Believe it or not! (useless trivia)

[Homer]

- When Cavan defeated Meath in the 1952 All Ireland Final Des and Liam Maguire played on the successful Cavan team while their younger brother Brendan was midfield on the losing Meath team........

- Up to 1892 a goal outweighed any number of points and teams consisted of 21 players.............

- Kerrys first all Ireland senior title was in hurling (1891).......

- From 1892 a goal was equal to 5 points and was reduced to its present status in 1896.....

- Peter Mc Dermott refereed the 1953 all Ireland final and captained Meath to victory in 1954.......

- From 1892 teams were reduced to 17 a side and from 1913 reduced to 15..........

- Players first wore jersey numbers in the 1923 all Ireland hurling semi-final.........

- The highest ever attendance at an all Ireland football final was 90,556 in 1961 Down v Offaly.......

- In the early years counties were represented in the all Ireland series by their club champions.......

- In the first alI Ireland football final Limerick Commercials defeated Dundalk Young Irelands..........

- The old Sam Maguire cup was first played for in 1928 and the first recipient was Bill Gannon the Kildare Captain.........

- The Hogan stand was named after Michael Hogan a Tipperary footballer who was shot dead on bloody Sunday 1920 when British Troops opened fire in Croke Park during a Tipperary v Dublin game. Twelve spectators were also killed...........

- Prior to 1966 the lower deck of the Cusack stand was standing only. When that area was seated the capacity of the Stadium was reduced to 75,000.......

- Five Delaney brothers played for Laois in the 1936 football final when they were defeated by Mayo. Their uncle Tom was in goals......

- In the early years "point posts" were located either side of the goals for point scoring. These were abolished in 1910.........

- Former an Taoiseach Jack Lynch won six all Ireland medals in a row from 1941 to 1946. Five in hurling and one in football..........

- On 17th March 1962 Des Foley of Dublin and Leinster became the only player to win Railway cup medals in hurling and football on the same day.......

- Hill 16 was so named because the rubble from the aftermath of the 1916 rising was dumped there.........

- When Kerry played Dublin on the opening of Cusack Park Mullingar in 1934 the ball was dropped from an Aeroplane for the "throw in".........

- In the early years all the players from both teams, including the goalkeepers, lined up in the middle of the field for the "throw in"........

- The first live televised games were the Railway Cup hurling and football finals on 17th March 1962.......

- Dublin won the all Ireland football title in 1906 and 1907 with players from ten different counties but had none from Dublin itself......

- Patsy Lynch of Cavan at 16 years of age was the youngest player ever to play in an all Ireland football final (1928)......

- From 1910 the midfielders and forwards from each team lined up in centrefield for the "throw in" and from 1965 only the midfielders contested the "throw in"..........

- All of the Tulla team representing Clare in the 1889 all Ireland hurling final played in their bare feet......

- Jack Murphy had a great game for Kerry against Kildare in the 1926 all Ireland final which ended in a draw. He died of Pneumonia before the replay........

- The Cork and Kilkenny teams refused to play on the Ashtown pitch, when they arrived for the 1893 all Ireland hurling final, because of its poor condition. The players carried the goalposts to the Phoenix Park and played the final there.......

- The first Radio broadcast was by Paddy Mehigan in the all Ireland hurling semi final between Kilkenny and Galway on 28th August 1926.......

- The last player to captain a county to two all Ireland football titles in a row was Tony Hanahoe of Dublin in 1976 and 1977.......

- Mick Doyle of Kerry had won four all Ireland senior football medals before his 21st birthday. (1929 to 1932).......

- Down, Donegal and Derry all won all Ireland Football titles in the nineties and Tyrone appeared in an all Ireland final in 1995 but up to 1956 none of them had won an Ulster senior title.......

- The GAA purchased Croke Park in 1913 for £3,500..........

- The first Radio broadcast by Miceal O'Hehir was the 1938 all Ireland football semi-final between Galway and Monaghan.........

[ONeill]

Sambo McNaughton was named so because he won a Brazilian dance-off at the Cushendall festival. They thought Samba was girly.

[Over the Bar]

In 1910 and 1925 Kerry refused to take part in the AIFs and the final was awarded to the other teams!

Why did they refuse an who won the finals by default?

[Homer]

In 1910 and 1925 Kerry refused to take part in the AIFs and the final was awarded to the other teams!

Why did they refuse an who won the finals by default?

1910 - Louth won. Kerry refused to travel owing to a dispute with the Great Southern & Western Railway Company.

1925 -  Galway won. After an objection and counter-objection, Cavan and Kerry were both disqualified after their semi-final (which Kerry won by a point - 1-7 to 2-3). The Connacht championship had yet to be completed.

According http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-Ireland_Senior_Football_Championship#endnote_1

[Homer]

Kevin Heffernan won an amazing 15 Dublin Senior Championship medals in football and 6 Senior medals in Hurling

Laois were the first winners of the National football league. ( 1927 )

Dublin won the 1977 all Ireland football final with the identical team which won the 1976 title

The only man to captain 3 all Ireland winning football teams in a row was Sean Kennedy of Wexford. ( 1915 to 1917 )

Mayo were undefeated in 57 League and Championship games between August 1935 and August 1937

Wexford were the only County to play in 6 all Ireland football finals in a row. ( 1913 to 1918 )

Sean O Neill of Down won a record 8 Railway cup medals with Ulster in football.

Mayo won 6 National Football League titles in a row from 1934 to 1939.

Kerry were the only Munster County not to take part in the first all Ireland Senior football championship in 1887.

Galway are the only County to lose 3 all Ireland football finals in a row. ( 1940 to 1942 ).

Christy Ring of Cork won a record 18 Railway cup medals with Munster in Hurling.

Up to 1910 Ladies got in free to all GAA matches including the all Ireland finals.

Ray Cummins of Cork won all stars in both hurling and football in 1971.

The first ever all Ireland football final in 1887 was won by Limerick but the players did not receive their medals until 1912.

James Kelleher scored a point for Cork from a puck out in the 1905 all Ireland hurling final.

The only all Ireland final in which extra time was played was in 1891 when Kerry beat Wexford to win their only hurling title.

Brian Murphy of Cork won all Ireland medals at minor under 21 and senior in both hurling and football.

The admission fee for the 1910 all Ireland final was 6 old pence.

Teddy Mc Carthy is the only player to win all Ireland medals in hurling and football in the same year. ( 1990 )

No Ulster county and only one from Connacht ( Galway) took part in the first all Ireland football championship.

The first County Board formed was in Wexford in 1885.

Mick Spillane made his first championship start for Kerry in the 1978 all Ireland final v Dublin.

The Spillane brothers won a total of 13 all star awards.

Tony Hanahoe was Captain and Manager of Dublin in 1977.

Tom Cashman of Cork had 5 all Ireland medals before he was 21 years old.

D J Carey won 9 all Star awards.

The 3rd annual congress ( 1887 ) ended in uproar as delegates fought each other with fists and sticks.

Paddy Riordan of Tipperary scored all his teams total of 6 – 8 when they beat Kilkenny by 6 – 8 to 1 – 1 in the 1895 all Ireland hurling final.

Larry Tomkins played football for Wicklow, Kildare and Cork.

The penalty kick was introduced in 1940.

Antrim junior club Ahogill was formed in 1941 and their first set of jerseys were sponsored by Ballymena United soccer club.

Willie Walsh of Waterford refereed 5 all Ireland hurling finals in a row.

Four men have won dual all Stars....Ray Cummins, Jimmy Barry Murphy and Brian Murphy of Cork and Liam Currams of Offaly.

The first penalty awarded in an all Ireland final was in 1948 and was converted by Padraig Carney of Mayo against Cavan.

Pat Spillane has 9 All Star awards including 6 in a row from ( 1976 to 1981 ).

Paddy Riordan of Thurles won an all Ireland hurling medal with Tipperary on 15 March 1896 while his brother won a football medal on the same day.

On 4th August 1918 one thousand club matches were organised by the GAA to defy a ban by the British against playing gaelic games.

Mayo have lost 12 all Ireland foot ball finals since 1989.

An average of 7 Hurleys are broken in each adult match.

The Cork County hurling final of 1977 between St Finbarrs and Glen Rovers drew an attendance of 34,151.

Kevin Mussen was the first Captain to take the Sam Maguire cup across the border

Mattie Mc Donagh is the only Connacht man to have 4 all Ireland senior medals.

The 1947 all Ireland football final was played in the polo grounds in New York.

Dublin won 6 all Ireland senior hurling titles but apart from Jim Byrne in 1938 all their players were non Dubliners

Kerry beat Mayo in the 1973 all Ireland under 21 final and the winning goal was scored by Martin Ferris now Sinn Fein TD

Seamus Murphy played for Kerry in 11 munster finals and won them all

[The Boy Wonder]

The fair county of Laois provided the only Irish Pope in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.
St. Benedict of Aran (Pope Pupeus) succeeded Pope Heremidas in 523 taking the name Pope Pupeus
- he only reigned for 2 days as he had to get back to play a County Hurling Final for his native Durrow against Camross.
Pope John the 1st was his successor.

[blanketattack]

Wexford were the only County to play in 6 all Ireland football finals in a row. ( 1913 to 1918 )

What about Dublin in 74,75,76,77,78,79?

[rashCharacter]

Mickey McStay invented the square ball rule.

[magpie seanie]

What about Dublin in 74,75,76,77,78,79?

They lost to Kerry in a semi final in one of those years I think.

I'm wrong - Dublin did play in those 6 finals in a row.