Our epic countdown concludes with the Top 10. Don't forget to check out 30-21, and 20-11 from earlier in the week.
#10: Pat Hickey Arrested in Rio:
When asked what I wanted to do when I grew up, the answer was always to liveblog a sporting administrator.
In terms of dysfunction at the Olympics, Ireland are an underrated world player. And in Rio 2016, we outdid ourselves.
Michael O’Reilly failing a drugs test was small fry for what was to come: Saipan’s only rival for Ireland’s most notorious sporting day.
On August 17, OCI President Pat Hickey was arrested by Brazilian Police in connection with ticket touting. While administrative arrests can sometime be boring, this certainly wasn’t: an absurd amount of information leaked out within hours: including a video of a naked Hickey answering his hotel door to police; latterly refuted reports claiming that Hickey tried to escape upon arrest; questionably released pictures of Hickey’s passport and plane ticket; an email correspondence between he and his lawyer, sketching out plans to put Minister Shane Ross “back in his box”; a photo of his arrest warrant.
There were also the subplots of Rory McIlroy’s hastily deleted ‘#karma’ tweet and Shane Ross tweeting ‘shell shock here in Rio’ as he bumbled about Rio de Janeiro searching for relevance.
After a long period in Brazil, Pat has now flown home in time for Christmas, determined to clear his name.
#9: Annalise Murphy Wins Silver For Ireland:
"I don't know whether I'm laughing or I'm crying." Annalise Murphy - silver medallist! https://t.co/JHLN2WPhL4 https://t.co/ML5ecw1489
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 16, 2016
#8: Mayo Lose Yet Another All-Ireland Final:
#7: The O'Donovan Brothers Win Silver, And The Adoration Of A Nation:
The best part of any Olympic games, and everyone you ask will tell you this in the run-up to an event, is suddenly finding a burning interest in a sport you paid no attention to prior to that summer.
Rowing is something that, while everybody knows what it is, very few have an active interest and are familiar with the personalities in the sport. That's why there was so little buzz around the O'Donovan brothers going into the Rio Olympics. A credit to John Dodge who compiled the list of Ireland's best medal hopes for Balls.ie before the tournament, as he had the lads down to bring home a medal, but for the vast majority of the country Gary and Paul O'Donovan were unknown.
Until Monday, August 8th. After qualifying for the semi-finals of the Lightweight Double Sculls, they gave what was seemingly a routine 'well done lads, we go again' interview to RTÉ, but it soon became apparent that these boyos were not your typical Olympians.
They spoke with a levity that suggested were not in the high-pressure surroundings of the Olympics, but were back home in Skibbereen giving an interview to the local paper who they decided to take the piss out of. Everybody loved their first interview, they became hugley popular overnight, but now people were tuning in expecting something...
Well holy shit. The lads flew through their heat and reached the final, then delivered an interview so funny, so amazingly Irish, that the country fell in love. And so did the rest of the world too. Schteak, shpuds, and pull like a dog, how could you not?
They were stars now. From not being worth a mention at the opening ceremony, to the most talked about Irish athletes at the games. Not only because they had the country clamouring for their own spin-off TV show and a movie, but because they were bloody good at rowing too, and were a very real medal hope.
The final was something else altogether. The tension, the drama, the bloody French, swooping in and spoiling the party, but Gary and Paul had earned Ireland's first ever rowing medal, and so charming and hilarious that the party was only getting started.
The exhausted post-race interview was again unmissable, but by the time they cooled down, draped their medals around their necks and joined Darragh Maloney for a satellite interview they were viral stars. And they knew it.
They knew they were now on their biggest stage, and with confidence and a swagger like nothing we'd seen before they left Darragh Maloney giggling like a schoolgirl with their unforgettable 'Podium Pants' performance.
Great rowers, great craic, great embassadors for our country.
On the back of Euro 2016 where the Irish fans showed the world that we love a good time above all else, these lads had our international reputation as a 'great bunch of lads' at an all time high.
Pair of legends.
#6: Stand Up And Fight For Anthony Foley At Thomond Park:
After Anthony Foley’s untimely passing, much was spoken of a man made great by rugby. Reflected in this was also the fact that rugby was made great by the man.
The European tie with Glasgow a week after his passing was one of the most remarkable Irish events for years, with the atmosphere at Thomond raw.
At the end of a rousing and brilliant Munster performance, Foley’s sons joined the Munster squad in the middle of the pitch and formed a post victory circle for a rendition of Stand Up And Fight, as the capacity crowd hushed to hear it. It was an incredibly moving moment, and proof of the camaraderie and togetherness which makes Munster, and sport, great.
Wonderful scene in Thomond Park as Axel's sons Tony and Dan join the squad for Stand Up And Fight #SUAF #MUNvGLA pic.twitter.com/DCVZHDjAn2
— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) October 22, 2016
#5: Dundalk Beat Maccabi Tel Aviv In Tallaght:
They had already made history a fortnight before by snatching a draw away at AZ Alkmaar to claim Ireland’s first ever point in the Europa League groups.
But the whole adventure was a fairytale for Dundalk, and all fairytales must come to an end. The visit of Maccabi to Tallaght would surely burst the Lilywhites bubble. The Israeli’s had gone 3-0 up on Zenit St.Petersburg. They were going to beat Dundalk well.
But Stephen Kenny didn’t read the script. The Airtricity League champions came out and dominated Tel Aviv for the entire first half but were missing the clear chances the had created.But like they did all season, Dundalk won the game with their second half performance. There was 72 minutes on the clock when Daryl Horgan floated in yet another dangerous cross, perfect for the onrushing Ciaran Kilduff.
72: Goal!!!!!
It's that man again for @DundalkFC @CiaranKilduff! @tallaghtstadium is jumping! #LOIinEurope https://t.co/wHc1zwxfkW— eir Sport (@eirSport) September 29, 2016
A League of Ireland club with a town population of 40,000 beat a European regular with a city population 411,000 and four internationals. Usually, fans of the league will use the #GreatestLeagueInTheWorld to mock themselves. But on this night anyway, Dundalk backed up the words.
#4: Conor McGregor Beats Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205:
On November 12th in New York City, the UFC came to town for the very first time but it was another sort of history that Conor McGregor had his eye on.
A sea of green, white and orange engulfed the stands of the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden Then the moment arrived – the arena lights dimmed, the crowd roared and the opening line of Foggy Dew rang out.
The Dubliner was remarkably calm as he made the journey to the octagon. McGregor seemed unfazed by the entire occasion and remained totally composed throughout his entire time inside the octagon.
Then there came a moment in the second round, which will forever remain an iconic image when we look back on McGregor's career. The SBG fighter put his hands behind his back and stood - totally exposed - in front of Eddie Alvarez.
Moments later, McGregor landed a straight left that staggered the lightweight champion before following it with a flurry of punches. For the very first time in history, the UFC had a dual-weight champion.
#3: Ireland Beat New Zealand For The Very First Time:
Was it real? Or was it all just some glorious dream, concocted by our collective imaginations?
It started in Soldier Field with the figure of eight formed by the Irish team facing the Haka, in tribute to the great Anthony Foley who had tragically died only a few weeks before. It continued with an incredible first half performance from Ireland, who led 30-8 after 46 minutes of the match before New Zealand clawed their way back to within four points with fifteen minutes left and sparked thoughts of 2013 and fears of further heartbreak for the Irish.
And yet, Ireland held their resolve and Robbie Henshaw barrelled over for a try that sent everyone wearing green into dreamland, in Chicago and across the world. Conor Murray shone brightest - even kicking a long-range penalty - but it was a collective Irish performance of a level of ferocity that New Zealand weren't prepared for.
After 29 attempts and 111 years, the breakthrough was made and another chapter was added to an incredible sporting year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T53EF4wtQo
#2: Michael Conlan is robbed in Rio:
At least with Katie Taylor's defeat there was an element of doubt. Michael Conlan's expletive-filled condemnation of AIBA - after the judges somehow unanimously decided that he had lost his Olympic quarter-final against Vladimir Nikitin of Russia -echoed the collective howl of despair from all Irish who watched the fight. Rare is it that injustice in sport is so blatant, so audaciously evident on such a global scale. Not only did Conlan win the fight, it wasn't even close. Conlan's brother Jamie told Balls.ie shortly afterwards that Russian coaches had apologised for the farce, while AIBA would later send a number of judges home from the Games because of the poor standard of judging throughout the boxing competition. AIBA still had the audacity to launch disciplinary proceedings against Conlan and this week fined him €9,335 for his post-fight conduct in Rio. Conlan responded by saying that he "wouldn't pay it if it was £1."
#1: Robbie Brady scores late winner vs Italy at Euro 2016:
Well this is it, isn't it?
2016 saw some colossal moments in Irish sport, but one, and only one could take top spot. And it wasn't even a contest. That's how big an impact Robbie Brady's 85th-minute goal against Italy at the Stade Metropole in Lille had on this country.
Ireland's team that day didn't look too strong on paper, and Italy were unquestionably resting key players having already ensured progression to the next stage, but after the shambles that was the Belgian performance Ireland played with the purpose and belief of a team that was simply not ready to go home.
The match was tense, nervy. Lorenzo Insigne was a pain in the arse, with twinkling feet and threatening shots from distance, but Daryl Murphy was causing headaches for the Italian defence too, and James McClean was taking names up and down the left flank all night. Half chances here, a penalty shout there, time kept ticking but every Irish fan had a sense that a real chance was going to come at some stage.. And it did.
And Wes missed it. The Wessiah, Dunphy's love child, just turned 34 yet the hope of a nation.. It looked like it was written in the stars. On his left and all.
When Salvatore Sirigu flopped on that tame shot, it seemed as though that was that. Such a gritty, tough performance, where the Irish fans stood and willed the ball towards the Italian goal at every opportunity, all of that was going to be for a moral victory.
And we nearly lost that too as Italy went close up the other end, but as most Irish fans were picking their head up from their hands after the miss, Stephen Ward was bringing the ball out of the back. He finds Aiden McGeady in space, you could feel the muscles on the face of every Irish fan tighten, 'DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID!'. He looks up, thank God he looked up and saw Wesso's beautiful face pleading for a shot at redemption.
While all of this was happening, Robbie Brady had set off. He knew exactly where he was going and as Hoolahan drew his leg back to whip that ball in you knew where it was going to go... But it took a bloody eternity to get there.
What a ball, what a run, what was the keeper at? Who cares? Elation. As he runs to his family and friends, tears in his eyes, the instrumental of 'Seven Nation Army' thumping in the background served as a reminder to where we were. At a major tournament, against a major team, with the eyes of the world on us wondering if we could pull it off.
And we did. Those old enough to fully enjoy Houghton in Giants Stadium , or Keano in Ibaraki were getting another taste, those just too young to truly appreciate it were getting what they so badly wanted ever since that day, and a new generation got to experience just how magical this country can be when we've done something special at a major football tournament.
Euro 2016 provided us with so many memories. Every fan whether they went to France or watched from home will have stories that we'll be telling for a lifetime, and it was defined by one moment. We'll be looking back on this when RTÉ get around to the 2016 episode of 'Reeling In The Years' in a few decades time, telling our stories about where we were at the time.
We don't ask for much, Irish fans. We know we're not bringing home the trophy, we'll give you a reception at the airport if you lose all your group games. All we want is a chance for that moment of pure elation, where we feel like we can't be beaten, and all we can think to do is shout 'YOU'LL NEVER BEAT THE IRISH!' at the top of our lungs.
Robbie Brady gave us that, and Lille joined the likes of Ibaraki, Giants Stadium, Stuttgart, and Genoa, as locations where the actions of a few boys in green caused the entire population back home to celebrate, while inspiring the next generation of footballers and giving them something to hope to one day have the chance to achieve.
The look on his face as he wheeled away behind the goal to celebrate, it was the look of a young man who had spent most of his 24 years dreaming about that very moment.
It, as a moment, could have it's own 'Top 30 moments', let alone take the number one spot in this one.
