Greatest Irish Players in Premier League History
From Roy Keane’s dominance at Manchester United to Robbie Keane’s goals at Tottenham, Ireland has produced some of the Premier League’s most memorable footballers.
Ireland has always sent footballers across the water. Some went over for a trial and were home within weeks. Others stayed and became part of Premier League history, lifting titles, wearing the armband at big clubs and scoring goals that still turn up in highlight reels. Not bad for a country of around five and a half million people.
For Irish fans, 2004/05 takes some beating. Roy Keane was still the boss in Manchester United’s midfield. Shay Given was the number one at Newcastle. Robbie Keane was leading the line at Spurs, and over at Chelsea, Damien Duff was tormenting full-backs in a title-winning side. None of them were squad fillers. Most were first names on the teamsheet.
Ranking them is tricky. Trophies count, but so does staying power at the top level and what each player meant to his club. Some of these calls will start an argument in any pub in the country. That’s half the fun.
Premier League titles won by Roy Keane
Premier League goals by Robbie Keane
Premier League appearances by Shay Given
Part of what made these players so memorable was how much they shaped a matchday. Robbie Keane was the kind of striker punters loved to back to score first, while Roy Keane’s temper meant a yellow card was never far away.
Betting was a lot simpler in those days. It looks very different next to football betting today because almost every part of a game now has its own market, from the number of corners and cards to shots on target and assists. What hasn’t grown is the number of Irish names on Premier League teamsheets, and that makes what the players below achieved even more impressive.
Ireland’s Premier League Legends
01 Roy Keane – Manchester United
Roy Keane has to go first. Nottingham Forest were relegated in 1993 and Manchester United beat Blackburn to his signature, paying £3.75 million, a British record back then.
Seven league titles followed. When Eric Cantona retired in 1997 the armband went to Keane, and for the next eight years he was the man driving that dressing room.
In 2021 he became the fourth player voted into the Premier League Hall of Fame, after Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry and Cantona.
Ask anyone who played against him and you will hear the same thing. He set the standard.
02 Denis Irwin – Manchester United
Denis Irwin doesn’t get mentioned enough. The Corkman also won seven Premier League titles with United and hardly ever had an off day, whether he was at left-back or right-back.
He took plenty of United’s penalties and free kicks too. There were more spectacular players in that great United side, but few were as reliable.
03 Robbie Keane – Tottenham Hotspur
Nobody from the Republic of Ireland has scored more Premier League goals than Robbie Keane. He got 126 of them across six clubs, starting at Coventry in 1999 and finishing with a loan spell at Aston Villa in 2012.
Tottenham is where he was at his best, and he ended up captaining the club. You always knew when he had scored. Out came the cartwheel.
04 Shay Given – Newcastle United
Shay Given made 451 Premier League appearances and kept 113 clean sheets. Much of his career was spent at Newcastle, where the Lifford man became a cult hero at St James’ Park.
He made the PFA Team of the Year twice, in 2001/02 and 2005/06, before later spells at Manchester City, Aston Villa and Stoke.
For years, Given was one of the first names Irish supporters looked for on a Saturday afternoon.
05 Damien Duff – Chelsea
Damien Duff was the entertainer. Blackburn fans saw the best of him first, so it was no surprise when Chelsea came calling in 2003.
José Mourinho arrived a year later, and Duff won the league in each of the next two seasons. Spells at Newcastle and Fulham followed, including a run to the 2010 Europa League final with Fulham.
At his best, Duff could turn a match with one run down the wing.
06 John O’Shea – Manchester United
John O’Shea won five Premier League titles at United and played just about everywhere for Alex Ferguson, even in goal once.
He was never the most glamorous name in the squad, but his versatility and reliability made him invaluable during one of the most successful periods in United’s history.
07 Seamus Coleman – Everton
Seamus Coleman took a different route. Everton paid Sligo Rovers £60,000 for him in January 2009, and 17 years later he left as the club’s record Premier League appearance maker.
He became Everton captain, earning enormous respect from supporters through his consistency, leadership and commitment.
Few transfers in modern Premier League history have represented better value.
08 Paul McGrath – Aston Villa
Paul McGrath only had a few Premier League seasons left in him, but what seasons they were.
His knees were so bad that he rarely trained, yet he was named PFA Players’ Player of the Year at Aston Villa in 1993.
His reading of the game and composure made him one of the finest defenders Ireland has produced.
Some are remembered for trophies, others for goals, loyalty or leadership. The great Irish players brought different qualities, but all left a lasting mark on English football.
Where Irish Talent Goes From Here
Things are different for young Irish players now. Since Brexit, clubs in England can’t generally sign them until they turn 18, so more are learning their trade in the League of Ireland first, the same way Coleman did.
That is why the debate around the challenges facing Irish football matters so much for where the national team goes next.
Maybe the next Roy Keane is already playing at Dalymount, Tallaght or the Showgrounds. Whoever it is, they will have a lot to live up to. The players on this list didn’t come over to make up the numbers. At their best, they ran the place.
