FEATURE: Provincial kingpins

Niall Gartland charts the counties who have traditionally fared best on the provincial front

Kerry (86 Munster titles)

LEADING the way with the most provincial titles of any county is – no big surprises here – Kerry. While Cork were dominant in the early stages of the competition, winning six Munster titles in the 1890s, it wasn’t long before Kerry assumed control in the southernmost province. These days, they’re still by far the most consistent performers in the province, having won 11 of the last 12 titles. The only mis-step in the last decade was in 2020, where they were stunned by a goal deep into extra-time against Cork, who having seemingly done the hard part failed to go on and finish the job in the final, losing to Tipperary.

Dublin (63 Leinster titles)

EAMONN Sweeney proclaimed it as the biggest upset ever when Dublin finally lost a game in Leinster a few weeks back, falling short at the semi-final stage against Meath. We wouldn’t go that far – the Dubs haven’t really been firing on all cylinders all season – but the result seemed to come as a source of relief to not only Meath fans, but fans across the country who let’s be honest we’re getting sick of entirely lop-sided Leinster finals. Their absolute dominance of the provincial stage in recent teams pre-empted the Pat Gilroy and Jim Gavin years, and it’ll be interesting to see whether the next few years will see a more democratic spread of titles. Let’s hope so, for entertainment’s sake (NB, we have nothing against the Dubs per se.)

Galway (51 Connacht titles)

FOUR years ago, Galway and Mayo were deadlocked at the summit of the roll of honour list in Connacht, but they haven’t lost a single game in the province in the mean-time and retained their title – again – nearly a fortnight ago with a narrow but deserved win over their old rivals. They’ve been nothing if not consistent down through the decades, have fielded in 85 Connacht titles in total and have won nine All-Ireland titles into the bargain (though it’s worth mentioning that their 2021 success was won through the backdoor in the very first year of a non-knock out format).

Mayo (47 Connacht titles)

POOR ‘oul Mayo eh. They must hate the sympathy. The biggest prize of all has eluded them time-and-time again since the fifties (they seem to have lost All-Ireland finals in every possible way imaginable) but they’ve certainly won plenty in Connacht, including many wins on provincial final day against their leading rivals Galway. Since the turn of the millennium Mayo have won ten provincial titles, but in the same period they’ve fallen short in eight All-Ireland finals.

Cavan (40 Ulster titles)

THESE days Ulster titles don’t come around too often in the Breffni County. Their 1997 success under Donegal legend Martin McHugh bridged a gap of 28 years, and they faced another lengthy wait for their 40th title, their unexpected provincial triumph behind closed doors in 2020. You wouldn’t blame a Cavan man or woman for a sense of wistfulness about it all – they were the leading force in Ulster football for decades, at least until Down broke through in the sixties, but even then they held their own with titles in 1962, 1964, 1967 and 1969. As for their struggles in more recent times – it’s probably a mix of column A and column B; Cavan possibly aren’t living up to their own lofty standards while other teams in Ulster have made considerable strides forward.

Roscommon (24 Connacht titles)

THERE’S a perception, and understandably so, that Galway and Mayo rule the roost in Connacht, but 24 titles is far from being a bad haul. That’s what Roscommon have to show for their efforts, their most recent Connacht title success being in 2019. It’s also easy to gloss over the fact that they’ve won two All-Ireland titles in their history – back-to-back successes in 1943 and 1944.

Meath (21 Leinster titles)

MEATH boast a proud tradition and have won 21 Leinster titles, though they failed to make it 22 last weekend against Louth.s. They’ve won at least one provincial crown in every decade since their second ever title all the way back in 1939. On seven separate occasions they’ve completed a Leinster and All-Ireland double – and it’d be remiss not to mention their legendary manager Sean Boyle, who steered the Royals to eight provincial titles and four All-Ireland titles spanning two different generations.

Monaghan (16 Ulster titles)

PERHAPS it will surprise some people that Monaghan are joint-second in Ulster with 16 title triumphs down the years (considering they’ve never been in an All-Ireland SFC final and all that). 11 of their 16 titles were won in the first half of the 21st century, but it seems a bit cheap of us to demean their record on that basis. They had a fine team in the late seventies and eighties, spearheaded by Farney legends like Nudie Hughes, winning titles in 1979, 1985 and 1988. Their two most recent successes were memorable affairs – they overcame the reigning All-Ireland champions Donegal in 2013 and repeated the trick two years later. Malachy O’Rourke was on the sidelines for both of those deserved wins while they had some cracking players on the pitch in that era.

Tyrone (16 Ulster titles)

TYRONE enjoy a reputation as a leading gaelic footballing force in modern times, but their recent record at provincial level isn’t anything to write home about if we’re being honest. Since their last Ulster final win, where they overcame Monaghan en route to a fourth ever All-Ireland, they’ve only won three matches in the province, which is hard to believe. But anyway, the Red Hands have enjoyed plenty of memorable days out on the provincial stages – from the break-through team of 1956 and 1957, the Frank McGuigan tour de force in the 1984 showdown, the Down saga of 2003. 2016 was a special day from a Tyrone perspective as well as they avenged a string of defeats to Donegal..