On Saturday evening, Tyrone and Armagh meet in Croke Park for the first time since their mid-noughties heyday between 2003 and 2005.
Here's a look back at those titanic and often viciously competitive battles.
2003 All-Ireland final
Tyrone 0-12 Armagh 0-09
In September 2003, the three southern provinces whimpered under the might of Ulster dominance.
It was Tyrone and Armagh who contested the first ever All-Ireland final between two teams of the same province - there have been two since, both involving Cork and Kerry.
While most first-time champs are allowed bask in the goodwill of neutrals this wasn't entirely the case for Tyrone.
Southern purists were already discommoded by the manner of their semi-final win over Kerry - the game which birthed the term "puke football" - and they found nothing to love in the final itself.
Ulster pundits were inclined to attribute this to sour grapes on the part of the outmaneuvered southern aristocrats, most especially Kerry.
They failed to appreciate the sophistication of the new defensive approaches, the argument went.
Peter Canavan, taken off and re-introduced later on, and Owen Mulligan kicked seven frees between them and Stephen O'Neill lobbed over 0-2 from play.
But the pivotal moments were the sending-off of Diarmuid Marsden and Conor Gormley legendary block on Steven McDonnell when he was through on goal.
2005 Ulster final
Armagh 2-08 Tyrone 0-14
Replay: Armagh 0-13 Tyrone 0-11
The fanaticism surrounding the Ulster championship ballooned to such an extent during the mid-noughties that the 40,000-capacity stadium in Clones was no longer deemed capable of holding the crowds.
Between 2004 and 2006, Croke Park was the venue for the Ulster final. Fans of Ulster's finest teams descended on Dublin for their provincial final.
All three of those Croker Ulster deciders were won by Armagh. They dispatched Donegal in 2004 and 2006 but in between required a replay to overcome Tyrone in 2005.
Armagh were clinging onto Tyrone for most of the drawn game, desperately trying to prevent their neighbours from getting too far ahead. Second half goals from Oisin McConville and Steven McDonnell enabled Armagh to wrestle a draw out of a game they surely should have lost.
Peter Canavan and Ciaran McKeever were sent off for their starring roles in a mass brawl which began with a forceful Canavan tackle on Kieran McGeeney.
Minutes later, Stephen O'Neill was shown a second yellow card for a heavy late shoulder on Andy Mallin. While this call was highly debateable, even more so was the referee's failure to send off Ryan McMenamin when he dropped his knees on John McEntee early in injury-time.
Again in the replay, Armagh finished strongly, hitting the final six points of the game to win by two, with Osin McConville kicking two crucial points in injury time.
2005 All-Ireland semi-final
The holders of Croke Park season tickets got to see plenty of Tyrone and Armagh in 2005.
Six weeks after Armagh retained the Anglo-Celt Cup, the pair met in Dublin yet again. The history of the qualifiers tells us that a team who've been vanquished in their province usually has a powerful incentive should they meet their provincial conqueror in the All-Ireland series.
On four occasions during the noughties, Cork overcame Kerry in Munster before succumbing to them later on the summer in the more high-profile encouners of Croke Park.
Even in the inaugural year of the qualifier system, eventual All-Ireland champions Galway were on the end of a standard Roscommon ambush in Tuam in a Connacht semi-final before disposing of them very easily in Castlebar in the All-Ireland quarter-final.
And so it proved in the 2005 All-Ireland semi-final with Tyrone emerging to win by a point after a titanic battle. The thrilling contest banished the memory of the masty Ulster final replay.
The finale was one scripted by the romantics with Peter Canavan, in his final season for Tyrone, kicking over the winning free deep in injury time on the Hogan Stand side.
