1987: Kilkenny beat Offaly on the pitch that U2 had destroyed, Cork END Kerry in Killarney, the Cork captain famously made a speech saying âthe famine is overâ
1992: NO GAA - in 1992 and 1993, and indeed in 1986, there was an anomaly in the Chee Ay Ay calendar that created a blank Sunday in early August. The All-Ireland hurling final was always held on the first Sunday of September. There would be a gap of two weeks between the second All-Ireland football semi-final and the hurling final. Youâd have your three week run of hurling semi-final, football semi-final, football semi-final. The Leinster football final was always the last Sunday in July. In three of the seven date combinations, there would be a six week gap rather than a five week gap from the last Sunday in July to the first Sunday in September.
This meant that when the first Sunday in August fell on the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd of the month, that Sunday would be BLANK. This didnât happen in 1987 because U2 fucked up the pitch and delayed the Leinster hurling final and because Cork and Kerry went to a replay.
It didnât happen in 1982 because they decided to play the Leinster football final on the 1st of August rather than the 25th of July. It didnât happen after 1993 because the back door came in hurling and created an extra round of fixtures.
Also on Sunday August 2nd 1992: Sonia OâSullivan finishes in the TRULY IRISH position of FOURTH at the Barcelona Olympics.
1998: Kildare beat Meath to END THE FAMINE in a deathly tense 50/50 Leinster football final and a Kildare fella who looked like Snake from the Simpsons nearly falls off the upper deck of Hogan Stand.
2009: Two All-Ireland football quarter-finals. Cork pummel Donegal with Donegalâs only bright spot being the performance of young Michael Murphy - a player for the future. Tyrone beat Kildare. Dublin people were warming up for the following dayâs pummelling of an out of form Kerry.
2015: Kerry put seven (7) goals past Kildare. Dublin give Fermanagh a lovely pat on the head.
Having survived the ballad boom of the 1960âs - yerâ Clancys, Dubliners, Chieftans, Planxty and the 10k others responsible for the folk revival I somehow managed to ignore McCann for as much of it as I could.
Reason unknown. Somehow I just never warmed to him.
Jim was sort of soft looking and clean looking for a ballad singer. Ballad singers should be weather beaten, dishevelled ,gravel voiced alcoholics or at a minimum recovering alcoholics. Luke Kelly is the prototype.
1987: The greatest of the Ye Olde All-Ireland hurling semi-finals as Galway beat Tipperary 3-20 to 2-17 with a patented Noel Lane late ground pull the clinching goal.
1992: Galway lose to Kilkenny and Cork beat Down with Marty Morrissey extremely complimentary on commentary towards Down. âOh, superb play by Down! The Mournemen are showing that theyâre very much here on merit!â The Barcelona Olympics end and the world is introduced to the Atlanta What Is It mascot.
1998: Offaly nearly beat a Colin Lynchless Clare. Clare would make no mistake in the replay.
2009: One of a succession of forgettable Kilkenny v Waterford All-Ireland hurling semi-finals that have all blended into one.
2015: Another of a succession of forgettable Kilkenny v Waterford All-Ireland hurling semi-finals that have all blended into one.
2020: There was a World Snooker Championship to keep us occupied.
2026: Fellas are following the Government Jet on FlightRadar24.
1987: A shite All-Ireland football semi-final with Meath beating Derry comfortably.
1992: A Tour De France by Vinnie Murphy as Dublin beat Clare. You donât get goal celebrations and supporter celebrations like that any more. There wasnât a cow milked for a week in Dublin after that one. There are no cows milked in Dublin at all though the GAA spent years milking the cash cow that was Dublin, but no more of that.
1998: Another shite All-Ireland football semi-final with a comfortable defeat for Derry, this time by Galway. Ja got a nice bendy banana point towards the end in fairness.
2009: A forgettable All-Ireland football semi-final as Tyrone never get out of the bed against Cork. Iâm beginning to sense a pattern of this date being bad for Ulster teams.
2015: Tyrone are chiselled by a shocker of a refereeing performance to lose to Kerry much more narrowly than the four point scoreline suggests.
2020: I have no idea of anything that went on that day but Iâd imagine there was more happening than there is today.
Not the most storied date/day combination on the calendar.
1953 semi final - Kerry v Louth
1959 semi final - Galway v Down
1964 semi final - Kerry v Cavan
1970 semi final - Kerry v Derry
1981 semi final - Offaly v Down
Indeed a quick Google shows that only three Ulster teams have ever reached the All-Ireland football final when the dates fall as they are in 2026, namely Cavan in 1925, Armagh in 1953 and Donegal in 1992.
Of those three Donegal were the only Ulster team to win the All-Ireland. They won their semi-final against Mayo on August 16th.
Armagh won their semi-final in 1953 on August 9th.
In 1925 Cavan did play their semi-final on August 23rd, but they lost it to Kerry on a 1-7 to 2-3 scoreline.
However the 1925 championship descended into the sort of total farce that is beloved of the GAA public and Galway were declared champions by the GAA because they had won the Connacht final against Mayo, who had already been nominated by Connacht to represent Connacht in the All-Ireland semi-final and qualified for the All-Ireland final against Kerry by beating Wexford, an All-Ireland final they never played, and neither did Kerry.
There ended up being a Mickey Mouse Central Council tournament game between Galway and Cavan in January 1926 which was only later bestowed the title of âAll-Ireland finalâ.
As far as I can make out no Ulster team has ever won a match on Sunday August 23rd, and unless the GAA sees sense it looks likely they never will.
