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

Dank Janniels

Michelle Smith, oh wait nevermind!!

salmocab

eagle eye wrote: »

I don't think South Americans or North Americans or Africans watch cricket. Chinese don't watch cricket either.
I'd imagine the US Masters and the British Open golf tournaments have a much bigger audience than any cricket tournament so I'll put Harrington and McIlroy ahead of any cricket guy. I'll put Seamus Coleman ahead of any cricket players too because soccer is truly global and the Premier league is the most watched domestic league with 4.7 billion estimated viewers.

I would think quite a few Africans watch cricket

Morrison J

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

McGregor - hard to say. MMA isn’t the most popular sport anywhere but his fame may transcend the actual sport. But do French people or Italians or the Indians know about him? I don’t know.

The fight with Mayweather changes this completely though. Boxing is followed literally everywhere and McGregor took part in the second biggest selling fight of the last decade. He would've gained notoriety in so many other countries through that fight.

its_steve116

First one coming up when you Google "Irish sportspeople" is Katie Taylor.

gormdubhgorm

salmocab wrote: »

Ken Doherty is a Dub

I realise that bit I was including the NI lads with him.

Franz Von Peppercorn

eagle eye wrote: »

I don't think South Americans or North Americans or Africans watch cricket. Chinese don't watch cricket either.
I'd imagine the US Masters and the British Open golf tournaments have a much bigger audience than any cricket tournament so I'll put Harrington and McIlroy ahead of any cricket guy.

The audience for the cricket World Cup was 1.5B. Wiki sez

The 2015 Cricket World Cup is estimated to have been watched by over 1.5 billion people.[8] The most widely watched match during the tournament was India vs. Pakistan, which is estimated to have drawn over 1 billion viewers.[9][10]

I'll put Seamus Coleman ahead of any cricket players too because soccer is truly global and the Premier league is the most watched domestic league with 4.7 billion estimated viewers.

While the premiership is big it’s the top teans that are well known. Mid table, not so much.

gormdubhgorm

its_steve116 wrote: »

First one coming up when you Google "Irish sportspeople" is Katie Taylor.

I did an 'Irish sportspeople' test on google images in three languages.
English/Arabic/Simplified Chinese

In English - 'Irish sports people' - google images search results:

She is second on google images after a fella who is/isn't Irish.
https://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrJS9aubKJcfyMA2YlLBQx.;_ylu=X3oDMTByZmVxM3N0BGNvbG8DaXIyBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=irish+sports+people&fr=crmas#id=1&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F736x%2F48%2F1d%2F01%2F481d01587386431dbe849664eb599546--irish-people-sports-stars.jpg&action=close

That still does not mean Katie Taylor is known that is just the google search engine when typing in English "Irish sportspeople"

In Chinese - Irish sports people - google images search results:

When you translate "Irish Sportspeople' to Chinese '爱尔兰运动员' you get very different results - with the same google images test
https://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrP4o6pbaJcmSwASDZLBQx.;_ylu=X3oDMTB0ZTgxN3Q0BGNvbG8DaXIyBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNwaXZz?p=%E7%88%B1%E5%B0%94%E5%85%B0%E8%BF%90%E5%8A%A8%E5%91%98&fr2=piv-web&fr=crmas

Guess who is first?

And funnily Kelly Harrington is in the mix!


In Arabic - Irish sports people - google images search results:

'Irish Sportspeople' الرياضيين الايرلنديين gets only one image and I have no idea who it is
https://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrP4lFkbqJcQCYAjEdLBQx.;_ylu=X3oDMTB0ZTgxN3Q0BGNvbG8DaXIyBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNwaXZz?p=%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B6%D9%8A%D9%8A%D9%86+%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%84%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%8A%D9%86&fr2=piv-web&fr=crmas


In Hindi- Irish sports people - google images search results:
आयरिश खिलाड़ी =
https://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrJ6iQ0cKJcpLUAO1pNBQx.;_ylu=X3oDMTBsZ29xY3ZzBHNlYwNzZWFyY2gEc2xrA2J1dHRvbg--;_ylc=X1MDMjExNDcxNzAwNQRfcgMyBGFjdG4DY2xrBGJjawM5c2VyNTZsZTRwMjI4JTI2YiUzRDMlMjZzJTNEYWsEY3NyY3B2aWQDb1M0Y19URXdMaktlTzJVMVhFeUlTQUlaTVRBNUxnQUFBQUNjbHBlMQRmcgNjcm1hcwRmcjIDc2EtZ3AEZ3ByaWQDWFNLSmFDWVRUX3lGSEZsaXV5U0J5QQRtdGVzdGlkA01TRlQlM0RCNzQwOQRuX3N1Z2cDMARvcmlnaW4DdWsuaW1hZ2VzLnNlYXJjaC55YWhvby5jb20EcG9zAzAEcHFzdHIDBHBxc3RybAMEcXN0cmwDMTMEcXVlcnkD8wYg8yk8AR0X3N0bXADMTU1NDE0OTQzNgR2dGVzdGlkA251bGw-?gprid=XSKJaCYTT_yFHFliuySByA&pvid=oS4c_TEwLjKeO2U1XEyISAIZMTA5LgAAAACclpe1&p=%E0%A4%86%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B6+%E0%A4%96%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B2%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A1%E0%A4%BC%E0%A5%80&fr=crmas&fr2=sb-top-uk.images.search.yahoo.com&ei=UTF-8&n=60&x=wrt#id=1&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.awaaznation.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F09%2FMAMA.jpg&action=close

I think it is Denis Behan from cork city first on the list!?

SoundsRight

MacGregor would be the most famous sportsman, if you classify cage fighting as a sport.

Otherwise, it would be Georgie Best. Shout outs to BOD, Hurricane Higgins, Barry McGuigan and Eamon Delaney.

Beechwoodspark

Just for the record it doesn’t say ROI it says Ireland’s most famous sports star

And to be clear for any slow learners - Ireland is an island that comprises 2 jurisdictions. NI and ROI

D9Male

McGregor is the answer now, I reckon.

The most famous ever is probably Roy Keane though. I was in Russia, China, Mongolia, Indonesia, Philippines and Japan in 2004-2005 and when I said Ireland, Roy Keane was the most common response.

FixdePitchmark

I'm biased .

But is mma truly a global sport ?

Golf is
Nike is
And Rory the figure head of golf / Nike for a good 5/6 years.

Can't imagine McGregor is big in some eastern countries but can imagine Rory on a billboards anywhere in the world.

Could be wrong.

Franz Von Peppercorn

SoundsRight wrote: »

MacGregor would be the most famous sportsman, if you classify cage fighting as a sport.

Otherwise, it would be Georgie Best. Shout outs to BOD, Hurricane Higgins, Barry McGuigan and Eamon Delaney.

George best wasn’t known around the world. Roy Keane would have been better known in his day.

FixdePitchmark

I'd be slow to say Roy . No doubt top 3/4 most talented. But soccer is strange . The global stars in soccer are another level of famous.

Messi , Ronaldo , maradona, zidane

You can be exceptionally good at soccer . But soccer can be a bit parochial in UK and Ireland.

Didn't help Roy that he ****ed off in world cup.

Marcus Rashford

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Just for the record it doesn’t say ROI it says Ireland’s most famous sports star

And to be clear for any slow learners - Ireland is an island that comprises 2 jurisdictions. NI and ROI

No, the ordinary meaning of “Ireland” is the Republic of Ireland.

Otherwise, you should say “the island of Ireland”.

Beechwoodspark

Marcus Rashford wrote: »

No, the ordinary meaning of “Ireland” is the Republic of Ireland.

Otherwise, you should say “the island of Ireland”.

Not at all. Ireland means the island of Ireland.

Not getting into this as it’s off topic.

gormdubhgorm

Marcus Rashford wrote: »

No, the ordinary meaning of “Ireland” is the Republic of Ireland.

Otherwise, you should say “the island of Ireland”.

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Not at all. Ireland means the island of Ireland.

Not getting into this as it’s off topic.

Actually in the consitution De Valera deliberately did not mention the Republic of Ireland it was 'Eire' or 'Ireland' - article 4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Ireland#Name_of_the_state


Then in the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 it got a bit foggy.
Ireland's official constitutional name is still 'Ireland' in English, or 'Eire' in Irish.
But it's 'description' was said to be the 'Republic of Ireland'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland_Act_1948

So we end up with this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_the_Irish_state#Legal_description

Either way Conor McGregor is the most famous unofficial King of Eire/Ireland/Republic of Ireland.
I wonder what De Valera would have thought of him? :rolleyes:

Beasty

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

George best wasn’t known around the world. Roy Keane would have been better known in his day.

At that time there was probably only Pele who could be considered a global star, and even then he would have been largely unknown in places like Eastern Europe, Asia and North America

Football is a truly global sport nowadays - there was no such sport in the days of B&W television, 1 or 2 TV channels and news being mainly local and national, and rarely covering stories outside these islands.

Franz Von Peppercorn

Beasty wrote: »

At that time there was probably only Pele who could be considered a global star, and even then he would have been largely unknown in places like Eastern Europe, Asia and North America

Football is a truly global sport nowadays - there was no such sport in the days of B&W television, 1 or 2 TV channels and news being mainly local and national, and rarely covering stories outside these islands.

Yes. And Roy was captain of the premiership’s biggest brand - Man United - at their most successful and famous.

Ireland in Saipan was probably a bigger issue precisely because it involved Keane.

Zubeneschamali

RocketRaccoon wrote: »

What about McGregor?

If he was involved in a real sport, maybe.

spyderski

Has anyone mentioned Jonathan Rea? 4 x World Superbike Champion, he'd be far better known abroad than he is here. Not in the same league as McGregor or McIlroy, but far more famous internationally than some others previously mentioned.

Strumms

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

George best wasn’t known around the world. Roy Keane would have been better known in his day.

If Best had have been around in the days of sky sports, the internet / social media etc. he would have been a global and possibly interplanetary sensation.

gormdubhgorm

Strumms wrote: »

If Best had have been around in the days of sky sports, the internet / social media etc. he would have been a global and possibly interplanetary sensation.

I am not sure about that he did not seem like the nicest fella in the world, there were constant excuses made for him both on and off the pitch.
He probably would have crashed and burned sooner in today's world more temptation, easy access to vices.

Zubeneschamali

Strumms wrote: »

If Best had have been around in the days of sky sports, the internet / social media etc. he would have been a global and possibly interplanetary sensation.

It's possible he was an interplanetary sensation, how would we know whose posters the girls on Mars pinned up?

Strumms

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

I am not sure about that he did not seem like the nicest fella in the world, there were constant excuses made for him both on and off the pitch.
He probably would have crashed and burned sooner in today's world more temptation, easy access to vices.

I’m not saying his life wouldn’t have ended up on a similar trajectory but his talent would have been exposed to and appreciated by a wider audience. People in Salvador, Brazil could sit down and watch George Best run rings around the league at lunch as we make dinner...exposure.

Strumms

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

It's possible he was an interplanetary sensation, how would we know whose posters the girls on Mars pinned up?

Could have been Cyril Regis, we’ll never know !

Tombo2001

Beasty wrote: »

At that time there was probably only Pele who could be considered a global star, and even then he would have been largely unknown in places like Eastern Europe, Asia and North America

Football is a truly global sport nowadays - there was no such sport in the days of B&W television, 1 or 2 TV channels and news being mainly local and national, and rarely covering stories outside these islands.

I would question that; however I'd say a major difference between now and 50 years ago was that back then footballers became famous through the World Cup.

Everyone in Europe and South America tuned into it. (Not sure about elsewhere).

George Best never played at the World Cup.

The big names at the world cup would have been the likes of Eusebio, Pele, Bobby Moore & Gordon Banks, Gerd Muller, Cruyff and so on.

Mario Kempes, Geoff Hurst, Toto Schillachi and Paolo Rossi would be very good examples of players that didnt necessarily have stellar club careers, but achieved worldwide fame through their exploits at the world cup.

For absolute sure, English Premier League Soccer is now a near global product. I remember visiting Thailand 20 years ago, taxi driver picked us up wearing a Sheffield Wednesday away jersey.....

As such, keane would have been very well known. Probably though the big difference between soccer and MMA would be the number of footballers - Keane would be well known, but probably there are equally maybe 200-300 other footballers in the past 30 years who are equally well known. To people outside Ireland/ UK, he is a name, the equivalent of us knowing Bixente Lizarazu or Oliver Kahn.

Whereas McGregor is the face of MMA, he is a media personality; people know a lot about McGregor. Again - thats where debate comes into it, is McGregor known for his big mouth or for his sporting achievements. Its much moreso the former......hard to debate otherwise (and there nothing wrong with that). Lots of MMA fighters have achieved more in their sport, and are not well known at all.

Sephiroth_dude

Mod

Beechwoodspark you were told not to post in this thread again, take a week off for ignoring mod instruction.

partyguinness

People suggesting Eoin Morgan and the exposure in India. Fair enough in terms of numbers but how many in India etc associate him with being Irish?

Not many- he is an English cricket player.

This is a guy who turned his back on playing for his country to line up for 'God Save the Queen' for personal glory and career advancement. Say no more.

Funnily enough I am willing to suggest that most people in Ireland could not pick Eoin Morgan out of a line up.

eagle eye

Totally agree that if George Best was the best footballer playing in Britain in today's social media age that he would be the biggest Irish sports star and maybe even most well known person.

salmocab

partyguinness wrote: »

People suggesting Eoin Morgan and the exposure in India. Fair enough in terms of numbers but how many in India etc associate him with being Irish?

Not many- he is an English cricket player.

This is a guy who turned his back on playing for his country to line up for 'God Save the Queen' for personal glory and career advancement. Say no more.

Funnily enough I am willing to suggest that most people in Ireland could not pick Eoin Morgan out of a line up.

The question doesn’t exclude who he plays for or the sport it’s in or even if anyone at all in Ireland has heard of him. It’s purely a numbers game and he is surely well up there.

citytillidie

partyguinness wrote: »

People suggesting Eoin Morgan and the exposure in India. Fair enough in terms of numbers but how many in India etc associate him with being Irish?

Not many- he is an English cricket player.

This is a guy who turned his back on playing for his country to line up for 'God Save the Queen' for personal glory and career advancement. Say no more.

Funnily enough I am willing to suggest that most people in Ireland could not pick Eoin Morgan out of a line up.

He choose England simply because there was no top class cricket ie Ireland were not a test playing nation at the time he was breaking through.

partyguinness

citytillidie wrote: »

He choose England simply because there was no top class cricket ie Ireland were not a test playing nation at the time he was breaking through.

Yeah I think we all get that thanks.

Marcus Rashford

partyguinness wrote: »

citytillidie wrote: »

He choose England simply because there was no top class cricket ie Ireland were not a test playing nation at the time he was breaking through.

Yeah I think we all get that thanks.

In circumstances where your own country doesn’t actually compete and you’re a world class player, what reasonable person wouldn’t play for someone else?

What’s the alternative? “Feck that, I’m a rabid republican, I’ll just take up another sport”?!

partyguinness

Marcus Rashford wrote: »

In circumstances where your own country doesn’t actually compete and you’re a world class player, what reasonable person wouldn’t play for someone else?

What’s the alternative? “Feck that, I’m a rabid republican, I’ll just take up another sport”?!

I didn't see George Best, Ryan Giggs, Johnny Giles jumping across trying to play for England.

Sergio Parisse would have had more international success if he played for Argentina. But let's not derail the thread.

DEFTLEFTHAND

partyguinness wrote: »

People suggesting Eoin Morgan and the exposure in India. Fair enough in terms of numbers but how many in India etc associate him with being Irish?

Not many- he is an English cricket player.

This is a guy who turned his back on playing for his country to line up for 'God Save the Queen' for personal glory and career advancement. Say no more.

Funnily enough I am willing to suggest that most people in Ireland could not pick Eoin Morgan out of a line up.

Ed Joyce and Morgan are the ones that people without even a passing interest in the game have usually heard of. Both made headlines when they switched to play for England, although Joyce subsequently returned yrs later.

Test cricket is the elite of the game. You couldn't really blame them at the time.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Marcus Rashford wrote: »

Best, McIlroy, Frampton, Clarke, and Dunlop aren’t Irish in the truest sense.

Truest sense of what though? His heritage is Irish, McIlroy family are an ancient northern clan.

There's a sizeable portion of Catholics in the north who are not nationalist.

partyguinness

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Truest sense of what though? His heritage is Irish, McIlroy family are an ancient northern clan.

There's a sizeable portion of Catholics in the north who are not nationalist.

What he is saying is that being Protestant does not count as real Irish although McIlroy is Catholic but a bit of a Jackeen. Partitionist protagonists would be proud.

Tombo2001

partyguinness wrote: »

People suggesting Eoin Morgan and the exposure in India. Fair enough in terms of numbers but how many in India etc associate him with being Irish?

Not many- he is an English cricket player.

This is a guy who turned his back on playing for his country to line up for 'God Save the Queen' for personal glory and career advancement. Say no more.

Funnily enough I am willing to suggest that most people in Ireland could not pick Eoin Morgan out of a line up.

Sorry.

You are 100% wrong there.

He is an Irish player who plays for England.

Big difference.

As regards your other comment - if Kevin Kilbane got kicked out of a pub in Coventry or Sunderland because he lined out for a country that had a militaristic anti-British national anthem; I'm fairly sure you'd be outraged.....

Complete double standard, its gas the anti British thing, when English players have been coming over to play for us for decades. Its mad really as a feature in Irish society that this sort of hypocrisy goes so completely unchallenged.

Tombo2001

partyguinness wrote: »

I didn't see George Best, Ryan Giggs, Johnny Giles jumping across trying to play for England.

Sergio Parisse would have had more international success if he played for Argentina. But let's not derail the thread.

(I) So winning a European cup with Man U (an English Club!) isnt an opportunity to play at the highest level in the sport.

(II) Johnny Giles and Georgie Best didnt have that opportunity, because the rules were and are different in soccer.

RoryMac

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Sorry.

You are 100% wrong there.

He is an Irish player who plays for England.

Big difference.

As regards your other comment - if Kevin Kilbane got kicked out of a pub in Coventry or Sunderland because he lined out for a country that had a militaristic anti-British national anthem; I'm fairly sure you'd be outraged.....

Complete double standard, its gas the anti British thing, when English players have been coming over to play for us for decades. Its mad really as a feature in Irish society that this sort of hypocrisy goes so completely unchallenged.

Bit of a contradiction no?

How can you be an Irish player who plays for England?

partyguinness

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Sorry.

You are 100% wrong there.

He is an Irish player who plays for England.

100% wrong...WTF. You line up for England/Ireland/France whoever - then you play for that team ergo you are (in this instance) an English cricket player.

Do commentators during the game go: "And up to the crease for England is the Irish player Eoin Morgan."

or "And as we watch the English and Irish player warm up before the first Test..."

Get real.

Tombo2001 wrote: »

As regards your other comment - if Kevin Kilbane got kicked out of a pub in Coventry or Sunderland because he lined out for a country that had a militaristic anti-British national anthem; I'm fairly sure you'd be outraged.....

I would not care less. That's somebody else's issue and nothing whatsoever to do with my points.

gormdubhgorm

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Sorry.

You are 100% wrong there.

He is an Irish player who plays for England.

Big difference.

Complete double standard, its gas the anti British thing, when English players have been coming over to play for us for decades. Its mad really as a feature in Irish society that this sort of hypocrisy goes so completely unchallenged.

So in a roundabout way - What your saying is that the British/English are OK to claim all players born in Britain as thier own regardless of whether they identify as British and played for a different country.
From James McClean to Andy Townsend and everything in-between?

odyssey06

We've nabbed CJ Stander from South Africa.
He plays for the Irish rugby team - note, not the "island of Ireland" rugby team.

But is he still a famous South African in Ireland? Yes.
There is such a thing as dual nationality, especially when it comes to using residency status to play for a sporting team at a higher level.

gormdubhgorm

odyssey06 wrote: »

We've nabbed CJ Stander from South Africa.
He plays for the Irish rugby team - note, not the "island of Ireland" rugby team.

But is he still a famous South African in Ireland? Yes.
There is such a thing as dual nationality, especially when it comes to using residency status to play for a sporting team at a higher level.

Do the South African's view him as South African though?
Personally to me he is not Irish at all as he has not lineage to any Irishness.
He is only Irish on paper.

eagle eye

gormdubhgorm wrote:

Do the South African's view him as South African though? Personally to me he is not Irish at all as he has not lineage to any Irishness. He is only Irish on paper.

How many people outside of full on rugby fans know that he is not Irish though?

odyssey06

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Do the South African's view him as South African though?
Personally to me he is not Irish at all as he has not lineage to any Irishness.
He is only Irish on paper.

Well I would agree with you on that score, on the other hand CJ Stander is an Irish rugby player, so we can't really be too precious about Eoin Morgan - who represented Ireland in a Cricket World Cup, was born in Dublin but had dual nationality via an English mum.

Serious cricket fans would be well aware that he has represented two different countries in a World Cup.

salmocab

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Do the South African's view him as South African though?
Personally to me he is not Irish at all as he has not lineage to any Irishness.
He is only Irish on paper.

He lives and pays his taxes here, soccer players with a granny who’s Irish may not have lived here and are considered Irish. It’s a very complex issue, if he stays and has a child here who goes on to play for Ireland does the child have Irish lineage? Where do we draw that line 2nd generation 3rd?
I’m not overly comfortable with it but someone like that has lived and worked here for several years which is some commitment to the country albeit for personal and professional reasons.

gormdubhgorm

eagle eye wrote: »

How many people outside of full on rugby fans know that he is not Irish though?

I am not a full on rugby fan more of a casual when big games are on.
And I know about the Rugby residency rule for instance.

Thankfully a full on Irishman like McGregor is the most famous, despite all his faults he is sportsman who is Irish.
He even used to be fluent in Irish in his younger days.
Whereas the likes of CJ Stander wouldn't know what a fada is. He is just here for the money, it is a convenient Irishness nothing more.

Marcus Rashford

partyguinness wrote: »

Marcus Rashford wrote: »

In circumstances where your own country doesn’t actually compete and you’re a world class player, what reasonable person wouldn’t play for someone else?

What’s the alternative? “Feck that, I’m a rabid republican, I’ll just take up another sport”?!

I didn't see George Best, Ryan Giggs, Johnny Giles jumping across trying to play for England.

Sergio Parisse would have had more international success if he played for Argentina. But let's not derail the thread.

Eh, his home country, Ireland, didn’t compete!

Your comparison is silly.

Who would blame John Giles, Ryan Giggs, or George Best playing for another country if Ireland/Wales/Northern Ireland didn’t play international football?

partyguinness

Marcus Rashford wrote: »

Eh, his home country, Ireland, didn’t compete!

Your comparison is silly.

Who would blame John Giles, Ryan Giggs, or George Best playing for another country if Ireland/Wales/Northern Ireland didn’t play international football?

I am referring to the fact Ireland in the 50s, 60s or 70s did not qualify for any international tournaments. Came close in 66 but lost a play off to Spain. Giles has lived in England since the late 1950s and still does plus he was one of the best midfielders in world football from about 65 to 75 but yet no chance of playing in the WC.

Giggs could have played for England and played in WCs etc multiple times.

Didn't think I had to spell that out.