Dingle were crowned the 2026 All Ireland Club Football Champions after beating St Bridget’s of Roscommon in Sunday’s Final after extra time. This game was played in Croke Park and was a tight affair right to the last kick of Sunday’s game. It swung both ways with the title destination changing hands on more than one occasion and wasn’t ultimately decided until almost the last kick in extra time.
Like last weekend, where both An Ghaeltacht and Ballymac fought through to win on the day and win both the Junior and Intermediate titles to give Kerry two winners and they awaited the Dingle result to see could Kerry clubs complete the treble of All Ireland Club titles which they did in such dramatic fashion.
Yet again, people saw the best of the GAA in last weekend’s finals, where “pride of place” was on show. Ballygunner and Dingle were both worthy winners on the day and were crowned the 2026 winners. The GAA has it detractors and in some cases rightly so but Sunday again proved that the GAA does get some things right on occasion and Sunday’s drama was proof of that.
The stories that emanated from after the game is what makes winning with your club truly special, Gavin Curren heading back to Australia on Monday morning at 6am to meet his new baby. You had Mark O Connor’s team mates making the journey from Oz to support him. All those little stories of sacrifice and dedication are what make those victories so special.
Paul Geaney in the after match press conference using a wonderful image to sum up the win in his own unique way by saying “ the county boys will be at your wedding but the clubs lads will be under your coffin”. Such a statement is typical of Ireland in a sporting sense. It was beautifully worded by Paul and captured the feelings in that moment.
Mark O Connor was delighted to be able to come back from Australia to help his side and with the full backing of his AFL side Geelong Cats he was able to throw himself into helping Dingle achieve the ultimate aim and capture All Ireland honours after Winning County and Provincial titles.
Watching all that has gone on over the past 2 weeks has reinforced what place the GAA holds in this country. Pride of place is the key element and one feels that if you haven’t got that ingredient you won’t be going very far.
It is great to see the emphasis that the likes of Paul and Mark place on winning with the club given what both men have managed to do at county level in Paul’s case and professionally in Mark’s case with Geelong.
For both men, it will always be club first and then whatever comes after that will be a bonus for them. Congratulations to all in Dingle and to all those involved with the club who I am sure are still enjoying the celebrations…
I have learned something myself over the past few months and it’s this no matter where you go in the world and no matter what you may achieve, home really is where the heart is…… Amazing the life lesson you learn from watching something like that..