AFTER WOBBLING AND falling to Meath in last year’s Leinster semi-final, the ravens and crows were the first on the scene to pick through the Dublin carcass.
That was on 27 April. Dessie Farrell had four weeks to put some shape on his side for a trip to Salthill to face Galway on the first weekend of the Sam Maguire round-robin.
This was new territory. The Dubs were coming off the back of their first defeat in Leinster in 15 years, turning their next day out into a rubbernecker’s delight.
Few outside the Dublin hardcore will recall the game against Galway, but it was one which Ciaran Kilkenny simply refused to lose. It was Kilkenny who won an interception to start the match-winning move, sealed by a composed and controlled finish from Tom Lahiff.
It highlighted just how critical Kilkenny’s and Con O’Callaghan’s leadership had become. On Sunday, neither were able to impose themselves in the same venue, and so the Dubs lost their final league game to Galway, resulting in relegation to Division 2.
One of the key facets of Dublin under Jim Gavin was how few games they lost in Croke Park; they lost just once there in championship football, but they were virtually unbeatable there in league football too.
Despite having four home games in the league, Dublin lost three — against Donegal in the opener, as well as against Kerry and Armagh — to go with their losses on the road to Mayo and Galway.
The mood among Dublin fans is one of resignation. They do not see themselves as realistic contenders for an All-Ireland. A Leinster title might even be seen as the new manager Ger Brennan over-delivering.
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Even if they made it to the provincial final, Brennan may be confined to the stands after his altercation with Galway’s strength coach Cian Breathnach McGinn, for which he was sent off. The two months handed to Damian Barton in February 2016 would seem the most likely historic comparison in terms of a prospective penalty.
You have to go back to 2003 and 2004 when Dublin last went two seasons without contesting the Leinster football final. With a potential and likely semi-final against Louth over the May bank holiday weekend, that record could tumble.
Back to O’Callaghan and Kilkenny. O’Callaghan, who was confirmed as captain in mid-February, put up 0-8 against Donegal in the league opener including two two-point scores: one from play and one from a free.
Dublin captain Con O'Callaghan has been suffering with a hamstring injury. Nick Elliott / INPHO
Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
Their second-half showing was positive in that game, but that positivity was wiped away by the 1-18 to 2-9 defeat to Mayo in Castlebar in round two, where O’Callaghan was a late withdrawal with a hamstring issue.
He was back for the next game against Monaghan, with another 0-8 haul, helped by two two-pointers.
He had 0-3 up against Kerry before he had to retire with that troublesome hamstring again, and was gone completely for the win over Roscommon and last weekend’s defeat to Armagh.
The problem is his absence has been keenly felt. Dublin have one of the lowest two-point scoring rates in the division.
Paddy Small has scored three across three games. Seán Bugler has three from the last three. Niall Scully, Cormac Costellon and Eoin Kennedy and goalkeeper Hugh O’Sullivan are the others with a single orange flag each.
Last year being the first of the new rules, most teams were getting to grips with a solo and go and being careful over three-man breaches. This year has seen a marked increase in attention being given to two-pointers, and Dublin have not kept pace.
In fact, teams are now relishing playing Dublin in Croke Park, where the footing is sure and the stadium guards against the kind of winds we see around the provinces every weekend, especially those on the western seaboard.
At the end of 2025, Brennan opened auditions for the panel. Around 130 players attended a series of trials arranged on a regional basis.
The panel he eventually settled on was eerily familiar, though not surprising. Despite that, he felt compelled to issue a warning to under-performing players, particularly some “medal-laden” veterans.
All season long, they have lost out on the presence of full-back Theo Clancy, who was chasing a kick-out in an in-house game just before the league started and broke a bone above his ankle, ruling him out of the league.
Theo Clancy has missed all of this season so far with a broke bone in his ankle. Leah Scholes / INPHO
Leah Scholes / INPHO / INPHO
It was the same for Lee Gannon, who damaged a pectoral muscle.
Against Armagh, Luke Breathnach seems to have aggravated his shoulder injury that badly hampered him last year.
When you lose — deep breath here — Brian Fenton, Michael Fitzsimmons, John Small, Stephen Cluxton, Johnny Cooper, Jack McCaffrey and James McCarthy from a dressing room, that’s a whole load of experience, winning DNA and culture gone over the course of a few years.
Being relegated in 2022 with a final-day defeat to Monaghan in Clones felt almost like a novelty, not a catastrophe. After all, they went on to win Sam Maguire the following year while playing Division 2 football through the winter and spring.
This feels a little different. Two relegations in five seasons means you lose a certain status.
In fact, others see it as gone already. Brennan identified the areas of most concern to him after the Armagh defeat, and old-fashioned hunger was up there towards the top of the list.
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“You can have these wonderful structures and different choreographed plays,” he said.
“Whether it’s kick-outs or whatnot, but when someone is putting their teeth into you, that’s where you would like to see your guys step up and show a bit more leadership.
“Some of our newer guys, it’ll be a good learning, having not played at this level before, to have felt that pressure that Armagh exerted. Some of our older lads, again, a bit of soul-searching to do now in terms of what happened in the second half. It was a systems failure in the end.”
It’s worth repeating that Armagh won seven of the last nine Dublin kick-outs that day. ‘Piggery’ bedamned, it’s the sort of numbers that must have Stephen Cluxton considering yet another return and a departure from the dugout.
It’s funny how silent the talk of splitting Dublin turns in times like these.
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Two relegations in five seasons: how Dublin football lost its aura
AFTER WOBBLING AND falling to Meath in last year’s Leinster semi-final, the ravens and crows were the first on the scene to pick through the Dublin carcass.
That was on 27 April. Dessie Farrell had four weeks to put some shape on his side for a trip to Salthill to face Galway on the first weekend of the Sam Maguire round-robin.
This was new territory. The Dubs were coming off the back of their first defeat in Leinster in 15 years, turning their next day out into a rubbernecker’s delight.
Few outside the Dublin hardcore will recall the game against Galway, but it was one which Ciaran Kilkenny simply refused to lose. It was Kilkenny who won an interception to start the match-winning move, sealed by a composed and controlled finish from Tom Lahiff.
It highlighted just how critical Kilkenny’s and Con O’Callaghan’s leadership had become. On Sunday, neither were able to impose themselves in the same venue, and so the Dubs lost their final league game to Galway, resulting in relegation to Division 2.
One of the key facets of Dublin under Jim Gavin was how few games they lost in Croke Park; they lost just once there in championship football, but they were virtually unbeatable there in league football too.
Despite having four home games in the league, Dublin lost three — against Donegal in the opener, as well as against Kerry and Armagh — to go with their losses on the road to Mayo and Galway.
The mood among Dublin fans is one of resignation. They do not see themselves as realistic contenders for an All-Ireland. A Leinster title might even be seen as the new manager Ger Brennan over-delivering.
Even if they made it to the provincial final, Brennan may be confined to the stands after his altercation with Galway’s strength coach Cian Breathnach McGinn, for which he was sent off. The two months handed to Damian Barton in February 2016 would seem the most likely historic comparison in terms of a prospective penalty.
You have to go back to 2003 and 2004 when Dublin last went two seasons without contesting the Leinster football final. With a potential and likely semi-final against Louth over the May bank holiday weekend, that record could tumble.
Back to O’Callaghan and Kilkenny. O’Callaghan, who was confirmed as captain in mid-February, put up 0-8 against Donegal in the league opener including two two-point scores: one from play and one from a free.
Their second-half showing was positive in that game, but that positivity was wiped away by the 1-18 to 2-9 defeat to Mayo in Castlebar in round two, where O’Callaghan was a late withdrawal with a hamstring issue.
He was back for the next game against Monaghan, with another 0-8 haul, helped by two two-pointers.
He had 0-3 up against Kerry before he had to retire with that troublesome hamstring again, and was gone completely for the win over Roscommon and last weekend’s defeat to Armagh.
Paddy Small has scored three across three games. Seán Bugler has three from the last three. Niall Scully, Cormac Costellon and Eoin Kennedy and goalkeeper Hugh O’Sullivan are the others with a single orange flag each.
Last year being the first of the new rules, most teams were getting to grips with a solo and go and being careful over three-man breaches. This year has seen a marked increase in attention being given to two-pointers, and Dublin have not kept pace.
In fact, teams are now relishing playing Dublin in Croke Park, where the footing is sure and the stadium guards against the kind of winds we see around the provinces every weekend, especially those on the western seaboard.
At the end of 2025, Brennan opened auditions for the panel. Around 130 players attended a series of trials arranged on a regional basis.
The panel he eventually settled on was eerily familiar, though not surprising. Despite that, he felt compelled to issue a warning to under-performing players, particularly some “medal-laden” veterans.
All season long, they have lost out on the presence of full-back Theo Clancy, who was chasing a kick-out in an in-house game just before the league started and broke a bone above his ankle, ruling him out of the league.
It was the same for Lee Gannon, who damaged a pectoral muscle.
Against Armagh, Luke Breathnach seems to have aggravated his shoulder injury that badly hampered him last year.
When you lose — deep breath here — Brian Fenton, Michael Fitzsimmons, John Small, Stephen Cluxton, Johnny Cooper, Jack McCaffrey and James McCarthy from a dressing room, that’s a whole load of experience, winning DNA and culture gone over the course of a few years.
Being relegated in 2022 with a final-day defeat to Monaghan in Clones felt almost like a novelty, not a catastrophe. After all, they went on to win Sam Maguire the following year while playing Division 2 football through the winter and spring.
This feels a little different. Two relegations in five seasons means you lose a certain status.
In fact, others see it as gone already. Brennan identified the areas of most concern to him after the Armagh defeat, and old-fashioned hunger was up there towards the top of the list.
“You can have these wonderful structures and different choreographed plays,” he said.
“Whether it’s kick-outs or whatnot, but when someone is putting their teeth into you, that’s where you would like to see your guys step up and show a bit more leadership.
“Some of our newer guys, it’ll be a good learning, having not played at this level before, to have felt that pressure that Armagh exerted. Some of our older lads, again, a bit of soul-searching to do now in terms of what happened in the second half. It was a systems failure in the end.”
It’s worth repeating that Armagh won seven of the last nine Dublin kick-outs that day. ‘Piggery’ bedamned, it’s the sort of numbers that must have Stephen Cluxton considering yet another return and a departure from the dugout.
It’s funny how silent the talk of splitting Dublin turns in times like these.
Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
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Dublin Woe Dubs Ger Brennan League