kerry eventually put Derry to bed in a pig of a game at Croke ParkA drab afternoon was saved by cameos from Cillian Burke, Killian Spillane and Dylan Geaney as the Munster champions progress to meet ArmaghSun Jun 30 2024 - 18:30
The difference with Louth in 2024 is that they’re heading to Croke Park full of beliefMickey Harte started it, Ger Brennan has continued it - the Wee County has to make sure that they’re not a one-year wonder, whatever happens against DonegalSat Jun 29 2024 - 06:00
Everyone has a story to tell in the All-Ireland quarter-finals but Dublin and Kerry remain the teams to beatThe football championship finally gets serious with the two biggest beasts out there for everyone else to take a swing at in Croke Park this weekendFri Jun 28 2024 - 19:00
Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh: People felt they knew him and that he knew them too The Kerry broadcaster’s lyrical genius wouldn’t have had such an impact without the organic connection with his audienceTue Jun 25 2024 - 15:55
‘They were mean at the back’ - Derry show old defensive grit to knock out Mayo Mickey Harte’s side prevail after ding-dong encounter but the home side will regret the chances missed prior to the penalty shootoutSun Jun 23 2024 - 12:56
Though stretched and chastened, Monaghan could finish down year on a high Hints of an upturn in recent weeks give Monaghan hope of springing a surprise on Saturday against Galway, who have been enduring their own woes this seasonSat Jun 22 2024 - 06:00
Why did it take a draw against Dublin for Mayo fans to regain their faith?Kevin McStay’s side are probably not All-Ireland contenders, but been playing well enough to expect a better showing from supportersSat Jun 22 2024 - 06:00
Cormac Costello’s form gives Dublin a quandary - how many inside forwards to play in the same team With Con O’Callaghan, Paul Mannion, Colm Basquel and Paddy Small to include as well, balance will be criticalMon Jun 17 2024 - 16:00
Rory McIlroy choked at the US Open and he has nobody to blame but himselfThis wasn’t about Bryson DeChambeau’s bunker shot or McIlroy’s perennially put-upon caddie - it was about the scrambled brain that led to two short putts being missed when everything was on the lineMon Jun 17 2024 - 10:02
Dublin and Mayo play out a scintillating draw as Dessie Farrell’s side go straight to quartersCormac Costello grabs an injury-time leveller to snatch a draw after a fantastic game in Dr Hyde ParkSun Jun 16 2024 - 18:06
Time for Mayo to discover just where they standIt’s been a reasonable campaign to date for Kevin McStay’s Mayo side but we will know a lot more about their potential this year after they face Dublin at Hyde ParkSun Jun 16 2024 - 06:00
Malachy Clerkin: Irish athletics has hit new heights, but let’s not lose the run of ourselvesParis Olympics: After the Irish team's heroics in Rome, it’s important not to overburden our best athletes with incessant medal chatSat Jun 15 2024 - 06:00
Rhasidat Adeleke: Brightest light in Irish sport continues to set new standardsThe Tallaght superstar has been named Irish Times/Sports Ireland Sportswoman of the Month for MaySat Jun 08 2024 - 06:00
Nobody takes the ‘Kilkenny are never beaten’ dictum more literally than DublinMicheál Donoghue has changed Dublin's hurlers but until they find a way to beat Kilkenny, they will be dismissed as the same old DublinSat Jun 08 2024 - 06:00
Man City v the Premier League is a repellent vomitfest - the Euros can’t come quick enoughAs Manchester City and the Premier League go to war, at least we can knock a month’s enjoyment out of hoping for England’s eventual European Championship demiseFri Jun 07 2024 - 19:48
Sweden 1 Republic of Ireland 0: How the Irish players rated Caitlin Hayes is supreme at the centre of defence as Ireland just fall short in StockholmTue Jun 04 2024 - 19:48
Sunday GAA Championship - live updates: as they happenedFollow along for live commentary with seven matches scheduled between the All-Ireland Championship and Tailteann CupSun Jun 02 2024 - 18:03
Can Donegal win the All-Ireland?Jim McGuinness’s Donegal have injected some energy into a pretty drab championship but panel depth and playing style could prevent them going all the way to All-Ireland successSat Jun 01 2024 - 06:00
Hugo Keenan’s Sevens dream is a fantastic risk to take – only the Olympics has that kind of powerParis Olympics will see the biggest Ireland team ever competing at these gamesSat Jun 01 2024 - 06:00
Five things we learned from the GAA weekend: Louth just the latest to break a Meath recordLimerick’s season is going exactly how they would want; Dublin wind it up; Keith Rossiter’s Wexford revival; and those bloody abacusesMon May 27 2024 - 11:14
An afternoon with refugees at the Dublin Castle Fan Zone restores your faith in the power of footballFor an hour, a group of men weren’t any of the septic names they’d be called in the swamps online - they were just young lads playing footballSat May 25 2024 - 06:00
Davy Fitzgerald: ‘The players will come and tell me what they think and they’ll be pretty blunt’ Having managed in the championship for all but one of the past 17 seasons, the Waterford boss heads to Limerick in search of a result to extend their summerSat May 25 2024 - 06:00
A ruthless streak might be the only thing Clare are missing - but they need to find itEven though Clare scored 4-21 against Waterford, they left another 4-18 on the table and continued a worrying pattern of letting big leads fade awayMon May 20 2024 - 14:48
Five things we learned from the GAA weekend: A sobering seven weeks for DerryWaterford conceding too many goal chances; Monaghan at lowest ebb; Tipp bottom out; Kilkenny work in progressMon May 20 2024 - 10:22
Clare make hard work of it to finally come out ahead against heartbroken WaterfordBrian Lohan’s side should have won more easily but succession of misses kept Waterford in it until the endSun May 19 2024 - 16:25
Jamie Costin was 27, in the shape of his life, ready for the Olympics. Then he got hit by a truckThe Waterford racewalker suffered two broken vertebrae and had to wear a body cast for five months but still made it back to compete in Beijing four years laterSat May 18 2024 - 06:00
Derry faced with a dilemma against Galway, do they stick or twist?Following the chastening defeat to Donegal, Mickey Harte's Derry must decide whether to revert to a more cautious Plan B or just come back blazing with a better, more effective Plan ASat May 18 2024 - 06:00
Scottie Scheffler: After his arrest, that’s the last time anyone will call the world No1 dull and boringIt’s hard to imagine a more surreal situation than the world’s best golfer getting taken away in handcuffs from the site of the year’s second majorFri May 17 2024 - 14:54
Five things we learned from the GAA weekend: Don’t mess with the Ulster finalHave Cork finally uncovered Limerick’s tactical vulnerability? John Kiely laments inability to communicate with his playersMon May 13 2024 - 11:21
Jim McGuinness: ‘It felt like the Armagh fans thought that was their moment’Kieran McGeeney’s side losing their four-point lead cost them dearly against Donegal in the Ulster finalSun May 12 2024 - 21:16
