Editorials

The Irish Times view on Dublin’s hurling hopes: once in a blue moon

There have been many false dawns for the sport in the capital over the last 87 years

GAA All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Quarter-Final, FBD Semple Stadium, Thurles, Tipperary 22/6/2024 Dublin vs Cork Dublin's Sean Currie and Sean O Donoghue of Cork t ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo
GAA All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Quarter-Final, FBD Semple Stadium, Thurles, Tipperary 22/6/2024 Dublin vs Cork Dublin's Sean Currie and Sean O Donoghue of Cork t ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo
Fri Jul 04 2025 - 20:00

For a county that has enjoyed unparalleled success over the last decade in the All-Ireland football championship, it will be anunusual sight to see the Dublin hurlers running on to the Croke Park pitch tomorrow with hopes of creating their own piece of sporting history. Having pulled off one of the big shocks of the GAA summer by beating hotly favoured Limerick in the All-Ireland quarter-final a fortnight ago, Dublin will now have to slay another giant of the modern game, Cork, if they are to qualify for the county’s first All-Ireland final in 64 years.

While hurling is by far the dominant sport in Cork, the opposite is very much the case in Dublin. Although the game continues to grow in the capital, it is still dwarfed by its football big brother.

However, the emergence of new hurling strongholds in clubs such as Cuala and Kilmacud Crokes in south Dublin has helped deepen the talent pool available to the county. Combined with a significant increase in the numbers playing at under-age levels, this augurs well for the future of the game in the city. Nevertheless, it is still an uphill struggle attracting the most gifted dual players to opt for hurling over football.

Nothing would broaden the sport’s appeal in Dublin more than reaching an All-Ireland final and taking the scalp of hurling royalty like Cork in the process. Both counties have rich sporting pedigrees but few Cork supporters would consider Dublin to be their equals at the game’s top table. That belief is founded on cold statistics as much as innate Cork confidence – 30 All-Ireland titles to six for Dublin. Although Cork have to go back to 2005 since they last took the Liam MacCarthy cup back to the southern capital, Dublin supporters have to reach for the history books for their last win in 1938.

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There have been many false dawns for Dublin hurling over the intervening 87 years but the current team exceeded all expectations in beating Limerick and could eclipse that achievement tomorrow. Almost everyone agrees it would be good for hurling. Everyone, except the people of Cork.