Between 2010 and 2024, Dublin only played one Leinster SFC game outside of Croke Park. That perhaps doesn’t come as much of a shock to many, in fact the greater surprise is that it’s one at all.
What’s more surprising is the location of that single match – the hot bed of hurling that is Nowlan Park in Kilkenny.
On June 4, 2016, the Dubs were forced onto the road for their game against Laois due to the Christy Ring Cup final (then the second tier of inter-county) being slated for Headquarters on the same day.
For the record, Meath defeated Antrim before a scoring anomaly found the game had ended in a draw, triggering a replay which the Royals won anyway.
The Dubs were busy doling a routine 11-point hammering of the O’Moore men that day and would have scarcely believed at the home of the Cats that, 10 years later, they would have eclipsed them in the caman code.
Dublin will face Galway in the Leinster SHC final in Croke Park next Saturday, but their footballers will take their first steps on the All-Ireland stage there on Sunday against Louth.
As much as the venue has been a part of their recent success, it hasn’t proved particularly beneficial to them so far in 2026.
They won only one of their four Division One games in Croke Park, coming back from three points down to pip a determined Monaghan side, while of the three All-Ireland games they played there last year, they won only once.
When you throw in the Leinster final defeat to Westmeath there a fortnight ago, it’s fair to say it hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for the Dubs.
In fact, Sunday’s opponents Louth have won there more recently than them – notably last year’s Leinster final win over Meath.
That may have been explained away as a temporary hiccup to the established order of things had Westmeath not spectacularly got their hands on the Delaney Cup this year.
You have to go back almost a quarter of century for the last time they Dubs went two years without a provincial title and although sights are now set on the Sam Maguire, their failure at provincial level has only enhanced their vulnerability in the eyes of opponents.
None will be more determined than Louth on Sunday. Dublin’s 10-point win over the then reigning Leinster champions represents a muted high-point in an otherwise flat year.
Cormac Costello’s 0-10 was a welcome contribution, particularly as the team ,currently helmed by Dean Rock in the absence of the suspended Ger Brennan, yearns for a fully fit Con O’Callaghan.
He may not be 10 per cent, but the Cuala star has been named in the starting 15 for Sunday’s game.
He played a half against Wicklow but played no part in the games against the Wee county and Westmeath after a hamstring injury flared up. Quite how much they will get out of him on Sunday remains to be seen, but his sheer presence will lift a Dublin team short on inspiration at the moment.
O’Callaghan’s selection is countered by the absence of the injured Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne. That forces a reshuffle, with Ciaran Kilkenny shifting to a midfield role to replace O’Cofaigh Byrne and accommodate the talismanic O’Callaghan in the half-forward line.
As hurt as they Dubs will be after their extra-time defeat to Westmeath in the Leinster final, Louth will nurse considerable pain for their performance in the provincial semi-final.
Championship wins over Dublin are few and far between for the Wee County, just one in 18 meetings and that came in 1973.
The gap has narrowed between the two in recent years in terms of quality and Dublin’s once great Jones’ Road fortress has proved breachable of late. However, Con O’Callaghan in Croke Park on a summer afternoon may just be enough to get the juices flowing again and with Ger Brennan’s return to the sideline on the horizon, it may just feel like home again.
DUBLIN: E Comerford; G McEneaney, N Doran, D Byrne; S MacMahon, C McMorrow, E Kennedy; C Kilkenny, B Howard; S Bugler, C O’Callaghan, N Scully; P Small, K McGinnis, C Costello. Subs: H O’Sullivan, T Lahiff, L Smith, L Gannon, C Murphy, S Guiden, E Dunne, P White, N O’Callaghan, L Breathnach, T Deering
LOUTH: N McDonnell; E Carolan, D Campbell, D McKenny; D Nally, D Mc Donnell, C Lennon; C Early, J Maguire; P Matthews, S Mulroy, C Grimes; K McArdle, C Downey C McCaul. Subs: T Markey, R Burns, C Byrne, S Callaghan, T Durnin, L Grey, C MacCriosta, T McDonnell, C McKeever, S Reynolds, A Williams
