Carlow GAA

Carlow Senior Football Championship

Carlow clubs have a decent record in the All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship. Éire Óg have five Leinster titles while O'Hanrahans claim one to their credit. Éire Óg were deprived of the All-Ireland club title in 1993 by Cork's O'Donovan Rossa of Skibereen. They were defeated by 1-7 to 0-8 after a replay in Limerick, after being controversially denied a winning goal in injury time. The team had to make do with immortality of a different kind; you will see them togged out in 1920-style kit, posing as the Tipperary Bloody Sunday team in Neil Jordan's film Michael Collins, against a Kilmacud Crokes team filling in as Dublin.

Carlow have claimed very few honours at senior level. They won a Leinster title in 1944. The final was played in Athy due to the war and Carlow beat Dublin by 2-6 to 1-6. Carlow also lost Leinster finals in 1941 and 1942 to the same opposition. Kerry fisherman-publican Paddy "Bawn" Brosnan kept Carlow from reaching an All-Ireland final in 1944. His second half goal put Carlow out of the All-Ireland semi-final by 3-3 to 0-10. Ten years later Carlow reached the National League final with a famous 1-10 to 1-7 win over Armagh, but were well beaten by Mayo in the final.

Carlow won a 'B' All-Ireland in 1994, and an O'Byrne Cup in 2002. They defeated Wicklow by 2-10 to 0-8. Other significant performances include reaching the Leinster Minor Football Championship final in 2007, when they lost to Laois. The Carlow Vocational Schools team won the VEC All Ireland Championship in 1973, while Carlow CBS won a B All Ireland in Croke Park in 2015. An Under-21 team that came within a point of beating Dublin in 1984. In the 1980-81 National League Carlow once fielded a one-club selection so that Éire Óg could prepare for their first Leinster Club final. Tommy Dwyer, at 6'7, was one of the tallest midfielders in GAA history.

Carlow Senior Hurling Championship

In 2013, Mount Leinster Rangers shocked the hurling world by winning the Leinster Club Hurling Championship, beating Ballyboden St Endas of Dublin in the semi-final and Oulart the Ballagh of Wexford in the final. The following February, they beat 2012 champions Loughgiel Shamrocks to reach the All Ireland final. They were eventually beaten by Portuma.

Carlow have won three Christy Ring Championships. After losing the 2006 final to Antrim at Croke Park, they beat Westmeath in a classic final (after extra time) by 3–22 to 4–16 in 2008. This was their first "Division 2" win since 1992 and their first in the re-arranged All-Ireland structure which saw four divisions in hurling from 2009. They repeated the feat the following year, defeating Down at Croke Park to win a two in a row and earn automatic promotion to tier one for 2010. They played at this level until 2016 which saw them relegated from the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship. The very next year, however, they won the 2017 Christy Ring Cup for a record equalling third time, gaining promotion to the top tier of hurling once again. Carlow's last appearance in a Leinster Senior Hurling Championship semi-final was in 1993, when Kilkenny defeated them by 18 points.