Denis Coughlan book extract: The bitter Cork GAA row that even the Taoiseach couldn't defuse

The Glen Rovers team of 1967: Back, from left: Denis O’Riordan; Patsy Harte; Denis Coughlan; Mick Lane; Maurice Twomey; Dave Moore; Jerry O’Sullivan; Tom Corbett. Front, from left: Mick Kenneally; Jackie Daly; John Young; Seanie Kennefick, captain; Bill Carroll; Christy Ring, and Finbarr O’Neill.

Five All-Irelands, 12 Munster titles, four All-Stars. Cork’s Denis Coughlan was a dual-code Rolls Royce of a player for club and county. Not that he hadn’t obstacles along the way. In a revealing insight from his autobiography, ‘Everything’, published this week, Coughlan addresses for the first time the bitter stand-off between his beloved Glen Rovers/St Nicks and the Cork County Board in the late 60’s – a conflict with its origins in a Championship clash with UCC.

ON SUNDAY July 28th, 1968 Glen Rovers played UCC in the quarter-final of the county hurling championship and it was a tight game. UCC had a very good team including Ray Cummins, Billy Morgan, Tom Field, Paddy Crowley and John O’Halloran. With about a minute to go, we got a ‘70’.