Castleknock will face St Vincents in the Dublin SFC final on November 5.
The west Dublin outfit saw off the challenge on St Judes at Parnell Park on Thursday evening.
The battle between Dublin All-Ireland winning team-mates Ciarán Kilkenny and Diarmuid Connolly may grab the headlines, but the scale of Castleknock’s achievement in even reaching this stage is worth highlighting.
Established in 1931, the Marino powerhouse of St Vincents have won 27 county football titles in the course of producing legendary figures such as Kevin Heffernan, Brian Mullins, Jimmy Keaveney, Mossy Quinn and Connolly.
In contrast, Castleknock were Dublin junior champions as recently as 2012 and intermediate champions two years later. This is the first time they have reached a senior final, which is unsurprising seeing as the club itself is still a minor.
Founded in July 1998, Castleknock GAA club is only 18-years-old. Boasting Gaelic football, hurling and camogie, the club has over 1,500 members drawn from 650 families.
But, even allowing for its large catchment area, to reach the final two of Ireland’s most competitive county championship is a staggering achievement for a club that is barely old enough to drink.
To put all this in perspective, here are 18 things that are older than Dublin senior SFC finalists, Castleknock GAA Club.
1. Ciarán Kilkenny
The team’s star midfielder and Footballer of the Year nominee is 23-years-old, meaning when he was five, the club at which he developed into one of the country’s finest footballers still did not exist. Imagine… he may have been lost to rugby.
2. Garry Ringrose
Speaking of rugby, the Leinster centre this week named in Ireland’s squad to face New Zealand in Chicago is just 21-years-old. The next-next-next Brian O’Driscoll was three when Dublin 15’s GAA powerhouse took shape.
3. Yahoo!
Castleknock received official approval from the GAA to form in July 1998. How did we find that out? Using Google. That would not have been possible in July 1998, as Larry Page and Sergei Brin only founded the all-powerful search engine two months later. Thankfully Yahoo! were already around for four years at that stage. Yahoo!? Anyone?
4. South Park
The first episode of the long-running cartoon, ‘Cartman gets an anal probe’, aired in 1997.
5. Croke Park’s Cusack Stand
Completed in 1995, the new stand was the first of four phases of the redevelopment of Headquarters.
6. Today FM
The home of Matt Cooper and Brian Kerr’s epic Premier League commentaries began life as Radio Ireland in 1997.
7. Ken Doherty’s status as World Snooker Champion
Ranelagh’s finest won beat Stephen Hendry 18-12 in the Crucible final in 1997.
8. Galileo
Both the Italian astronomer (born 1564) and the Aidan O’Brien trained Derby winner (born March 1998).
9. The Good Friday agreement
Signed in April of 1998, the historic multi-lateral agreement between the Republic of Ireland, Britain and Northern Ireland saw the establishment of the North’s political institutions and allowed citizens of the six counties to hold dual citizenship – which means the likes of James McClean and Shane Duffy can declare for the Republic of Ireland.
10. Westlife
Yeah.
11. Mark O’Connor
Kerry’s 2015 All-Ireland minor winning captain has signed for Geelong to try his hand at AFL. Kilkenny did the same thing as a teenager only to leave Hawthorn after only a couple of months. Without that U-Turn it is unlikely Catlknock would be where they are now.
12. Father Ted
Every episode. All 25 of them. Plans for a fourth series had to be abandoned following the sudden death of star Dermot Morgan in February 1998.
13. Marcus Rashford
Yep, Manchester United’s teenage sensation is older than Castleknock. The Mancunian with a knack for scoring on his debut was born on Hallowe’en 1997.
14. The ‘Back Door’
The 1997 All-Ireland Hurling Championship saw the beaten Munster and Leinster finalists given a second chance in All-Ireland quarter-finals in a precursor to the qualifier system. Clare and Tipperary contested the first-ever one-province All-Ireland final.
15. Callum O’Dowda
The youngest member of recent Republic of Ireland squads, the Bristol City winger is 21-years-old. Like the rest of Martin O’Neill’s players, the midfielder is sure to be rooting for Castleknock next weekend following the FAI’s decision, with the opening of Abbotstown, to move their base from Portmarnock to the Castleknock Hotel and Country Club.
16. Rieko Ioane
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpIblC5ZprM&feature=youtu.be
Another sports team who enjoy the hospitality of that particular hotel are the All Blacks. Presumably they will be staying in Castleknock when they visit next month. It will be a first Tour for 19-year-old Auckland Rieko Ioane, whose baby face does not match-up with his terrifying strength and speed.
17. The M50
Apparently no longer fit for purpose, the orbital motorway that runs close to Castleknock’s home ground was not completed until 2005.
18. Colin Farrell’s career
Castleknock’s most famous son made his television debut in Ballykissangel in 1998. Until Thursday night this was considered by some the most significant moment in the history of the parish.
Colm Parkinson is joined by Paul Rouse for a heated debate about Sky Sports’ five-year GAA deal and an exclusive chat with AFL star Zach Tuohy on the new GAA Hour. Subscribe here on iTunes
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