Cork people love their sport but hurling is in a league of its own

THERE is something special about being a Cork hurling fan.

Sport is deeply embedded in Cork culture, with the Rebels represented in style in recent weeks at the European Athletics Championship, in the rugby triumph over South Africa and the Irish soccer victory over France. Corkonians are a sporting people by nature.

Yet the passion for hurling is on another level. Nothing gets the city and county buzzing with anticipation like a Cork hurling team on a roll.

This Sunday, Pat Ryan's side has the opportunity to become Leeside legends. Cork came within a dramatic late equaliser from lifting Liam MacCarthy for the 31st time in 2013 but, despite three Munster titles from 2014 to '18, there have been more lows than highs in the modern era.

The last trip to an All-Ireland final was a chastening defeat at the hands of a ruthless Limerick. Patrick Horgan was a one-man scoring machine in 2019 but despite his hat-trick against Kilkenny, Cork exited the championship in the semi-final. The 2022 quarter-final loss to Galway saw Cork cough up a cheap early goal and squander enough chances to win comfortably.

After going down to Waterford and Clare in the early rounds of Munster in April, Cork had lost four consecutive games by a puck of a sliotar.

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Yet when five-in-a-row chasing Limerick arrived at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh in early May, the sold-out stadium was heaving with Cork supporters despite the fact the season was hanging by a thread. It was a defiant display of keeping the faith, on the pitch and in the stands.

The euphoric scenes after the Rebels survived after Shane Kingston and Horgan's injury-time heroics will never be forgotten, whatever happens against Clare this weekend.

The ticket frenzy in the build-up has been astonishing. While there is always frustration from genuine GAA diehards at the number of seats occupied on All-Ireland final Sunday by interlopers, you could pack Croker twice over with true Cork fans for this one.

The red hordes took over Thurles for the last Munster round-robin game against Tipp, made up the majority of the crowd for the Offaly and Dublin wins and then rammed GAA headquarters for the All-Ireland semi-final.

Interest in the Cork hurlers hasn't been this strong since the mid-noughties.

That golden era was magical but Sunday could be just as unforgettable.