Dublin's reign of terror in Leinster SFC is finally over – but Meath will need to find another gear in final vs Louth
LAST weekend's Royal flush in Portlaoise showed that the days of Dublin holding all the aces in Leinster are finally over.
After a 14-year reign of terror, the Dubs have come back to the pack.
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Meath manager Robbie Brennan after the Leinster GAA Football Senior Championship semi-final win over Dublin
Credit: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
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Graham Geraghty of the 1999 All-Ireland winning Meath football jubilee team before the All-Ireland Final between Armagh and Galway
Credit: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
The prospect of winning a provincial title suddenly seems attainable for several counties.
And that could revitalise the Leinster Championship just a year after it was labelled 'a shambles' by Colm O'Rourke after Meath suffered another hammering at the hands of their old rivals.
But the Royals' wait for a Championship triumph over the Sky Blues
Even with such a commanding lead at half-time, the Meath supporters in my vicinity were somewhat hesitant to even dare to dream.
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With Dublin set to be backed by the wind in the second half, the hope was that 12 points would be enough.
It was only when I was out on the pitch afterwards that I got a proper appreciation of the strength of the breeze that was there.
Nobody thought we would find ourselves that far ahead anyway, particularly when you consider how the Offaly game went.
Ultimately Meath fared better against the wind than Dublin did, so they were able to keep the scoreboard ticking over by just enough.
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As the second half progressed, it became increasingly clear as they grew in confidence that this team was capable of hanging on.
There can be no taking away from the magnitude of the victory and what it could lead to.
Tipperary GAA legend reveals surprising difference between 'pressure' of playing for club vs county
But my sense is that Meath may need to find another gear for the Leinster final.
Overall it was a positive performance from Robbie Brennan's side, yet plenty of mistakes were made too.
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And in the context of where they once were, Dublin are obviously a team in decline.
BOUNCING BACK
It has been said over the last week that the Dubs would have mounted a better comeback if the game had been in Croke Park.
That is obviously hypothetical and I am not inclined to agree, simply because their display was just so poor. While they may no longer be living up to the standards they set while racking up All-Ireland titles over the last decade and a half, this is still a good Dublin team.
When their injuries clear up, it will be interesting to see how Dessie Farrell's side navigate a difficult group in the All-Ireland SFC series.
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But let it not be forgotten that the opposition were also dealing with injuries as Jack Flynn and Jordan Morris are important players for Meath too.
The first Leinster final meeting of Meath and Louth since that controversial decider in 2010 — when Meath should have been beaten — promises to be something special.
It is a game to be discussed in greater detail next weekend.
What I will say now is that the significance of beating Dublin will be diluted if Meath do not become Leinster champions.
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The players are well aware of that too.
I congratulated Donal Keogan on the pitch after the game last Sunday and he said to me, 'The job is not done yet, Graham'.
GOIN GAL THE WAY
For today, Castlebar will be the centre of attention as Galway aim to win their fourth consecutive Connacht SFC crown.
But after squandering it last year, this is a
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While Galway's overall arsenal is formidable, losing weapons as powerful as Shane Walsh and Damien Comer would hurt any team's chances.
The fear factor alone is considerably lessened by their absences.
Walsh might not be in a game at all for 40 minutes but he has the talent to win it on his own with just a couple of moments of magic.
Despite all of his injury problems, Comer issued a reminder of what he can do with a man-of-the-match display as he tormented Mayo in last year's final.
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The bizarre decision to hold the draw for the All-Ireland group stages earlier this week has thrust both Galway and Mayo into something of a Catch-22 situation.
The consolation prize for the runners-up will be a more favourable set of opponents in the Sam Maguire series, as the winners will have to face Dublin, Derry and the beaten team in the Ulster final between Donegal and Armagh.
You would like to think that this has not presented any dilemma to either camp as the value of a provincial title should not be cheapened by the possibility of an easier route thereafter.
My expectation is that both teams will go all out to put a marker down and land a blow to a rival by winning the game and getting the confidence boost that silverware invariably brings.
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PROBLEM TEAM
As for Clare's latest attempt to cause a shock in a Munster final, I certainly feel Peter Keane's men have the ability to pose problems for Kerry.
The Banner will obviously be heartened by how close Cork ran the Kingdom. And
However, when you can replace Clifford with a player of Seán O'Shea's ability, it outlines the size of the mountain that the visitors will have to climb in Killarney.
Clare were within seven points at the final whistle in last year's decider in Ennis.
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I will be extremely surprised if Kerry's margin of victory is narrower than that this afternoon.
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The 42
an hour ago
- The 42
'I still very much have the grá for it. People say it's a sacrifice, but it's a choice'
IT IS ALMOST 11 years since Caoimhe Costelloe conducted her first feature interview with this writer. Signposted for superstardom, she had just turned 18, already had All-Ireland intermediate and minor medals in her pocket and was looking forward to making her debut in what is now the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior camogie championship. What's more, her Leaving Cert results had provided the Adare tyro with the points she needed to get into the teacher training college, Mary I. What strikes you reading that On The Ball article back, and a few more from the next four or seasons, is the incredible maturity of the Adare teenager, the obvious leadership skills and the fierce ambition. She was in it to win it. Now, ten days removed from her 29th birthday, and remarkably, having played in every championship game since – she didn't start once ten years ago due to a broken thumb but came on – Costelloe grins ruefully when considering her veteran status. 'You kind of think you're still the youngest in your head, but I think I'm like third or fourth eldest now,' says Costelloe. 'Some days I feel it, I definitely think I've abused my body now, a few aches! 'When I look at some of the girls that have got injured down through the years, I've been lucky touch wood. I broke my thumb in 2015 for the first round of the championship. I came on as a sub, I think that's the only championship match I didn't start so I have been lucky that way.' There were some All-Ireland quarter-finals along the way but largely, it's been more anguish and despair than exultation and joy. Inconsistency has pockmarked what the Shannonsiders have done and many of the historic minor-winning outfit of 2014 that came through and offered great hope for the future are no longer involved. Costelloe remains though and admits that her mindset is very different now to when she was interested only in winning senior All-Irelands with Limerick. But one thing, the core element, has never changed. Advertisement In action against Waterford's Bevan Bowdren last year. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO 'I think maybe time has made me a realist. At 17, I was probably confident that we could push on and, challenge for an All-Ireland, because underage, we've done that. But I probably, at that time, didn't anticipate how much it takes and how many things just need to fall into place for that to happen. 'But, I still very much have the grá for it, you know? I love going training, I love meeting new girls that come into our panel, and seeing the progress in them over a little while. 'Obviously, I would love to have challenged a bit more. And we probably had teams that were capable of challenging a bit more, but the grá hasn't gone away… I enjoy the company that the girls give. And it's nice sometimes, that younger generation has maybe a different attitude maybe to what I had, and they're a little bit more carefree. And I love watching that. 'People say it's a sacrifice, but it's a choice. I love challenging myself against the very best. I love going training and then challenging myself to try and get better. And you're looking at your stats and you're watching the video, and you're like, 'How much more could I have done in this situation?'' This latter element, this ability to measure contribution and improvement is one of the major changes in the world of inter-county camogie in the past decade. 'When I first came on the panel in 2013, we didn't have an S&C coach. There was no video analysis. It was a case of, 'Go out and win your own ball.' When I reflect back, I think how far we have come as a group and as a sport. Like, before, I remember being told at 13 or 14, that any ball inside the four white lines is a good ball. You'd get crucified if you went and did that now!' Much is altered but, life is still good. She began teaching in her alma mater, Our Lady's Abbey Girls NS and remains there. That means she is still living at home. Adare won a Munster junior title in 2022, which meant the world. Costelloe was nominated for an All-Star that year too. And she has had a ball immersing herself in the experience of being a devoted supporter of the hurlers, who changed the face of Limerick GAA forever in recent years, captained for all of that time until this year by her clubmate, Declan Hannon. 'I'm a Limerick fan first and foremost. I have loved going to Croke Park and seeing the boys succeed the way they have. And the family memories that we've created because of it.' The Limerick hurlers celebrate after last year's Munster final. Bryan Keane / INPHO Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO By the time John Kiely's mob bid for a seventh straight Munster title this evening, Costelloe and her teammates will know exactly where they stand with regard to the Glen Dimplex Championship, because their Group 1 derby with Clare at Biomet Zimmer Páirc Chíosóg this afternoon [throw-in 2pm] is to all intents and purposes, a knockout game. They have both beaten Wexford, and with all-conquering Cork and last year's Division 1A League champions Tipperary also in the group, the consensus is that it is between this pair for the third knockout spot though a Wexford defeat of Tipperary at Chadwicks Wexford Park [4pm] would launch a couple of cats among the pigeons. Clare had a bye last week after winning their opener, while Limerick are playing their third game in a fortnight. They recovered from a chastening 38-point defeat by Cork in the first round, to edge out Wexford by a goal last week at Mick Neville Park. But Joe Quaid had the team very focused on the games that would matter in this period and there was no damage done by that initial hammering. With Costelloe scoring eight points, her clubmate Sophie O'Callaghan dominant in the middle, Laura Southern grabbing the goal and goalie Sarah Gillane making a great save, Limerick delivered. There is a good vibe around. It was Quaid that called Costelloe into the panel in 2013 while the current lead coach, Willie Banks, was a coach of the minor-winning squad the following season. It feels like things have gone the full circle for Costelloe. Certainly, there is no mistaking the excitement she feels ahead of a big game. 'We knew that the two games against Wexford and Claire were going to be huge. And I'm sure they were thinking the exact same thing. We and Clare know each other going back a long, long way now at this stage. It's great that this is probably a preliminary quarter-final in many ways. It's gonna be pure shoulder to the wheel for as long as we can and hopefully that will get us over the line.'
The 42
an hour ago
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'I was thankful that we got out with a point': Red card in rearview mirror as Barrett leads Cork into battle
HAVING BEGUN THE Munster senior hurling championship on a low note, Cork attacker Shane Barrett could yet end it by captaining the winning side in the final. If the Rebels are to win a provincial title for the first time in seven years, it will be Robert Downey lifting the Mick Mackey Cup in the Mick Mackey Stand but, as the Glen Rovers man has been limited to a place on the substitutes' bench due to a hamstring injury, his vice-captain will lead the side out. For 24-year-old Barrett, it was an honour to be asked by manager Pat Ryan but, equally, something he has tried to take in his step. 'Pat said it to me at the end of year review, would I be interested,' he says. 'I asked him who the captain was going to be, but he wouldn't tell me – I had a bit of an inkling and then I found out it was Rob. It is an honour to be asked especially when Rob was going to be captain. 'It is a nice honour but hopefully I won't have to do it too many more times this year and Rob will be back. Advertisement 'When I get the chance to do it, you are not really thinking about it at the moment but afterwards you reflect on it and it is a nice thing.' Reflection of the less-nice kind was required after the Blarney man's red card against Clare at Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg in the first round of fixtures. 'Look, I suppose it happened,' he says, 'and I was thankful that we got out of Ennis with a point. 'If we had lost up there, we would have been under a lot more pressure and I would have been feeling a lot worse but once we got a point and Tipp and Limerick also drew, no team was worse off. 'It cost us a point in Ennis and very regretful but we weren't any worse off than when we got up there. Pat had said beforehand that he would have taken a point against the All-Ireland champions.' Barrett tries to escape the attention of Limerick's Will O'Donoghue. Tom Maher / INPHO Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO The indiscretion meant a watching brief in Cork's next game, the routine victory over a Tipperary side that were themselves reduced to 14 men after Darragh McCarthy's first-minute dismissal. 'It was my own doing, so I couldn't really give out to anyone else,' Barrett says. 'I probably hadn't watched a game like that in ages, so it was an experience I hadn't got since I was about 18. I didn't think of it much before the game but at the game it was horrible, but the lads were brilliant on the day and put the game to bed in the first half. 'So, I enjoyed the second half.' While the second half of the 16-point defeat to Limerick at TUS Gaelic Grounds three weeks ago was better than the first period, nobody in red was enjoying it. However, there wasn't any dwelling on it, either, given the need to respond a week later against Waterford. For Cork, the Monday gym sessions bring as much mental as physical benefit. 'That is the case,' Barrett says, 'especially when you have the back-to-back games and say you have been playing on the Sunday. 'You come in on the Monday and completely park that game. In our case it was Waterford this week, so you don't have time to be dwelling – you are just fully focused, about being back around the lads and getting our work done, getting ready for training on Tuesday and the match at the weekend.' And, given the chance to avenge that earlier defeat, where does Barrett identify the major areas for improvement? Related Reads 'It was a whole new world for me': Limerick-Cork Munster final memories 50 years on 'That narrative has been debunked now' - Limerick boss hits back at end of an era talk Pat Ryan: 'Some of our own people writing off Limerick. Are they off their game?' 'Everything, really,' he says. There wasn't anything we could have taken as a positive, they blew us completely out of the water. We had no answer for them whatsoever. 'I think we improved on a lot of things against Waterford, that weren't there in the Gaelic Grounds, but we just had no answer for them up there. 'Limerick are an unbelievable team. You just have to respect what they've done over the last seven, eight years. They're an unbelievable unit, a well-oiled machine. They know each other inside out. 'It's about weathering the tough moments against them, and trying to impose your own gameplan on them.'
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Galway's Conor Whelan: ‘Mental health is not as abstract as people sometimes make it sound'
He arrived in a stork basket, 10 years ago next week. Conor Whelan had been the best forward on the 2014 Galway minor team but whatever currency that might have held in other years, it looked like pennies on the dollar this time around. Though he'd scored two goals against Limerick in the All-Ireland semi-final, Galway had been torched by 15 points . If there was help for the senior team coming from that group, it surely wasn't coming in a hurry. Anthony Cunningham saw it differently. Whelan was in his first year in college in Limerick when the then Galway manager got in touch. The first contact was early in the season but Whelan declined, not wanting to rush into it. By mid-summer, Cunningham was back asking again. It was in the run-up to the Leinster final and this time Whelan said yes. His first training session was in the second week of June 2015. His first senior intercounty game was the All-Ireland quarter-final in July. Six weeks later, he was starting an All-Ireland final. An All Star nomination came on the back of a career that was three games old, none of them in the league or provincial championship. It must be a record. 'The stars aligned a little bit in terms of getting your chance and going in,' he says now, upon being reminded of the decade anniversary. 'I suppose I stepped up and took it too. It seems like only yesterday really. When I look at the whole 11 seasons, it feels like one big blur. READ MORE 'It just goes so fast. Something that I always say is if you have a season where you get knocked out of the round robin series, you lose a lot those years because you're only playing five championship games and the whole thing is over. You feel like you never really got started at all. 'I've been fortunate with injury, I've only missed one game – against Westmeath in 2022 and I could probably have played if I really needed to push my body. It's been a journey, definitely. Lots of ups and downs.' Conor Whelan of Galway in action during the Allianz Hurling League game between Galway and Clare in February. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho And plenty more to come, most likely. According to the numbers put together by hurling's great annals-keeper Leo McGeough, Whelan has played 57 championship games for Galway. Of the current crop, all the players who have more than him – two Burkes, two Mannions and Conor Cooney – are all over 30. Whelan won't be 29 until October. But if it all ended tomorrow, he'd leave a hefty footprint behind him. He is the fourth-highest scorer in Galway's history, with 16 goals and 129 points to his name. That 177 total means he is behind only Cathal Mannion (8-171, or 195), Cooney (14-199, or 241) and the unreachable Joe Canning (27-486, or 567). The difference with Whelan is that every one of his scores has come from play. He has scored in 50 of his 57 games, has scored twice or more in 42 of them. He's Galway's only All Star forward this decade and one of only three Galway attackers to win multiple All Stars since the turn of the century – Canning and Damien Hayes are the others. By any measure, Whelan is among the greatest-ever Galway hurlers and as electric a player as the game has to offer. [ Opens in new window ] And yet, when you're looking for a lens through which to tell his story, hurling is probably one of the less interesting things to catch the eye. We might start with his PhD, which he is due to hand in this week. Go back to that 18-year-old in his first year in Mary I in 2015, giving a polite thanks but no thanks to the Galway management when they're trying to make an intercounty hurler out of him. Now ask him about his PhD. 'So basically there's 950 Gaelic games student athletes in Ireland,' he says. 'An elite student athlete is someone who's registered as a full-time student education level and they've spent at least one year on a senior intercounty panel. So there's 950 of those registered with the GPA. 'I kind of came up with this concept of administrative intervention where you pair the student athlete with a mentor. My PhD is out of ATU Galway. There were 13 elite student athletes there and I paired them each with an alumnus in the college. So not somebody that was their lecturer and not somebody that was from their sporting environment. Somebody that they didn't know. 'They were to meet every two weeks and just plan out their time for the student athlete. They set goals, both sporting, academic and personally. They were also there for social supports – any issues that come up around assignments, conflict between lectures and training and so on. 'We're all aware of the mental health issues in Ireland and we're all aware of the challenges that student athletes face. But you have to design something that's realistic and something that you think students could utilise. The feedback I got from the 13 student athletes was that, yeah, there's someone there and to be honest, I didn't meet them every week. But if I needed them, he was there.' Whelan's day job is in occupational health and wellbeing with the Castle construction group. His PhD was always going to delve into some aspect of mental health: ever since his cousin, the Galway defender Niall Donohue, died by suicide in 2013, Whelan has continually immersed himself in that world. All going well, his PhD will form a template for the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) and other organisations to use to help student athletes manage their mental health and wellbeing from here on out. Galway captain David Burke, Kilbeacanty chairman Justin Fahy, Shane Donohue, brother of the late Niall Donohue, Galway hurler Conor Whelan, cousin of Niall, and Niall's father, Francis Donohue. Photograph: Joe O'Shaughnessy 'Initially, I kind of just wanted to understand it better. I suppose after my cousin had passed away, I was kind of pushed into that space a little bit and I was like, 'If I'm going to be in this space, I want to really understand it and be able to offer actual tangible advice rather than just regurgitate other stuff you read.' '[Niall's death] is definitely a factor. I've been fortunate enough that I have also done a masters in psychology. I have been very interested in alcohol and addiction and spent some time volunteering in Cuan Mhuire [rehabilitation organisation] for six or seven months. I've always been interested in that concept of mental health and how far out it goes, what it delves into and all the different strands that affect it. 'And yeah, obviously Niall would be a factor in that. Unfortunately, he experienced acute mental illness. I suppose as a direct consequence of that, my view on mental health is that it's not as abstract as people sometimes make it sound. There's always factors in the background that can influence it. 'When you think of mental illness, you always think of acute mental illness, which probably makes up for about 15 per cent of the population. But there's so many other variances within that 85 per cent.' As for his own head, one of the ways he clears it is by travelling. Generally with friends but sometimes on his own, Whelan makes a point of getting away as much as he can in the off-season. Asia, Australia, South and Central America. Purposeful wandering, off the grid where possible. 'I suppose a couple of different things appeal about it,' he says. 'I really enjoy the whole thing of just working hard and doing your turn, your graft, back here and then taking a few months and heading off at the end of it and seeing the place. Just going away and getting a fresh perspective. I find sometimes that you go away too and you have a lot of appreciation for the life that you're coming back to and the things you have in your life. 'And being off the grid – I can remember being on the east coast of America with one of my best friends and you're travelling for five hours on a Greyhound bus and you've no signal or anything. You're not getting emails about work or anything like that. When you're there, you're there. 'That is definitely, in the modern world, one of the things I love the most about it. Just being completely there. Like, I don't buy a Sim card in a new country. If I happen to go to a place that has wifi, great. And if I don't, fine. I'm just here. 'Every day I was over in Japan, I was just literally heading off and my sole objective was, 'I'm going to go here today. I have no idea where I'm going but I'm going to just explore this place and see what's the crack with it.' And you're just going out and you're literally people-watching in a cafe. You're watching people go to their normal work dressed as full anime characters or whatever.' He doesn't train when he goes away. He doesn't bring a hurley. He might get a run in somewhere but it won't bother him if he doesn't. He gets on a flight and leaves his life behind, the better to see what he can see. 'It's really interesting from a mental health point of view to go to these places and see how they approach things. Places like Japan and South Korea have massive challenges around mental health. I couldn't get over how much time they spend on their phones. 'In Japan, they have a suicide forest down around Mount Fuji that's very famous. I was in South Korea and they have a really terrible work-life balance there. Just being in these countries shapes your perspective and changes it.' Conor Whelan of Galway in action in the Leinster SHC game between Galway and Antrim at Pearse Stadium on May 17th. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho And when he comes back, he's a hurler again. He's Conor Whelan, Galway's best and most reliable forward. Micheál Donoghue used 40 players in the 2025 league campaign – only Tom Monaghan and Cianan Fahy played more minutes than Whelan. He's carried his bat through the Leinster championship too – only getting a rest for the last half-hour against Antrim when Galway were well out the gap. 'It's been very enjoyable. Micheál brings such positivity to the group and, in fairness, he's given everyone a chance. He played 40 players in the league and I think he's up around 30 in the championship as well. 'I've been part of groups before that have had that idea starting out but once you lose one or two games, have reverted to type. But he hasn't done that. It's really good to see young lads coming through and getting their chance.' He would know. Not many have made better of it. If you are affected by any of the issues in this piece, please contact The Samaritans at 116 123 or email jo@
