
‘Cork people don't claim him' – Rebels fan gets controversial tattoo days before All-Ireland final
Michael John Murphy, 37, got 'Cork All Ireland Senior Hurling Champions 2025' inked onto his right forearm.
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The end product of the controversial tattoo
Credit: SKINT TATTOO STUDIO
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Darragh Murphy in action during the creation of the project
Credit: Michaeljohn murphy
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The Cork team have been trying to block out the outside noise and pressure coming from their own fan base all season now
The Cork hurling season ticket holder, originally from Waterford, is so confident in the Rebels, he has inked the end result on his arm days before the final against Tipperary.
The tattoo artist behind the piece was another huge Cork hurling fan Darragh Murphy.
Darragh offered the tattoo to be done for free to any customer who dared in his 'Skint Tattoo Studio' just outside Cork city, but didn't expect anyone to be brave enough to take up the offer.
When speaking to
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"I said whoever wanted it could get it for free. I didn't know Michael, but he said he was going to get the same tattoo anyway if they won - might as well take the chance and get it now for free!
"And if it's not this year, they're likely to win soon anyways."
The tattoo received some backlash online with fans not happy with the Cork fan preempting Sunday's result.
One fan used this as a chance to take a dig at hurling culture in the Rebel county, declaring: "Cork hurling culture is almost indistinguishable from English soccer culture."
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Even Cork fans were infuriated by the tattoo with one saying: "Whoever that guy is he's a moron and Cork people don't claim him."
Another was worried it would be a bad omen for the final commenting: "We are jinxed now."
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The hype surrounding the Rebels has been outrageous. A
A huge demand for tickets to Cork and Tipperary's first ever All-Ireland final meeting has resulted in
Pat Ryan's side take on a Tipperary team that have appeared to have slipped under the radar despite possessing some seriously talented hurlers.
The Rebel's will be hoping to complete a treble this year having won the National Hurling League and the Munster Senior Hurling Championship in a dramatic penalty shoot-out against Limerick.
Many have backed Cork to win their first All-Ireland since 2005 and for Patrick Horgan to lift his first Liam MacCarthy Cup in the twilight of his career.
Even Tipp boss Liam Cahill declared Cork the "
Cork star Shane Kingston has spoken about
The Douglas forward said: 'We know about the outside noise and we always emphasise that we should just keep the outside noise out.
'It's no different to last year when there was a lot of outside noise. We keep a tight-knit group and keep everything in the circle.
'Everything in that circle matters and everything outside it is just irrelevant to us. We're staying focused on what we need to do. People love talking about it, no different to any other year.
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RTÉ News
2 minutes ago
- RTÉ News
Cork v Tipperary: Routes to the All-Ireland final
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The question was whether they could produce that league form when it really mattered, and we got our answer on day one. They made a statement by drawing with the team that were chasing the seven-in-a-row of Mick Mackey Cups; Limerick. Tipperary 2-23 Limerick 2-23 This was proper championship fare, with the teams level on no fewer than 12 occasions. The Treaty men led with little left in added time at the death, but Darragh McCarthy's free earned the Premier a crucial point. A second meeting of Tipp and Cork in 22 days, and that was even more emphatic than the league final. Darragh McCarthy's early red card put Tipp on the backfoot, and it was a case of déjà vu as the Rebels plundered the Premier for three early goals to take a stranglehold on the game. Tipperary 4-18 Clare 2-21 Tipperary needed a response, with just one point from two games, and they secured it against the defending All-Ireland champions. John McGrath and Andrew Ormond both scored two first-half goals and it looked as if they were cruising to victory. The Banner, playing for their season, battled back and it needed a late flourish of points - four of the last five - to win the day for Tipp by three points. Tipperary 1-30 Waterford 1-21 A first championship win over Waterford in five years, and a first championship triumph at Thurles in the same time, this one was close throughout before Oisín O'Donoghue's late goal - a first at senior level - killed off the Déise challenge. Tipperary 2-28 Galway 2-17 Having lost to Galway at the same stage two years previously, Tipp were forewarned about the potential from a Galway side who had underperformed in their Leinster final defeat to Kilkenny. Five up at the break, the gap was down to two when Colm Molloy got the Tribesmen's first goal, but the Munster men then upped it to move clear, with Oisín O'Donoghue's goal burying Galway. Back to Croke Park for the first time in championship since they lifted the Liam MacCarthy in 2019, Tipperary and Kilkenny was close throughout. The Cats made the better start but goals from John McGrath, Darragh McCarthy and Jason Forde had Tipp four up at the break. And, they would need a late goal from Oisín O'Donoghue to finally put this game to bed, a finish worthy of any All-Ireland semi-final. Back in the final for the first time in five years, Tipperary will need to find a massive performance against a side they've lost to by a combined 25 points in their last two games. Cork Cork entered 2025 having lost last year's final to Clare, and were being talked of as one of the potential champions from early in the year. Their National League run suggested a team that were extremely determined to go that extra yard this time around. They drew with Limerick and lost to Tipperary in the league stage, but when it mattered they put the Premier to the sword in the Division 1A final. The most successful county in the history of the Munster Championship, Cork headed for the provincial competition without a title in seven years. And they were set to open up their 2025 championship campaign against the side who had claimed both national titles a year previously. Cork 2-24 Clare 3-21 Cork appeared to be cruising to victory at Ennis, a satisfying way to give the side that beat them in last year's All-Ireland final a kicking. But then, incredibly, Clare came from 12 down at half-time to earn a share of the spoils, with Declan Dalton's equaliser at the death saving the Rebels from starting with a defeat. Cork 4-27 Tipperary 0-24 Tipperary felt Cork's wrath a week later as the Rebels showed no mercy against a 14-man Tipp outfit, who had seen Darragh McCarthy sent off inside 60 seconds for some off the ball stuff. Tim O'Mahony, Patrick Horgan and Alan Connolly got the early goals to remind everyone of how dangerous Cork could be in front of goal as they went in 10 up at the break. Stung by the Banner comeback a week before, Cork were relentless in the second half with Declan Dalton's goal putting a nice sheen on the scoreboard. A welcome three-week break after their league triumph, and Munster round-robin openers, Cork headed to the Gaelic Grounds looking to continue their 2024 form agains the Treaty men. Instead, it was the lowpoint of the Rebels' 2025 campaign, as they were thoroughly outclassed by John Kiely's hyper-focused outfit. 15 down at the break, they would end up shipping as a big a defeat as they had in the 2021 All-Ireland final to the same opposition. Cork 2-25 Waterford 1-22 It all came down to this clash with neighbours Waterford at the Páirc, with an end-to-end opening half finishing with the Rebels one up, despite playing against the breeze. 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A brace of goals each from Brian Hayes and Alan Connolly had the Rebels 10 up at the break and they pushed hard in the second half as Tim O'Mahony also scored two, before Connolly completed the hat-trick. A third trip to the final in five seasons, Cork have the chance to bring 20 years of hurt to an end in the decider, and complete a clean sweep of trophies in 2025.


Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Cork and Tipperary clashes in the home as well as on the pitch
Yvonne and John Harding are desperate for tickets ahead of Sunday's All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final Today at 04:00 Sunday's All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final between Cork and Tipperary is history-making. Despite this weekend's match being the 94th meeting between the two sides in history, dating all the way back to 1888, this is the first time ever the sides clash in hurling's biggest game.

The 42
an hour ago
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Pat Ryan: 'When you take on the job, you have to win All-Irelands. You don't shy away from that'
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You'll be judged by other people but my judgement as a Cork person, as a person who's played, as a person who's watched games and been involved in going to matches when we won All-Irelands in the '90s and the '80s, that's what's expected. 'That's the expectation when you take on the job, that you're going to win All-Irelands. If you don't, I suppose failure, is it the right word? It's probably a harsh word at times. But it's true, to be honest. You have to win All-Irelands. It's as simple as that. You don't shy away from that.' Advertisement Ryan took the reins on a three-year term in July 2022. That period is set to close after this year's championship but he has always been conscious of the need for him to demonstrate progress. 'I'm an amateur person doing an amateur job. I don't have any contract. I can walk away at any stage and the county board can move me on at any stage. It's what my family want to do, my energy, whether the lads want to stay on. 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Sometimes you can get carried away with the logistics side of it and I have a brilliant fella who looks after all our logistics, Dave Nolan, but you get carried away with making sure that the food is right, the gear is right, and travel is right, and how our pitches are right and all that side of it. 'I met the players one to one and I got plenty of feedback off the players. Sometimes you try to be as honest as you can with players and then sometimes you're probably trying not to hurt feelings. I think a lot of the players who would have came to me and said maybe you just need to be a bit more honest sometimes with us and just tell us what we need to do exactly. It was being a bit more direct and I think that is something that I've done this year. It's something I probably need to get better at all the time. It's something that's a work in progress.' A more player-driven ethos was adopted in the Cork camp with the emphasis on their leadership group. 'The lads that have come into it have been brilliant. We're much more player-led in what we're doing, from 2023 to 2024 it was better, to 2025 it's even better. How we play, how we analyse matches, how we come back at it. We've a fantastic analysis and video group led by Tomás Manning. We've dialled it down a bit as well. The 20-minute video sessions are gone. It's 5, 6, 7 minutes regularly, just to get fellas tuned in and that seems to be working as well.' He doesn't ignore the past either, tapping into the tradition that Cork hurling teams have built up over the decades. 'The Cork jersey has to mean something to everyone, every time you put it on, and that goes back to the public following us. When the public see that you're representing the jersey, they'll still back you. But if you're insipid in how you wear the jersey or you're not really playing with physicality or aggression. 'The players I grew up idolising in the 80s, there was no soccer, there was no rugby. The Teddy McCarthys, the Tomás Muls, the Jim Cashmans, the Jimmy Barry Murphys, the Seánie O'Learys, they were gods. It's like the Kerry team and the Dublin team of the 70s, that's who the people were, that's who the heroes were around the place. And there's an expectation that we wear the jersey as well as they did and do we lean into it? Yeah, you bet your life we do. 'Look, it's a good thing to come from. I just listened to it there recently about James McCarthy, and he did something with Bernard Dunne. He just said that when he was with Dublin, there's a way that Dublin should play and there's a way that Dublin should carry themselves and I just said Jesus that makes total sense. When you watch James McCarthy play, that's the way he lived it as a footballer.' The Tipperary rivalry is something he has been immersed in during his roles with Cork and their current revival has not surprised him. 'Myself and Liam and Mikey Bevans and Brendan and Wayne would've played in an under-20 Munster final against each other back in 1997. Cork and Tipperary, even when you were a young fella going to matches, going to Thurles. It's a fantastic rivalry. It's as old a rivalry that's in the game really. From our side of it, we love beating Tipperary, they love beating us. They're normally great games. 'They've brilliant players. They've done an awful lot of work at Tipperary level. They've won three Harty titles in the last three years with three different schools. Liam's got unbelievable expertise, he's got a great CV behind him. 'Tipperary people, they've really got around this team, they've got around Liam, they've backed him since the start of the league, and they've taken off. We're under no illusions. We'll be probably favourites going into it, but we were favourites too last year and that didn't work out. We just need to concentrate on ourselves.' A central protagonist in the 2025 showpiece, but what is Ryan's first All-Ireland final memory? 'The first All-Ireland final I went to was in 1986. I was ten years of age. I went up to it with Tadhgie Murphy, the golden boot who got the goal in 1983, and my father. We travelled up and stayed in Jury's Inn. Teddy, Lord rest him, came back from the Canaries after the semi-final to play in the final. Teddy was a huge figure around our club at the time and very friendly with my dad. So that was a huge thing.' *****