Who is/was Ireland's most famous sports star?

pleas advice

Inspired by another thread here, who do you think would make the list?

I'd have Roy Keane at the top, followed by Rory McIlroy and Brian O'Driscoll, who else would make the top 5?

MarkY91

McGregor is the only Irish sports star where virtually every foreign person I know knows of him.

Next up would be Rory McIlroy.

I wouldn't consider anyone else "world famous"

Rows Grower

George Best was fairly well known.

Harry Palmr

No egg chaser can be considered the most famous - McGregor shockingly probably is but he is an entertainer as far as most are concerned.

sbsquarepants

Conor McGregor without a doubt - he's our only ever real global sport superstar.

You may not like it or swear blind it should be Eamon Coughlan or Johnny Giles, but you're wrong - it's Conor, prick and all that he is!

Tombo2001

Three most famous by a long distance are
(i) McGregor
(ii) McIlroy
(iii) Eoin Morgan.

No-one else comes close to these.

Tombo2001

Rows Grower wrote: »

George Best was fairly well known.

No convinced. Big deal in the British Isles, never played in the world cup. Would an average Brazilian know him?

Frankie5Angels

pleas advice wrote: »

Inspired by another thread here, who do you think would make the list?

I'd have Roy Keane at the top, followed by Rory McIlroy and Brian O'Driscoll, who else would make the top 5?

Saw the other thread - cringe inducing. IMO that's a list of potential top sports stars from Ireland. None are as famous or recognisable worldwide as McGregor at this, or any, moment in time, unfortunately. That said, I'd have Keane and O'Driscoll ahead of him in any 'best sportsperson' poll. Mind's not made up on Rory yet!

Rows Grower

Tombo2001 wrote: »

No convinced. Big deal in the British Isles, never played in the world cup. Would an average Brazilian know him?

Sorry Tom, I've never asked a Brazilian if they knew George Best.

RocketRaccoon

Anyone who doesn't say McGregor is wrong. He is the only one known worldwide and is probably followed in 2nd place by McIlroy.

We have plenty of stars that are relatively well known around the UK and maybe Europe but those 2 are on a different level completely.

JohnFalstaff

Arkle

JohnnyFlash

UFC is popular amongst two main elements - criminals, and relatively young men with anger issues. There’s billions of people on this planet who have never heard of it, never watched one of those boring cage fights, or ever had the displeasure of seeing that gurning moron, McGregor.

sbsquarepants

Rows Grower wrote: »

Sorry Tom, I've never asked a Brazilian if they knew George Best.

There's 2 brazillians work here with me - out of interest I've just asked them both do they know who George Best is, not a clue! Neither knew of McIlroy and both new McGregor.


Now, I could use a bigger sample size (5 or 6 maybe:D)

But, statistics don't lie. In a recent poll 0% of Brazilians had heard of Best or McIlroy, whereas 100% had heard of McGregor

kwestfan08

Yeah it's McGregor and it's not even close as to who's the most famous. One of the highest earning in the world with a huge following on social media; (almost 31m followers on instagram) he puts everyone else in the shade

RocketRaccoon

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

UFC is popular amongst two main elements - criminals, and relatively young men with anger issues. There’s billions of people on this planet who have never heard of it, never watched one of those boring cage fights, or ever had the displeasure of seeing that gurning moron, McGregor.

Sadly, I don't fit into your pathetic criteria.

Noveight

Undoubtedly McGregor, the toerag.

R.F.

Its McGregor and it probably isn’t even close. I wish it wasn’t the case but it is.

Amirani

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Three most famous by a long distance are
(i) McGregor
(ii) McIlroy
(iii) Eoin Morgan.

No-one else comes close to these.

Yeah, I think you've nailed it with these.

JohnnyFlash

RocketRaccoon wrote: »

Sadly, I don't fit into your pathetic criteria.

Neckbeard?

begbysback

Katie Taylor

RocketRaccoon

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Neckbeard?

Again, nope.

jam_mac_jam

I would say Roy Keane. And probably McIlroy. Both Golf and soccer are huge internationally.

The only reason MMA and McGregor gets such press coverage here is because he is Irish. He doesn’t get that in other countries including the US.

I doubt many people in Europe or the US who aren’t into MMA would have heard of him. And as for Asia, soccer is much more popular then MMA so my guess would be Keane due to Manchester United.

Its also hard to judge as Mcgregor is famous now so people are more likely to have heard of him. Its difficult to judge against people from a few years ago.

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Three most famous by a long distance are
(i) McGregor
(ii) McIlroy
(iii) Eoin Morgan.

No-one else comes close to these.

No way a cricket player is the third most known Irish celebrity, especially one that doesn't play for Ireland. Zimbabwe are in the top 10 of cricket, that's worse than rugby for global audience! Think it's only popular in pockets of England and its former colonies really (bar India where it is legitimately big).

Sheamus in the WWE would be more well known.

RocketRaccoon

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

I would say Roy Keane. And probably McIlroy. Both Golf and soccer are huge internationally.

The only reason MMA and McGregor gets such press coverage here is because he is Irish. He doesn’t get that in other countries including the US.

I doubt many people in Europe or the US who aren’t into MMA would have heard of him. And as for Asia, soccer is much more popular then MMA so my guess would be Keane due to Manchester United.

You are wrong. Roy Keane hasn't been relevant in almost 15 years.

jam_mac_jam

RocketRaccoon wrote: »

You are wrong. Roy Keane hasn't been relevant in almost 15 years.

Of course he isn't. He doesn't play anymore. So is the question sports stars at this moment or ever? He was more famous 15 years ago then Mcgregor is now?

beertons

Tombo2001 wrote: »

(iii) Eoin Morgan..

Who's he?

fatknacker

It should be Katie Taylor

GLaDOS

McGregor probably has the most global reach alright. Though he's probably infamous as much as he is famous now.

R.F.

Hands up who had to google Eoin Morgan

EmmetSpiceland

I think on an online forum like this someone like McGregor would always top the poll but I don’t believe the result would be the same if you took the poll offline.

McGregor’s fanbase would be more likely to be online all day. The type who play computer games, when not watching xxx-rated material, in dark rooms all day and of questionable hygiene standards.

I’m sure this opinion will lead to an angry response from the cage fighter’s fanatics but what else would you expect?

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

I would say Roy Keane. And probably McIlroy. Both Golf and soccer are huge internationally.

The only reason MMA and McGregor gets such press coverage here is because he is Irish. He doesn’t get that in other countries including the US.

I doubt many people in Europe or the US who aren’t into MMA would have heard of him. And as for Asia, soccer is much more popular then MMA so my guess would be Keane due to Manchester United.

McGregor was involved in the 2nd biggest boxing PPV of all time, and holds 4 of the top 5 MMA PPV records. He's bigger and more famous in the US than in Ireland.

is_that_so

fatknacker wrote: »

It should be Katie Taylor

Yep or Sonia O'Sullivan

begbysback

beertons wrote: »

Who's he?

The late Dermot’s brother

RocketRaccoon

Just recently McGregor has:

Lead the Chicago paddys day parade
Appeared on Jimmy Fallon
Gave pre game speech in the locker room of the Boston bruins
Did similar with the dallas cowboys
Was a guest of Putin at the World Cup in Russia
Been parodied on SNL

When another Irish sports person gets that kind of attention then they can claim to be as famous as him.

brevity

It’s MacGregor.

People might not like it and that’s fine but MacGregor is absolutely huge.

Rows Grower

R.F. wrote: »

Hands up who had to google Eoin Morgan

I didn't bother me arse but I'd say Roy Keane's dog was more famous.

RocketRaccoon

is_that_so wrote: »

Yep or Sonia O'Sullivan

Sonia O'Sullivan would barely be known in Ireland anymore, let alone worldwide.

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

RocketRaccoon wrote: »

Just recently McGregor has:

Lead the Chicago paddys day parade
Appeared on Jimmy Fallon
Gave pre game speech in the locker room of the Boston bruins
Did similar with the dallas cowboys
Was a guest of Putin at the World Cup in Russia
Been parodied on SNL

When another Irish sports person gets that kind of attention then they can claim to be as famous as him.

He's also been on Conan a number of times. That shows the level of fame he is at. The only other Irish people ever on those shows would be the handful of super famous Irish actors or Bono.

padd b1975

beertons wrote: »

Who's he?

Cricket's version of Declan Rice.

Rows Grower

is_that_so wrote: »

Yep or Sonia O'Sullivan

Jack Doyle was from Cobh too and known all over the world back in the day.

RocketRaccoon

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

He's also been on Conan a number of times. That shows the level of fame he is at. The only other Irish people ever on those shows would be the handful of super famous Irish actors or Bono.

But people say he's not famous, just imagine Roy Keane being asked to be on Conan and Fallon.

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

begbysback wrote: »

The late Dermot’s brother

Maybe it's his son? Heard he's really good at Texas Holdem.

R.F.

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

I think on an online forum like this someone like McGregor would always top the poll but I don’t believe the result would be the same if you took the poll offline.

McGregor’s fanbase would be more likely to be online all day. The type who play computer games, when not watching xxx-rated material, in dark rooms all day and of questionable hygiene standards.

I’m sure this opinion will lead to an angry response from the cage fighter’s fanatics but what else would you expect?

I think this gentleman is looking for a reaction

Mantis Toboggan

Yeah I'd say it's definitely McIlroy and probably McGregor because of all the controversies. Followed by Roy/Robbie Keane, Padraig Harrington.

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

RocketRaccoon wrote: »

But people say he's not famous, just imagine Roy Keane being asked to be on Conan and Fallon.

Or Katie Taylor.

Many people just don't want to accept that he's by far Ireland's biggest superstar alive right now. His Tweet yesterday got over 300k likes, nobody even comes close to that.

is_that_so

Rows Grower wrote: »

Jack Doyle was from Cobh too and known all over the world back in the day.

Yep, as were Delaney, Roche, Kelly and Jonah Barrington.

xckjoo

Rows Grower wrote: »

Sorry Tom, I've never asked a Brazilian if they knew George Best.

I have and they haven't. We figured it was because he played for Northern Ireland internationally and I don't think they made any World Cups when he was playing.

EmmetSpiceland

R.F. wrote: »

I think this gentleman is looking for a reaction

Not at all, although having a different view of this character does seem unacceptable to lads on here.

I just don’t think the opinions expressed in here would accurately represent society at large.

is_that_so

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

He's also been on Conan a number of times. That shows the level of fame he is at. The only other Irish people ever on those shows would be the handful of super famous Irish actors or Bono.

Talk shows have a merry go round of guests. Let's see how many will be looking for him in say, two years. Bono, whether you like it or not will get on till he meets his maker.

citytillidie

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

No way a cricket player is the third most known Irish celebrity, especially one that doesn't play for Ireland. Zimbabwe are in the top 10 of cricket, that's worse than rugby for global audience! Think it's only popular in pockets of England and its former colonies really (bar India where it is legitimately big).

Sheamus in the WWE would be more well known.

Becky Lynch at the moment

You have to factor in Cricket is the most popular sport in India and the Asia sub continent, so a lot more people will know Eoin Morgan since he has played in the Indian Cricket Super League

Amirani

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

No way a cricket player is the third most known Irish celebrity, especially one that doesn't play for Ireland. Zimbabwe are in the top 10 of cricket, that's worse than rugby for global audience! Think it's only popular in pockets of England and its former colonies really (bar India where it is legitimately big).

Your knowledge of demography seems a bit lacking here.

You know England and those "former colonies" make up about a third of the World population? Cricket is the biggest sport in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, with are about 1.8 billion people. That's before you even start looking at South Africa, Australia and England itself.

That's a far bigger support base than rugby for global audience...