Cork GAA: Picking the clubs best placed to challenge Barrs, Nemo and Castlehaven for glory
Ballincollig's Noel Gavin is fouled by Brian Shanahan of Carbery Rangers in the 2016 county final. Picture: INPHO/Ryan Byrne
Next year will mark a decade since the last breakthrough winners of the Cork SFC.
It was a remarkable couple of years for Leeside football as Ballincollig won their first-ever title in 2014 before Carbery Rangers replicated the achievement in 2016. In all, 29 different teams feature on the Andy Scannell Cup.
Few counties can claim more champions. The record of 36 different winners is shared by the Kilkenny, Meath, and Wexford championships.
Like in Cork – where Lees, Nils, and Collins feature on the roll of honour – many of those clubs no longer exist. Kilkenny, for instance, includes names from the past such as Slatequarry Miners, Sevenhouses, Callan ‘98 Volunteers, and Ye Faire City.
Two other counties, like Cork, have had 29 titleholders. They are also based around city populations; Dublin and Limerick.
Since Carbery Rangers’ triumph, the past nine titles have been evenly shared between St Finbarr’s, Castlehaven, and Nemo Rangers. They have held the rest of the contenders at a comfortable distance, with only Duhallow and Clonakilty getting so far as a final in that timeframe.
This year did bring signs that the gap between the current big three and the rest is diminishing. If that trend were to continue, there is a significant middle tier of clubs dreaming of glory.
Of the 12 top-tier clubs in 2026, five have lifted the Andy Scannell Cup in their history. For the other seven, that item remains top of the bucket list.
They pushed Nemo to extra time in a semi-final epic.
They will feel they should’ve won.
Were they to get there, it would be the stuff of fairy tales for a rural club. They have already reached unimaginable heights with their Senior A double in 2023.
The upward curve continued this year by beating then-football champions Castlehaven and drawing with eventual hurling finalists Midleton. They maximise their playing resources at every turn and utilised football’s new rules to their benefit.
Of course, a semi-final appearance is no guarantee that a final is around the corner.
Mallow were the last team to defeat the Barrs in championship with their 2024 success. Having escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth the previous season, they built on that shock to advance to a final-four clash with Nemo.
On the face of it, 2025 didn’t live up to the same standards, although narrow defeats to the Haven and Newcestown were no disgrace.
The emergence of Seán McDonnell as an ever-present starter in his rookie year with Cork, strong U20 campaigns by Gearóid Daly and Trevor Kiely, and Patrician Academy’s Corn Uí Mhuirí semi-final appearance in 2024 are positive indications that they are harnessing more of their significant population.
There has been nothing inevitable about their silverware hunt since ending 2008 as county runners-up. Translating a series of minor titles to senior level remains the key issue.
Plenty of players have been blooded, but more results are required. Since finishing as 2021 top seeds, the club has recorded one win from three in each subsequent group stage.
Senior A champions have habitually acquitted themselves well in their first year up, such as Carrigaline reaching the quarter-finals this year. But for penalties against Newcestown, they could’ve been the semi-final surprise package.
Knocknagree are an intriguing case in that regard. They draw from a corner of a parish on the Kerry border, yet their rise through four promotions in nine seasons puts them in elite territory.
They are backboned by Daniel O’Mahony, Eoghan McSweeney, and Patrick Doyle, yet reached Division 1 of the league without access to those county stalwarts.
All the while, they have showcased an exciting brand of attacking football.
They averaged 2-17 per game on their approach to the final and hit that exact mark to hold off Cill na Martra.
As well as their consistent output, most of it was mined from play. Of their 13 goals and 100 points, only 11 points originated from frees, and three more from 45s.
The list of Senior A top scorers from play is dominated by Knocknagree men: 1. Anthony O’Connor (2-20); 2. Denis R O’Connor (0-19); 3. Niall O’Connor (3-9); =4. Mícheál McSweeney (1-14).
John Fintan Daly has identified Castlehaven as a role model for their club. A fitting one, too.
When it comes to breakthrough teams, nothing is assured. Armagh, Leitrim, and Tyrone had new winners this month.
Down, by contrast, haven’t added a new name since 1976.
Perhaps this year’s runners-up, Carryduff, can go one step further next year to break that 50-year hegemony.
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