# Who is the greatest Northern Irish sportsperson of all time?

> A country of under two million people that keeps producing world champions, across golf, football, boxing, snooker and motorcycling.

*By YPB Team · Published September 4, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/who-is-the-greatest-northern-irish-sportsperson-of-all-time*

---

## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Rory McIlroy**
   Six major championships and a career Grand Slam, from Holywood, County Down.
2. **George Best**
   Won the Ballon d'Or in 1968 and is still on most lists of the finest footballers ever.
3. **Barry McGuigan**
   Won the WBA featherweight title in 1985 in front of 26,000 people at Loftus Road.
4. **Mary Peters**
   Won Olympic pentathlon gold in Munich in 1972 with a world-record score.
5. **Alex Higgins**
   Two-time world snooker champion who dragged the sport onto primetime television.
6. **Dennis Taylor**
   Beat Steve Davis on the final black in the 1985 world snooker final, watched by 18.5 million.
7. **Graeme McDowell**
   Won the 2010 US Open at Pebble Beach, the first European to take the title in forty years.
8. **Darren Clarke**
   Won the 2011 Open Championship at Royal St George's at the age of forty-two.
9. **Carl Frampton**
   Won world titles at two weights and headlined in Belfast, New York and Las Vegas.
10. **Jonathan Rea**
   Six consecutive World Superbike championships between 2015 and 2020.
11. **Joey Dunlop**
   Twenty-six Isle of Man TT wins, still among the highest totals in the event's history.
12. **Pat Jennings**
   Kept goal in over 1,000 senior matches and won 119 caps for Northern Ireland.
13. **Eddie Irvine**
   Four Formula 1 wins and second place in the 1999 drivers' championship.

Tags: sports, legends, all-time