Love it or hate it, the Páirc gave us days we’ll never forget

It’s hard not to get nostalgic as a Cork person in a week such as this, but it doesn’t necessarily mean getting all romantic either.

Páirc Uí Chaoimh was like so much of the GAA in the county and country: a source and place of conflict, one mass contradiction. It was both a kip and the best place to watch a game.

Its corridors, especially of power, could be cold and unwelcoming yet games played in that cauldron were as hot and as electrifying as any ever played in this country.