And still.. Katie Taylor remains Ireland’s Most Admired Athlete.
The Irish Sporting Icon was voted as such for the NINTH year in a row. The two-weight undisputed world champion retained her crown on the Teneo Sport and Sponsorship Index (TSSI), a 1,000-strong survey conducted by Teneo’s Sports Advisory team and iReach Insights.
Taylor topped that category, receiving 14% of the vote. As in 2024, a win in her only fight of the year, the highly anticipated trilogy fight against Amanda Serrano, was enough to see the Bray boxer retain her crown.
Ireland’s only double Olympic gold medal winning boxer Kellie Harrington also appears on the list finishing in joint fifth on 4% of the vote.
Troy Parrott debuts on the list in second place on 10% after his goalscoring heroics against Portugal and Hungary that kept Ireland’s World Cup hopes alive.
NEW YORK, NY – JULY 11: during the Taylor vs Serrano 3 fight night presented by MVP and Netflix on July 11th at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
©Michelle Farsi/MVP Promotions/MSG
Rory McIlroy takes third place (7%) after completing the career Grand Slam at Augusta, followed by Shane Lowry in fourth (6%) after the Clara golfer sank the putt at Bethpage to retain the Ryder Cup for Europe.
Bundee Aki, the Ireland, Connacht and British and Irish Lions centre, shares fifth place (4%) with Harrington, recently retired jockey Rachael Blackmore and the Republic of Ireland men’s football internationals, Caoimhín Kelleher and Séamus Coleman.
Taylor also finished high on the Most Memorable Sporting Moments of the year. Her win over Serrano at Madison Square Garden finishing second behind Parrott’s hat trick against Hungary.
Two iconic golfing moments shared third place on 10% apiece — Rory McIlroy’s putt to complete the career Grand Slam with victory at the Masters in Augusta, and Shane Lowry’s emotional celebrations after rolling in a nerveless seven-footer on the 18th at Bethpage to retain the Ryder Cup for Europe.
In fifth place on 6% was Kate O’Connor’s poignant embrace with her father and coach, Michael, after claiming silver in the heptathlon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
The findings come from a TSSI survey, conducted with quotas across gender, region, age and social class, examining attitudes among the Irish public towards sport and sporting heroes. Now in its 16th year, the research was carried out across the Republic of Ireland between December 3 and 11 and reflects the views of the general public, not solely sports fans or experts.