{"id":656253,"date":"2026-10-16T06:06:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T06:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/656253\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T06:06:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T06:06:17","slug":"cork-hurling-seamus-harnedy-didnt-get-the-ending-he-deserved-but-dalton-has-unfinished-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/656253\/","title":{"rendered":"Cork hurling: Seamus Harnedy didn’t get the ending he deserved but Dalton has unfinished business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two marquee names exited the Cork stage last week but in very different circumstances.<\/p>\n

Seamus Harnedy bowed out at the age of 36 having been one of the consistent elite forwards of the modern era. A three-time All-Star and four-time Munster champion, a Celtic Cross eluded him but he gave it everything and started every championship outing from 2015 to ’24. If available, he was an automatic<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While he had the lineage as his father Se\u00e1n hurled for Waterford and his mother Cathy Landers collected six All-Ireland medals, Harnedy wasn’t a Cork minor and was a fringe player at U21. Fitzgibbon Cup success with UCC gave him a platform and a Man of the Match display on his debut in the 2013 Munster final victory over Clare, he never looked back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"SeamusSeamus Harnedy celebrates his goal against Clare at Croke Park in 2013. Picture: Eddie O’Hare<\/p>\n

Remarkable going.<\/p>\n

Unfinished business<\/p>\n

Declan Dalton, in contrast, hasn’t been included in Cork’s preseason plans for Ben O’Connor’s second campaign, so certainly, isn’t bowing out on his terms.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Only 29 next month, the Fr O’Neill’s club man started All-Ireland finals in 2024 and ’25. While those games didn’t go to plan, Dalton had been superb in a number of matches across both seasons, particularly in curbing Kyle Hayes’ enthusiasm in the 2024 semi-final but also against Tipp and Dublin the following summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"DeclanDeclan Dalton with a brilliant sideline point against Tipperary in the 2018 U21 final at P\u00e1irc U\u00ed Chaoimh. Picture: Eddie O’Hare<\/p>\n

Despite an electric showing in the league opener against Waterford, Dalton didn’t get sufficient game time at all this year though injuries were a factor there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even in 2025, his league was truncated and while he forced his way back into the line-up for championship, coming off the bench to hit the leveller in Ennis, he missed the Waterford group game and then the Munster final.<\/p>\n

There had been a clamour from some Cork fans to audition Dalton in goal, having lined out there for the Cork minors in 2015 and in the first of Imokilly’s three in a row in 2017.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n While his striking and strength make that appealing in theory, the reality is he’s a powerhouse forward.\n <\/p>\n

At the end of the Kieran Kingston era, Dalton found himself on the periphery but earned a recall due to his club form. He could yet do the same.<\/p>\n

Iconic<\/p>\n

The final curtain has certainly fallen for Harnedy though, and he exits with no shortage of memorable moments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He was never a prolific goal-scorer. He finished with 9-156, but had that knack for hitting the net when it mattered, including the 2013 All-Ireland final replay, the 2014 and ’18 Munster finals and the epic 2024 battle with Limerick in the P\u00e1irc.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"SeamusSeamus Harnedy celebrates his goal in front of the Cork fans against Limerick in 2014. Picture: Eddie O’Hare<\/p>\n

Of course, the goal he didn’t get was also a pivotal moment in modern hurling. Nickie Quaid’s sensational save denied Cork a place in the 2018 All-Ireland and sparked the Treaty’s era of dominance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Rebels missed out on the decider eight years ago but the St Ita’s club man featured in five All-Ireland finals, two in ’13, and three this decade.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n None of them ended with the Liam MacCarthy Cup back on Leeside but Harnedy certainly wasn’t at fault.\n <\/p>\n

In the 2021 humiliation, he grabbed 0-4 from play and matched that in ’24 against Clare, even though he was withdrawn before extra time. In 2025, injuries began to impact and he was reduced to a sub’s role against Tipp but managed a point and struck the crossbar.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"SeamusSeamus Harnedy breaking past Limerick’s Dan Morrissey during the Munster final in 2025. Picture: Eddie O’Hare<\/p>\n

His ball-winning, movement and couple of points from play in the 2025 Munster final helped Cork upset the odds in the Gaelic Grounds. It was his last championship start in Rebel red.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A warrior on the pitch but a gentleman off it, he didn’t get the All-Ireland he deserved. The cruelty of sport summed up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two marquee names exited the Cork stage last week but in very different circumstances. Seamus Harnedy bowed out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1965,1964,61,60,112],"class_list":["post-656253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-hurling","tag-cork-gaa","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}