The 1978 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final was the 91st All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1978 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

tournament for the top teams in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Dublin had won the previous two finals and were bidding for a third consecutive victory. Kerry, their opponents, denied them to secure their own third from four All-Ireland football titles they won during the 1970s. This was Kerry's first of four consecutive championships, setting them on the streak that inspired the five in a row that never occurred. In 2018,

Martin Breheny use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , nationality = , other_names = , siglum = , citizenship = , ...

listed this as the eighth greatest All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. Breheny, Martin. "Martin Breheny's Greatest All-Ireland Finals". ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

''. 1 September 2018, p. 11. It is also noted for a famous first-half goal by

Mikey Sheehy Michael "Mikey" Sheehy (born 28 July 1954) is an Irish Gaelic football selector and former player. His league and championship career at senior level with the Kerry county team spanned fifteen seasons from 1973 to 1988. Born in Tralee, County ...

, with Sheehy lobbing the Dublin goalkeeper

Paddy Cullen Patrick Cullen (born 18 October 1944) is an Irish former Gaelic football manager and former player. His league and championship career at senior level with the Dublin county team spanned thirteen years from 1966 to 1979. Born in Stoneybatt ...

while Cullen argued with referee Séamus Aldridge.

Match

Summary

Dublin played the opening half towards the Railway End of Croke Park, that part of the stadium featuring

Hill 16 Hill 16 – officially called Dineen Hill 16 and sometimes referred to as The Hill – is a terrace at the Railway End of Croke Park, the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is located on the North ...

. Kerry played the first half towards the Canal End. Dublin dominated the opening third. Their goalkeeper

, according to

Con Houlihan Con Houlihan (6 December 1925 – 4 August 2012) was an Irish sportswriter. Despite only progressing to national journalism at the age of 46, he became "the greatest and the best-loved Irish sports journalist of all". Journalism career Over a le ...

, caught "a few swirling lofted balls, dropping almost onto his crossbar... as composed and technically correct as if being done to illustrate a text book". Cullen's distribution was also perfect during this period of the game. Dublin's "swift triangular" play led Kerry to foul their opponents and

Jimmy Keaveney James Keaveney (born 12 February 1945) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer. His league and championship career at senior level with the Dublin county team spanned sixteen seasons from 1964 to 1980. Keaveney is widely regarded as one of Dubli ...

duly converted the frees. Kerry forward

Eoin Liston Eoin "Bomber" Liston (born 16 October 1957 in Ballybunion, County Kerry) is an Irish former sportsperson. He played Gaelic football with his local club Beale, his divisional side Shannon Rangers and at senior level for the Kerry county team bet ...

roamed so far down field that his marker Séan Doherty was within sight of the Kerry goal. With 25 minutes gone, Dublin were ahead by 0–6 to 0–1. Dublin kept confidently going forward until a quick brace of passes from

Jack O'Shea Jack O'Shea (born 19 November 1957 in Cahersiveen, County Kerry) is an Irish former sportsperson. He played Gaelic football at various times with his local clubs St Mary's in Kerry and Leixlip in Kildare. He was a member of the Kerry senior foo ...

and

Pat Spillane Patrick Gerard Spillane (born 1 December 1955), better known as Pat Spillane, is an Irish former Gaelic football pundit and player. His National Football League (Ireland), league and All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, championship career ...

put John Egan through on Cullen in the Dublin goal. Cullen was not far enough forward. He set off only for Egan to fist the football over his head and into the Dublin net. Kerry, encouraged, scored a few points only for Dublin to take the lead with a point of their own. John O'Keeffe took a free, deep within the Kerry half. Jack O'Shea caught the football and drove it on a long central trajectory to the 21-yard line. A fist from Mikey Sheehy sent the football behind Dublin's backs. Dublin goalkeeper Paddy Cullen kicked the ball away from Sheehy. Referee Séamus Aldridge blew his whistle for a Kerry free. Sheehy then scored his famous lobbed goal, while Cullen argued with Aldridge.

Michael O'Hehir Michael James Hehir (also known as Michael O'Hehir and ga, Mícheál Ó hEithir; 2 June 1920 – 24 November 1996) was an Irish hurling, football and horse racing commentator and journalist. Between 1938 and 1985 his enthusiasm and memora ...

's befuddled live television commentary went: "Paddy Cullen going out for it... And Paddy Cullen... Oh dearie me. Paddy Cullen adjudged... Oh! A goal, in the greatest freak of all time! The referee gave a free to, eh, Kerry from the 14 metre line, here it is again. Nobody was expecting the ball to be kicked, and before Paddy Cullen could get back into the goal, the ball was in the net". The manner of the goal is still contentious today. While Aldridge had awarded a free to Kerry, there are those who maintain that

Ger Power Ger Power (born 27 June 1952) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for the Austin Stacks club and at senior level for the Kerry county team between 1973 and 1988. Power captained Kerry to the All-Ireland title in 1980. Early life ...

had fouled Cullen shortly before. In any event, Sheehy lobbed the ball over Cullen to give his team the lead.

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

chose it as one of the '' Top 20 GAA Moments'' in 2005 and it features prominently in the 1978 episode of '' Reeling in the Years''. According to

, it is also one of the most viewed incidents from the GAA's archives. Dublin's resistance collapsed in the second half. The half ended in a score of 3–8 to 0–2 in Kerry's favour.

scored the three second-half goals. Kerry won by seventeen points.

Details

Post-match

In the ''

Evening Press The ''Evening Press'' was an Irish newspaper which was printed from 1954 until 1995. It was set up by Éamon de Valera's Irish Press group, and was originally edited by Douglas Gageby. Its principal competitor was the ''Evening Herald'', which ...

'' the following day,

memorably described Cullen's misfortune: "Paddy dashed back towards his goal like a woman who smells a cake burning. The ball won the race and it curled inside the near post as Paddy crashed into the outside of the net and lay against it like a fireman who had returned to find his station ablaze". Cullen and Sheehy recreated the goal in 2017 as part of the centenary commemorations of

Austin Stacks Austin Stacks is a hurling and Gaelic football club based in Tralee in County Kerry, Ireland. Founded in 1917, the club has more All-Ireland Senior Football Championship medals and GAA All-Stars than any other Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA ...

(the club of Sheehy and Ger Power in

Tralee Tralee ( ; ga, Trá Lí, ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the Lee River') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in County ...

). Cullen donned an apron for the occasion and roared "Me cake" as he ran towards the goal. Note: Some minor corrections to the written transcript of O'Hehir's commentary based on the video within. Kevin Moran was a member of the losing Dublin team that day. Moran is known to the English (and others) for his time spent playing soccer with

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

References

{{Kerry county football team matches All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, 1978

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Finals All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Finals Dublin county football team matches Kerry county football team matches