doublehop
County: Kildare
Posts: 4101

1714839
Jim Stynes really should be on it. This country just does not understand the magnitude of the man's achievement in sport and then to top it off with the positive influence he had on Australian culture in general. An absolute giant. One of Modern Ireland's top achievers on and off the field. The only other person you could nearly measure against him is Dermot Earley Sr. or maybe Dr. David Hickey.

Yet there's people who wouldn't even know what he's done.

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I couldn't agree more. Arguably the country's greatest ever sports person but few realise it.

As for Stephen Roche named above, I'm sure a certain journalist from Artane would have an opinion on that.

Joxer (Dublin) - Posts: 4700 - 18/04/2015 11:02:10    1715217

I think Joey Dunlop should be included in any discussion about this country's greatest sports people. An unassuming man who was peerless in his sport and returned time and again to prove his ability. A true great but unlikely to make too many headlines. Barry McGuigan also at the time epitomised what sport is about and managed to transcend borders and religion and gave people something to be proud of and get behind whatever their creed. Don't believe the Olympic council even offered him the opportunity to carry the Olympic flame when it was here and he was as much and more entitled to than some that we're.

Dubh_linn (Dublin) - Posts: 2312 - 18/04/2015 11:55:15    1715223

Great to hear peoples opinion but have we a truly a great GAA player now? I would have to say in football its Colm Gooch Cooper is a great player, hard to see any other outstanding player, the rest of the GAA players are good but are they great?

riverboys (Mayo) - Posts: 1389 - 26/04/2015 12:31:07    1717509

Matt Connor. A complete genius of a player.

For 5 consecutive years he was the top scorer in league and championship from 1980-84

No player will ever come close to that level of consistent brilliance.

uibhfhaili1986 (Offaly) - Posts: 1296 - 26/04/2015 13:25:55    1717524

http://catmalojin.com/2015/04/08/the-top-irish-athletes-of-all-time/

I'm interested in hearing other peoples top 10

CatMalojin (USA) - Posts: 32 - 01/05/2015 18:34:57    1719577

Very hard to choose 10 without letting things like personality and likeability come into it but my choices would be..

Liam Brady
Katie Taylor
Jim Stynes
Eamon Coughlan
Padraig Harrington
Sean Kelly
Paul O'Connell
Henry Shefflin

2 personal greats for me, as I looked up to them both when growing up, were...

Kevin Heffernan (won so much as a player in football and hurling for club and county and then repeated it all at managerial level, winning an international also)
Jackie Jameson (the most talented footballer that I have ever seen in our domestic league and an absolute gentleman also)

Joxer (Dublin) - Posts: 4700 - 01/05/2015 21:50:18    1719610