The bestsellers - the Cecilia Aherns not the John Banvilles - here are the most popular posts month by month, from January through to December.
January
I Can't Stop Watching This Mick McCarthy Gif
Long time ago now but you were all transfixed by that wondrous Mick McCarthy gif. The friskiness of that space in between and the strikers and the midfielders.
February
David Attenborough Narrates Curling, It's The Best
Mr. Wildlife turns his majestic voice to one of nature's strangest phenomena, the sport of curling. The results were very popular indeed.
March
Class letter from the WRU to Brian O'Driscoll
March was the Brian O'Driscoll month as the online public was consumed with Ireland's charge to the Six Nations title. Big stories included Rob Kearney peering out Aladin style from under a mass of bodies and the English version of the Sunday Times deliciously graceless reaction to Ireland's Six Nations win.
But the biggest of the lot was the Welsh Rugby Union lovely letter to O'Driscoll on breaking the international cap record.
April
Superb Andrea Pirlo Quote About The 2005 Champions League Final
The most fetishized man in modern football released an autobiography in April, and the various snipppets and extracts kept news sites in traffic for days. The winner was Pirlo's searing and enigmatic (naturally) account of his despair in the aftermath of the 2005 Champions League Final.
I’ll never fully shake that sense of absolute impotence when destiny is at work. The feeling will cling to my feet forever, trying to pull me down…
There are always lessons to be found in the darkest moments. It’s a moral obligation to dig deep and find that little glimmer of hope or pearl of wisdom. You might hit upon an elegant phrase that stays with you and makes the journey that little bit less bitter. I’ve tried with Istanbul and haven’t managed to get beyond these words: for fuck’s sake.
May
Video: Watch the Man in the background and laugh your arse off
It's not big or clever but 2014's answer to Hans Moleman's classic 'Football in the Groin' proved a smash hit was wildly popular.
June
The British Twitter reaction to the Hurling on Sky Sports
The Daddy of them all. Statisticians have never seen the like. The biggest post in the history of Balls.ie witnessed nothing less than a klondike of traffic on the site over the following couple of days.
It proved, if nothing else, that what the Irish people really want to see out of life is English people reacting to hurling on television.
July
GIF: Galway responsible for the most mortifying huddle moment ever
Tom Healy missing out on some last minutes moments of encouragement in Galway's last twelve encounter against Tipperary in Tullamore.
August
The British Twitter reaction to the Armagh/Donegal brawl was the best yet
More Brits on the GAA. People's love of seeing them across the water reacting to stuff here hadn't been exhausted yet. The Armagh-Donegal prompted more startled responses than most games.
Is this Irish Football on Sky for real? A medical staff just got floored by a player and the crowd were loving it! Are there any rules? #gaa
— Jonathan (@mrmack73) August 9, 2014
September
How the British reacted to the absolutely mental All-Ireland hurling final
Three months after the inaugural British twitter reaction, the most popular story of September was how the British reacted to the All-Ireland hurling final which won comfortably from the second most popular story, how the British reacted to the All-Ireland hurling final replay. Not far behind it was the tale of how the British reacted to the Kerry-Mayo brawl down in Limerick.
There were other big posts that month including Phil Mickelson calling his Ryder Cup captain shite more or less to his face and in front of a large international audience. Rory McIlroy making a hames of cracking the champagne was a gif that excited folk also.
Whose idea was it to put HURLING on Sky? You are a genious, it's fantastic !!!! — Cllr Bob Copland (@CllrBobCopland) September 7, 2014
October
Roy Keane's story about signing Robbie Savage might be our favourite yet
The Irish nation binged on Roy Keane stories in October with the publication of his book with Roddy Doyle. By far the most memorable and joyous passage was his account of Robbie Savage narrowly missed out on moving to Sunderland.
I rang Mark Hughes. Robbie [Savage] wasn’t in the Blackburn team and I asked Mark if we could try to arrange a deal. Sparky said: ‘Yeah, yeah, he’s lost his way here but he could still do a job for you.’ Robbie’s legs were going a bit but I thought he might come up to us [at Sunderland], with his long hair, and give us a lift – the way Yorkie [Dwight Yorke] had, a big personality in the dressing room. Sparky gave me permission to give him a call. So I got Robbie’s mobile number and rang him. It went to his voicemail: ‘Hi, it’s Robbie – whazzup!’ like the Budweiser ad. I never called him back. I thought: ‘I can’t be fucking signing that.’
November
Cian Healy with the perfect response to a Conor McGregor tweet
After a few missteps, we signed a cast-iron agreement with the editor not to use a certain 'b' word in this office (it rhymes with 'canter') but it's bloody hard sometimes.
@TheNotoriousMMA it's a fantastic feeling alright.... https://t.co/GCqppQHeOe — Cian Healy (@ProperChurch) November 5, 2014
December so far
Meath forward Ciaran Lenehan is clear winner of the best tweet from the water protests
A week is a long time in the media, but the biggest post of December so far arose when Ciaran Lenehan mistook the the thousands protesting the water charges in the capital for a meeting of the Dublin backroom team.
Confusion reigns as meeting of Dublin Football backroom team mistaken for water protests... #GAA pic.twitter.com/TAJn5eY4WM — Ciarán Lenehan (@CiaranLen) December 10, 2014
