Cork GAA
The Cork County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Cork GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Cork and the Cork county teams. It is one of the constituent counties of Munster GAA.
Cork is one of the few dual counties in Ireland, competing in a similar level in both football and hurling. However, despite both teams competing at the top level of the game for most of the county's history, the county hurling team has experienced more success, winning the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship on thirty occasions. By comparison, the county football team has won All-Ireland Senior Football Championship on seven occasions, most recently in 2010. Cork was the third county from the province of Munster both to win an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, as well as to appear in the final, following Limerick and Tipperary.
Traditionally football is strongest in the western half of the county, with the O'Donovan Rossa club of Skibbereen the only Cork team from outside the city to have an All-Ireland Club Football title. Hurling is the dominant sport in the east, with teams such as Sarsfields and Midleton having won Cork's club championship multiple times. Naturally, there are exceptions to this rule of thumb, with hurling pockets in football areas and vice versa. One example is Fermoy in east Cork, which has seven Cork football titles to its name.
The city of Cork traditionally has strong teams in both sports, with Nemo Rangers being the record-holders for All-Ireland Club Football Championships won, and Blackrock having three All-Ireland Club Hurling titles. As well as this, the St Finbarr's club in the city has ten Cork football titles and twenty six in hurling.
As of 2009, there were 260 clubs affiliated to Cork GAA — the highest, ahead of Dublin and Antrim and Limerick, which each had 108.
Colours and symbols
Cork's current GAA crest is based on the traditional coat of arms of Cork city. Like the coat of arms, the crest features the King's old castle and the Queen's old castle with the Shandon Steeple in between. The centre foreground of the crest features a ship, as does the coat of arms. This is due to Cork's history as a port city, also shown in the city motto "Statio Bene Fida Carinis", which translates to "A safe harbour for ships". The badge also features two footballs, along with a crossed pair of hurleys.Cork's traditional colours are red and white, but this was not always the case. In its early days of competing, the county wore a blue jersey with a saffron-coloured 'C' emblazoned on the chest. This was changed in 1919 when the Cork hurlers were preparing to play Dublin in the All-Ireland Final. In the week leading up to the game, British forces broke into the county board offices on Maylor Street in the city centre and seized the Cork jerseys. Because of the loss of their kit, the county board borrowed jerseys from the now-defunct Father O'Leary Temperance Association team. Cork went on to win the game, ending a sixteen-year spell without a trophy. Following this win Cork decided to wear the 'lucky' red jerseys in their future games.
This red and white colour scheme has led to the Cork strip being nicknamed the blood and bandage. A colour clash with Louth in the 1957 All-Ireland Football Final saw Cork wear the blue jerseys again, but this occasion saw the team wear the blue jersey of the province of Munster. In 1976 Cork's footballers became involved in an incident known as 'the three stripes affair'. Before the Munster football final Cork were offered a set of Adidas jerseys. The use of these jerseys caused controversy as it seemed to undermine the promotion of Irish manufacturers.
Cork's alternative colours are traditionally white jerseys and white shorts. These alternate colours were worn in the 1973 All-Ireland Football Final when Cork defeated Galway to claim their fourth title. They were worn again in the 2010 Final when Cork defeated Down for their seventh title. Since then, Cork have generally worn their traditional red jerseys on all occasions. All-white strips are the usual choice for Cork's football goalkeepers, while the hurling goalkeepers have traditionally worn red and white hooped shirts.
Football
Clubs
The city of Cork's clubs Nemo Rangers are the record-holders for All-Ireland Club Football Championships won, while the St Finbarr's club in the city have eight Cork football titles.County team
Football has always been seen as the weaker of the two sports in Cork. The game is strongest in the west of the county and in Cork city. Success, especially at senior level, has been much more sporadic that with hurling. The biggest hindrance to success has been the presence of next-door neighbours Kerry. Cork has been the second strongest county in Munster since the 1940s and often one of the best in the country. Many very good Cork teams were unable to overcome Kerry when they met in the Munster Senior Football Championship final. Cork began the 1970s with three Munster titles in 4 years and the 1973 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. But they then ran up against the great Kerry team of the 1970s and 1980s. In 1976, the two teams drew in the final of the Munster. The replay went to extra-time before two very controversial refereeing decisions saw Kerry victorious. Cork fell back after that for a number of years.In 1983 Kerry was aiming to capture a record ninth consecutive Munster title; however, Cork pulled off one of their surprise victories. Kerry, however, won the next three Munster and All-Ireland titles. In 1987 Billy Morgan was back with Cork, this time as manager. That year Cork reclaimed the Munster Championship crown from the Kingdom. It was the first of four Munster titles in-a-row. They reached the All-Ireland final that year only to be defeated by Meath. In 1988 Cork were defeated by Meath for the second consecutive year after a replay. Having lost the previous two All-Ireland finals Cork were even hungrier for achievement in 1989. That year they captured the National Football League before facing Mayo in the championship decider. The game ended in victory for Cork who claimed their fifth-ever All-Ireland title. In 1990 Cork squared up to Meath in the All-Ireland final for the third time in four years. In a close game, Cork emerged victorious by two points to claim a second consecutive championship.
Cork surrendered their provincial title for the next two years; however, they reclaimed it in 1993. That year they reached another All-Ireland final; however, it was Derry who won their first All-Ireland title on that occasion. Cork won the next two Munster titles as well, however, they were later defeated in the All-Ireland semi-final on both those occasions. The defeat in 1995 brought an end to one of Cork's greatest-ever periods in football history. Four years later in 1999 Cork won the Munster title for the fifth time of the decade. They later faced old rivals, Meath, in the All-Ireland final; however, victory went to the Leinster men on that occasion.
While it was expected that the team would build on the success of 1999, Cork went into decline as Kerry began to dominate in Munster. In 2002 Cork triumphed again and captured the Munster title after a victory over Tipperary in a replay. The subsequent All-Ireland semi-final saw Cork take on Kerry. It was a historic occasion as it was the first time that the two sides had met in Croke Park. Unfortunately, Cork was trounced on a scoreline of 3–19 to 2–7. The year ended with the Cork hurling team going on strike. In turn, the football team joined in a sympathy strike. The players, who had been seeking better conditions, refused to play or train with the county again until the dispute with the county board was resolved. The player's demands included having their own doctor at all Championship and League games, resolving disputes over travel arrangements and providing players with free gymnasium access. The strike was eventually resolved and all the demands were met.
Following the strike, the fortunes of the Cork football team took a turn for the worse. A series of defeats in 2003 and 2004 saw the Cork football team almost at an all-time low. In 2005 Cork narrowly lost the Munster final but qualified for the All-Ireland semi-final where Kerry was again waiting. The scoreline of 1–19 to 1–9 in favour of the men from the Kingdom tells its own story. In 2006 Cork won their first Munster title in four years following a defeat of Kerry. The two sides met again in the All-Ireland semi-final; however, in a similar pattern Kerry was victorious. In 2007 Cork lost their Munster crown to Kerry; however, they made use of the qualifiers and found themselves in the All-Ireland final. Kerry, the old rivals, provided the opposition in the first all-Munster All-Ireland final. The game started on a level pegging; however, Kerry ran riot and captured the title with a 3–13 to 1–9 victory. It was one of Cork's most humiliating defeats.
The Cork senior footballers and hurlers withdrew their services for almost 100 days from November 2007 until February 2008. For more on this see 2007–08 Cork players' strike. In spite of this, Cork reached the All-Ireland semi-final where they lost to old rivals Kerry after a replay. Cork retained their Munster crown in 2009. The team advanced to the All-Ireland Final, overcoming 2008 champions Tyrone along the way, to meet Kerry in the final. Cork lost on a scoreline of 1–9 to 16 points for Kerry.
In April 2010, Cork won the National Football League Division 1 title with a 1–17 to 0–12 win against Mayo at Croke Park in front of a crowd of 27,005. On 19 September 2010, Cork won the All Ireland football title beating Down 0–16 to 0–15 in Croke Park. In April 2011, Cork retained the National Football League after a 0–21 to 2–14 win against Dublin.