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The 32 Mount Rushmores | Kildare's top sports people

Our search for the Mount Rushmore for each county in Ireland takes us to the home of the Lilywhit...



The 32 Mount Rushmores | Kilda...
Other Sports

The 32 Mount Rushmores | Kildare's top sports people

Our search for the Mount Rushmore for each county in Ireland takes us to the home of the Lilywhites tomorrow morning - with Off The Ball presenters Ger Gilroy and Joe Molloy facing the unenviable task of selecting the top four sports stars from their native Kildare. 

They'll be making their picks on OTB AM and in a county renowned for horse racing and gaelic football in particular there's set to some hotly fought debates ahead, let's have a look at the runners and riders.

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With 59 wins at the Cheltenham Festival, Ruby Walsh is considered to be one of the best jumps jockeys in the history of horse racing. His sparkling CV includes two Gold Cups, four Champion Hurdles and three Champion Chases at the Festival as well as two Grand National successes.

12 times the Irish champion jockey, his career ended with his seventh Punchestown Gold cup victory on Kemboy last year. Along with his Grand National successes on either side of the Irish Sea, he also won Nationals in Australia and America.

Paddy Eddery holds 11 flat champion jockey titles and the distinction of riding the winner in three Derbies at Epsom. Eddery won multiple Classics in Britain and is landed four Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe titles in the 1980s as part of an incredible riding career. In all, he won over 4,000 flat races in Britain.

 

 

 

Three Heineken Cup winners will be very much in the conversation for selection, Newbridge's Geordan Murphy was part of Leicester's back-to-back European winning sides in 2001 and 02 and was an integral part of their four Premiership winning teams in the early 2000s while also amassing 72 Ireland caps across 11 years.

Trevor Brennan also found European success while on foreign soil, winning two Champions Cups with Toulouse (in 2003 and 2005) and also played in their loss to Wasps in the 2004 decider.

While Jamie Heaslip is one of Ireland's most decorated players, winning 95 caps for his county as well three Six Nations Championships, the former Lions number eight was a three-time European winner with Leinster and was twice shortlisted for the world rugby of the year prize.

 

 

 

There's an array of options available in gaelic football, Anthony Rainbow and John Doyle both hold All-Stars and Leinster Senior Football medals while Glenn Ryan skippered the Lilywhites in Kildare's run to the 1998 All-Ireland Football final.

The manager of that team, Mick O'Dwyer, is also in contention as is the All-Star midfielder on the side Dermot EarlyPat Dunny holds the unique achievement of being named on Kildare's team of the millennium in both hurling and football.

Having not made the Cork Mount Rushmore, could there be a place in Kildare for Larry Tompkins?

 

 

Monasterevin's Willoughby Hamilton won the 1890 Wimbledon title and also held the distinction of representing Ireland in football and badminton.

Curran native Nonpareil Jack Dempsey holds the distinction of being the boxing's first world middleweight champion, holding that title between 1884 and 1891. Eric Donovan holds 12 wins from 12 to date as a professional and was also a European medalist and five time national champion as an amateur.

And what about former Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Emma Byrne? The Leixlip native kept goal for Ireland on a record 134 occasions and won the women's Champions League, nine English titles and 9 women's FA Cups during her career with Arsenal.

 

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Missed any of our Mount Rushmore county-by-county series? Get all episodes so far here! 

Here is Nathan Murphy's selection of Mayo's Mount Rushmore from Episode One!

Here is Colm Boohig's selection of Cork's Mount Rushmore from Episode Two!

Here is Will O'Callaghan and Paul Rouse's selection of Offaly's Mount Rushmore from Episode Three!

Here is Shane Hannon and Gráinne McElwain's selection of Monaghan's Mount Rushmore from Episode Four!

Here is Diarmuid Lyng and Liam Griffin's selection of Wexford's Mount Rushmore from Episode Five!

Here is Neil Treacy and Jack Anderson's selection of Limerick's Mount Rushmore from Episode Six!

Here is Enda Coll and Kieran Cunningham's selection of Donegal's Mount Rushmore from Episode Seven!

Here is Máire-Treasa Nic-Cheallaigh and Michael Lyster's selection of Galway's Mount Rushmore from Episode Eight!

Here is Adrian Barry and Conor Moore's selection of Westmeath's Mount Rushmore from Episode Nine!

Here is Ronan Mullen and Dan McDonnell's selection of Louth's Mount Rushmore from Episode Ten!

Here is Alan Quinlan and Michael Quinlivan's selection of Tipperary's Mount Rushmore from Episode Eleven!

Here is Tommy Rooney and Hector Ó'hEochagáin's selection of Meath's Mount Rushmore from Episode Twelve!

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Jamie Heaslip Kildare Mount Rushmore Ruby Wlash