We've looked at rugby players you forgot existed, Irish premier league players you forgot existed, here are ten notable hurlers and Gaelic footballers who have largely slipped out of the nation's consciousness.
None of these men are obscure or insignificant, rather they are players who flared briefly for big teams before drifting into the background.
Wayne McCarthy
Memorable to anyone who watched the Breaking Ball segment where he was interviewed with Charlie Redmond at the Erin's Isle training pitch. The pair talked about how, as a kid, he used to collect the balls that Charlie booted over the bar during his practise sessions.
McCarthy played for the Dubs during the late Tommy Carr era, before Dublin were even winning Leinster titles. He came on late in the 'big dipper' match in Thurles when a Vinny Murphy inspired comeback almost gave Dublin victory. He lofted in the long range free from which Darren Homan punched the ball to the net. Less memorably, he almost missed a 21 metre free just beforehand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeQdf7uU344
Aodan MacGearailt
Scored 0-2 in the 2000 All-Ireland final replay win over Galway and was a member of the Gaeltacht side that dominated Kerry GAA in the early 2000s. He couldn't nail down a Kerry starting berth for more than a couple of years, however. His last start in a championship game came in the remarkably low scoring Kerry-Cork game in Killarney 2002, though he was frequently introduced as a sub for the remainder of the Paidi era.
No longer featured once Jack O'Connor assumed the managerial role.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zN87bohpaQ
Mickey O'Connell
Cork went through an incredibly barren spell in the middle of the 1990s. Between 1993 and 1997, when they still led in the historical roll of honour, they failed to win a serious championship match. They burst out of it in 1999, winning the All-Ireland with a young team.
Most of the '99 team stuck around for the back-to-back victories. Of those that didn't, Seanie McGrath is remembered for scooping over some crucial points towards the end of the 1999 final, and Mark Landers captained the side, welcoming Liam McCarthy back to Leeside.
Mickey O'Connell, a swashbuckling midfielder, who whipped over a couple of points at the start of the 1999 Munster Final.
Brian McEvoy
A luminary from the very early days of the Brian Cody era, McEvoy was always good for lashing over a few points from play. He lined out alongside the likes of Peter Barry, Philly Larkin, Charlie Carter and others in Brian Cody's first great team.
McEvoy's star seemed to fall when he was shunted around the place before the start of the 2001 All-Ireland semi-final against Galway. After that experience there was no place for him in Brian Cody's harder, meaner Kilkenny side.
Ray Magee
Overshadowed by his cohorts in a starry Meath forward line, Ray Magee was a reliable free taker who featured in most games during the 1999 championship, excepting the All-Ireland final win over Cork. He was given a starting berth for All-Ireland final of 2001, swinging over the opening point from play.
Gerard Cavlan
We could have thrown in all the players on the Tyrone team of 1995 who weren't called Peter Canavan on here.
But Gerard Cavlan gets on because his workmanlike performance in the most dour All-Ireland final in living memory. The 2003 All-Ireland was the last one which saw the Man of the Match crown awarded to someone (Kevin Hughes) on account of all the 'unseen work' they got through.
Cavlan's abrupt banishment from the Tyrone set-up in 2007 accounts for his role being largely forgotten. A BBC Spotlight documentary unmasked him as the ringleader of a dog-fighting ring called the Bulldog Sanctuary Kennels. He pleaded guilty, was fined and never played for Tyrone again.
Shay Walsh
Eloquently described how the experience of playing for Galway in the three or four years before 1998 consisted of 'getting the hammerings of your life from crap teams in Tuam'
Walsh was Galway's lead free-taker during the 1995 championship, when they strolled to their first Connacht title in 8 years and then almost surprised Tyrone in the All-Ireland semi-final. With the infusion of talented 21 year olds into the Galway team in 1998, he was relegated to the bench by John O'Mahony.
However, after Paul Clancy's injury, he became one of the seven hundred players who occupied the troublesome left half forward position that year. He started the best game though, the All-Ireland final.
Pat Fallon
Fallon is often overshadowed in the public memory by his lithe and exotic midfield partner in 1996, but he was an influential in the Mayo side in the 1990s. Fallon is most remembered for his All-Star season in 1997 and scoring an extraordinarily lucky goal in the opening seconds of the 1994 Connacht final.
Eugene Cloonan
A brilliant free-taker and a lethally dangerous forward, Cloonan is one of the many talented Galway players apparently destined for greatness, who eventually slouched off the scene undone by disputes with managers and Galway's inability to do themselves justice on the big occasion.
Soon another Galway free-taking star would emerge and Cloonan's name largely disappeared from the national consciousness. However, he did win a glut of All-Ireland club titles with Athenry in the late 90s, early 00s, and joined Anthony Cunningham's backroom team for this season.
Ger 'Redser' O'Grady
Played for Tipp in the forgotten era between Nicky English and Liam Sheedy (managers included Michael Doyle, Ken Hogan and Babs Keating.)
Redser, who made his debut in 2003, was captain during the 2006 season but fell out spectacularly with the management team. This being the Babs Keating era, Redser was not the only player banished from the team.
