24-05-2025
Dublin players 'will use' Micheál Donoghue's presence on Galway sideline
It may not be one of the GAA's more noted rivalries, but there has been a level of enmity between the Dublin and Galway hurlers over the past decade and more.
Perhaps it has cooled in more recent times as players have moved on, but Micheál Donoghue landing on the Parnell Park sideline tomorrow in charge of his own county after effectively dumping Dublin last year adds a fresh flavour of seasoning to this de facto Leinster semi-final.
So, what spawned the rivalry in the first place?
Bar occasional League meetings which Galway would invariably win with comfort, the counties weren't all that relevant to each other historically - until Galway moved into Leinster in 2009 at a time when Dublin were stretching their legs.
Galway were essentially shifted into the province to provide more competition for Kilkenny but, at times, they couldn't even get a swing at them because of Dublin. And that didn't sit well.
Niall Corcoran, an All-Ireland minor winner with Galway who later hurled with distinction for Dublin seniors having been deemed surplus to requirements in his native county, is uniquely placed to give an informed perspective.
Although they had won the League in 2011, beating Galway in a Leinster semi-final that year was their first big statement in the Championship.
'I remember after that game back home in Galway, it was really a shock in Galway that Dublin, you know, who had been beaten by Antrim the year before in a Championship game, would be able to overturn Galway,' Corcoran recalls. 'So, I think that might have ignited a spark between the two sides.'
The following year there was a League relegation play-off in Tullamore where Dublin eked out a draw despite suffering two red cards, though Galway won the replay well, went on to win the Leinster title and only lost the All-Ireland final after a replay.
They were looking to kick on in 2013 but a resurgent Dublin trounced them in the Leinster final, the scale of the 12-point beating particularly difficult for Galway to process.
In 2015, Galway turned the tables with a comprehensive replay win in Tullamore and matters boiled over later in the year when the counties met in a 'Super 11s' game in Boston.
It was a nonsense concept that nobody cared too much for, but the contempt between both sides boiled over all the same as a mass brawl broke out, with suspensions and fines subsequently issued. Socially, the players didn't tend to mix well on either side of the Atlantic.
Galway moved to another level under Donoghue while Dublin slowly regressed, but they still produced their best against the Tribesmen, notably eliminating them from the Championship in 2019, after which Donoghue stepped down.
So, it was somewhat surprising that he emerged as Dublin manager in 2022.
'At one stage Anthony Cunningham was involved with Dublin with Pat Gilroy,' notes Corcoran. 'So, maybe that helped bridge the gap a bit in that sense.
'Galway players would have said that Micheál wouldn't have managed any other county, so in that sense, maybe a bit surprising, but I suppose at the time, having recently won an All-Ireland with Galway, from a Dublin perspective it would have been a good appointment.'
Last year, as his side went about knocking Galway out of the Championship, the Dublin sideline, led by Donoghue, exploded when David Burke went in high on Fergal Whitely. Burke was sent off.
'If you put yourself in David Burke's shoes, you'd see the reaction maybe that Micheál had and David was Micheál's captain in 2017 and I suppose there was a lot of trust there, a lot of respect there,' says Corcoran.
'But you also have to look at it from Micheál's perspective where he's a Dublin manager, he wants what's best for his team and I think maybe in that moment there might have been just a reaction.
'I would say, apart from that, I don't think there was any ill-feeling there between Micheál and the likes of David Burke. I don't think Micheál would be back in Galway and I don't think David would be involved in the panel if there was. I'd say it was just a moment in time.'
Dublin subsequently lost the Leinster final heavily to Kilkenny and bowed out against Cork in the All-Ireland quarter-final, after which Donoghue indicated his willingness to continue for a third year. But when a vacancy arose in Galway soon afterwards, that went out the window.
Donoghue oversaw a period of significant transition in Dublin and introduced many of the players that he faces tomorrow to inter-county hurling, but the manner of his departure will have left a sour taste with them.
'I'd say there's certainly motivation there,' says Corcoran. 'There could be an undercurrent there that players want to go and prove themselves and Dublin players who want to win that game to say that, 'You should have stayed with us'.
'I know as a player you're always looking for an edge. You're always looking for something to get you going, for a point to prove and if that's something that some of those Dublin players need and Micheál's there, look, no doubt they'll use that.'
