This weekend the Downey brothers, Rob and Eoin, will become the latest siblings to feature together in the hurling showpiece.
It still seems something of a novelty that siblings will feature together on All-Ireland hurling final day, but a glance back through history would suggest otherwise.
In the last 50 All-Ireland hurling finals, all but five have featured brothers. The last time it occurred was when the two finalists crossed paths in 2013. Prior to that, 2010, 2009, 1999 and 1990 were the only "brother-less" finals until you go back to 1972.
Information on such matters can be tricky to pinpoint, but local GAA historian Leo McGough has been compiling notes for different areas within the game over the years.
Prior to the 1930s, family connections can be tricky to verify, but from that period onwards he has gathered valuable information on each championship year, information the association itself has struggled to comprehensively cover.
By his reckoning, the Downeys will become the 69th set of brothers to grace All-Ireland hurling final day in close to 100 years.
Just a year out of the Under-20 grade, Eoin Downey has looked right at home on the edge of the square, a problem position for the Rebels since they were last serial contenders.
Having played a good deal of his underage career in the half-back line, the Glen Rovers man may end up back in that area further down the line, but with Cork currently well stocked for options there, he seems set to spend the foreseeable future further back.
Parachuted into the team after the opening Munster defeat to Waterford – he made his debut last year against Tipperary - he has been trusted by Pat Ryan with the number 3 on his back.
His semi-final tussle with Limerick’s Seamus Flanagan was bubbling away nicely a fortnight ago – Downey's name was added into Thomas Walsh’s notebook – before the bustling full-forward was called ashore in the second half.
It marked a stark contrast to the Munster win over the reigning champions, when it was the Cork man hooked after 20 minutes after also picking up an early booking and the management team fearing a potential early bath as he struggled to keep tabs on Flanagan.
Cork’s last appearance in the final, a sobering defeat to Limerick in 2021, also saw a 21-year-old Downey manning the edge of the square. It was a day to forget for Cork and indeed the full-back line as Limerick ran amok, plundering 3-32 in a 16-point win.
Downey got his wires crossed with Sean O’Donoghue for the Treaty men’s second goal, while Gearoid Hegarty was afforded too much space for the third.
The entire Cork rearguard was savaged on the day, but there was always a sense that the elder Downey offered more further out the field. Strong under opposition puckouts and a launchpad for attacks, his weaving surge and point on the run to get Cork up and running in the semi-final set the tone for commanding display in the half-back line.
It backed up his May performance against the same opposition. Darragh Fitzgibbon went home with the player of the match award that day after five points from midfield, but it could just as easily gone to the Glen man.
The 24-year-old was dominant aerially and clever in possession, with Cian Lynch moved elsewhere in an effort to work his way into the game.
Ciarán Joyce, considered Cork’s long-term option at six, has been troubled with injury on occasions, yet Downey is revelling either in a central position or on the wing.
The family names of Connolly, Reid, O'Connor, Morrissey, Whelehan, Bonnar, Walsh, O h'Ailpín, Dooley and McGrath are just some of those that will be forever associated with family ties in hurling.
Some stories over the years have stood out among the rest.
The 1917 decider between Tipperary and Dublin saw the unique situation where Stephen (Tipp) lined out against his older brother Martin, who at the time was playing for Faughs in the capital.
Such a scenario also occurred in the 1952 All-Ireland football final, when Des and Liam Maguire played for Cavan, where they came up against younger sibling Brendan who togged out for Meath.
The 1970 All-Ireland hurling final saw four Quigley brothers – Dan, John, Martin and Paul – all part of the Wexford side sunk by goal-hungry Cork, with an all-Quigley half-forward line, while Kilkenny’s 1987 defeat to Galway was notable in the fact that more than half the side was made of brothers.
The Fennelly’s (Ger, Kevin, Sean and Liam), Hendersons (Ger and John, while older brother Pat was the manager) and Ryans (Lester and Harry) were all on the receiving end of a six-point defeat to the Tribesmen.
Watch the All-Ireland Hurling Championship final, Cork v Clare, on Sunday from 2.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1
