Great days for the Irish

Willie John McBride and Colin Meads after the Lions' victory in 1971. Herald file picture

Today is the day when Irishmen scour wardrobes and sock drawers for anything with a green hue. And this St Patrick's Day, thousands of them will mark the day with a patriotic punt on the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival, where the black stuff will doubtless be given the hammer in the Guinness Village.

Here are 10 great Irish sporting achievements:

1. Soccer

It might have been a World Cup to make Gazza weep, but Irish eyes were smiling as they produced their best-ever finals showing, in Italia 90, reaching the quarter-finals. Kevin Sheedy cancelled out Gary Lineker's strike as Jack Charlton - a World Cup winner in 1966 - masterminded the Republic's 1-1 draw against England in the group opener. After being held by Egypt, the Republic drew 1-1 with reigning European champions Holland thanks to a Niall Quinn goal after 20 minutes.

They then had marginally the best of their last-16 clash with Romania, which ended 0-0, but Arsenal stopper David O'Leary raised the roof for the men in green with the winning goal in a penalty shootout that booked a date with hosts Italy.

Toto Schillaci, the tournament's top scorer, broke Irish hearts, hitting the winner after 38 minutes, but the plucky Irish would get their revenge four years later when the teams met in New York. Ray Houghton (whose goal humbled England in a 1-0 shock win in Euro 88) crashed the ball home from outside the box. A second-round defeat to Holland could not dent the Irish fans' pride - after all, England hadn't even qualified.

2. Boxing

Barry McGuigan - the Clones Cyclone, as he was known - became a legend overnight when he beat Eusebio Pedrosa at Queens Park Rangers' soccer ground in west London on an emotion-charged June night in 1985 to claim the WBA world featherweight title.

With his dad, Pat - a former Eurovision song contest entrant for Ireland - singing Danny Boy before the first round, a raucus crowd witnessed a classic.

McGuigan staggered the champion twice but was lucky to see the bell at the end of the 15th round. He won on points and dedicated his win to Young Ali, a Nigerian who died after fighting him three years earlier.

The plaudits rained in - even a letter from US President Ronald Reagan. He defended his title twice, against Bernard Taylor and Angel Cabrera, before losing on points in the choking heat of Las Vegas to unknown American Steve Cruz.

3. Racing

Dawn Run was the little mare with a big heart - and now a Cheltenham pub is named after her.

They said hurdlers don't win the Gold Cup - THE championship chase of the National Hunt season in England. Two years after winning the Champion Hurdle under Irishman Jonjo O'Neill, the Paddy Mullins-trained mare went back to Cheltenham in 1986 seeking a place in the record books. The horse had missed 13 months with a leg injury. And while O'Neill had tasted victory in the Gold Cup (on Alverton in 1979), his mount had it all to do. With two fences to go, any of four could have won it.

At the last, Dawn Run looked out of it, but halfway up the straight she rallied and went past Forgive N' Forget to trail Wayward Lad by three lengths. Incredibly as the leader veered off, O'Neill got her home by a length. The Irish contingent were hoarse - and soon the worse for drink, paid for in large part by the bookies.

The Dawn Run fairytale ended three months later when she died after falling in France. O'Neill had his own dramas, beating cancer before forging a career as a trainer. And then there was that other Irish legend of the turf, Arkle ... son of a 48-guinea stallion, he won three Gold Cups in 1964-66 and 22 of 26 chases. Best Mate equalled his record recently but it is impossible to compare eras.

4. Rugby

They say Willie John McBride was hewn from the same piece of granite as Colin Meads. No team - not even the All Blacks - had beaten the Springboks on home soil until the Lions of 1974 achieved the 'impossible' to McBride's rallying cry: "Remember lads ... there's no retreat. No more talk now. Just make peace with yourselves". Being a Lion on the successful New Zealand tour in 1971 was special but, says McBride, "nothing I ever did on the rugby field comes close to '74". The squad brimmed with names from the pantheon of British rugby - JPR Williams, JJ Williams, Andy Irvine, Ian McGeechan, Phil Bennett, Gareth Edwards, Mervyn Davies, Roger Uttley and Fran Cotton. But it was McBride's indomitable leadership that gave them the edge as they completed more than three gruelling months in South Africa.

5. Golf

There has been only one Ryder Cup without an Irishman on the British or European team.

Often he's been the hero: In 1987, at Muirfield Village, Ohio, Eamonn Darcy held out against Ben Crenshaw in a remarkable last-day singles.

The American played for 12 holes without a putter. He broke it in anger and had to putt with a pitching wedge, losing only on the 18th as the visitors produced a first win on American soil, 15-13.

Two years later, at the Belfry, Christy O'Connor jnr lashed a famous two-iron approach to the heart of the 18th in the final singles to see off Fred Couples and retain the Cup for Europe in a dramatic 14-14 draw.

Then 2002 - Dubliner Paul McGinlay's 10-footer on the 18th against Jim Furyk won the trophy back for Europe at the Belfry in 2002.

And this September, at the K Club, County Kildare, Ireland gets to host the competition against America's top dozen stars for the first time - with Ireland's Des Smyth, a former successful team member, one of skipper Ian Woosnam's assistants.

6. Athletics

Sonia O'Sullivan was the Irish darling of the track, winning gold at the 1995 world championships and Olympic silver at Sydney in 2000, losing only narrowly to Romanian Gabriela Szabo over 5000m. She dominated women's distance running for a time, fulfilling her promise as a youngster, when she won the World student games 1500m in Sheffield in 1991.

In 1992, she set six Irish national records, including five in just 11 days in mid-August following the Barcelona Olympics. At Barcelona, in the 3000m final, O'Sullivan was always in contention, and hit the lead in the back straight on the final lap, but was eventually outsprinted and missed out on a medal. In 1993 she won a world championship silver at 1500m. Further medals followed in world cross country events. She now has Australian citizenship as well as her Irish passport and continues to run competitively.

7. Snooker

Ken Doherty became the Republic's first ever world champion when he ended Stephen Hendry's run of five successive wins in 1997. After Doherty beat the all-conquering Scot 18-12, more than 250,000 lined Dublin's streets to welcome him home. A big Manchester United, fan, he wowed 55,000 fans when he showed off the trophy there a few weeks later. A brilliant amateur, he became the first player to win both amateur and professional titles (the former in 1989).

8. Athletics

Eamonn Coghlan was known as the 'chairman of the boards' for his dominance of the indoor track. Between 1974 and 1987 he won 52 of 70 races over 1500m and mile. Twice in 1979 he set world records for the mile indoors and in 1981 lowered it again. Fourth in the mile in Montreal (1976) was the closest he got to an Olympic medal, but once he moved up to the 5000m he became a world champion. In 1983 he became the first man to run a sub 3m 50s mile, but at the inaugural World Championships in Helsinki he opted for the 5000m. He won handily in 13m 28.53s. In 1994 he ran a mile in 3m 58.15s, to become the first man over 40 (he was 41) to break the 4-minute barrier.

9. Athletics

John Treacy, Freeman of Waterford. Oh, and a pretty handy athlete, too. From third in the world as a junior cross country runner, he went on to win successive senior cross country crowns, in 1979-80, and then won silver in the 1984 Olympic marathon. His best days seemed behind him when he lined up in Los Angeles for the marathon - his first. His silver, behind Portugal's Carlos Lopes, was Ireland's first medal since Ronnie Delany won gold in Melbourne (1956) in the 1500m. Later he became CEO of the Irish Sports Council. Few can be better qualified.

10. Swimming

Michelle Smith (later de Bruin). Bubbly lass became the golden girl of Irish sport. She was single-handedly responsible for Ireland's second-largest medal haul at one Olympics - three golds and a bronze in Atlanta in 1996. There had been little hint of such form as the games approached, and she won the 400m freestyle and 200m and 400m individual medley. She added bronze in the 200m butterfly.

Despite rival swimmers' hints, there was no proof of foul play. Suspicion stemmed from her husband and coach, Dutchman Erik de Bruin, banned for four years during his discus career after testing positive for illegal levels of testosterone.

Two years after Atlanta, the International Swimming Federation banned Smith/de Bruin for four years after a urine sample in a routine random drug test was found to be contaminated with alcohol, though this has never been explained. Although not stripped of her medals, she became a hate figure in her homeland.