Episode 2

The Dublin jackeens wonder if they will ever shape up against the culchies from the countryside. Cue Kevin ‘Heffo’ Heffernan – and Dublin’s first stab at All-Ireland glory. Featuring one of the most spectacular skills in the game, the high catch, we meet the phantom of Valentia Island. Kerry legend Mick O’Connell would row ashore, dominate All-Irelands and be on his currach home almost before the crowds had left Croke Park.

Meanwhile, new visions from Ulster sweep away the southern order. Down’s Joe Lennon had fresh ideas, and his tactical nous helped carry the Sam Maguire across the border for the very first time. And where were the women? In the early 1970s, as the women’s movement was shaking Ireland, a pioneering nun, Sister Pauline Gibbons, burst onto the scene, making headlines and setting the stage for future stars like Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh, Juliet Murphy and Noëlle Healy.

Meanwhile, that craftiest of Kerrymen, Mick O’Dwyer, was sharpening the tools that would lead his bachelors to unprecedented success. Forty years had passed since Dublin last beat the Kerrymen, and nursing the wounds of many desperate defeats, Dublin’s Kevin Heffernan embraced nascent sports science. When his new squadron of Dubs and Kerry collided, a rivalry for the ages was born. Gaelic football was transformed, and suddenly it was sexy in the city.