For more information on Monaghan GAA see Monaghan Senior Football Championship or Monaghan Senior Hurling Championship The Monaghan Senior Football Club Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association club competition between the top Monaghan Clubs. ... The Monaghan Senior Hurling Club Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association club competition between the top Monaghan Clubs. ...

Monaghan GAA

Irish:	Muineachán
Province:	Ulster
Nickname:	The Farney Men
County Colours:	White with blue trim
Grounds:	St. Tiernach's Park, Clones
Dominant Sport:	Gaelic football
NFL:	Division 2A
NHL:	Division 3
Football Championship:	Sam Maguire Cup
Hurling Championship:	Nicky Rackard Cup
Ladies' Gaelic football:	Brendan Martin Cup
Camogie:	O'Duffy Cup
Standard colours

The Monaghan County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (Irish: Cumann Luthchleas Gael Coiste Muineachán) or Monaghan GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic Games in County Monaghan and the Monaghan inter-county football and hurling teams. Separate county boards are responsible for the camogie and ladies football teams. Image File history File links Monaghancrest. ... During late Gaelic and early historic times Ireland was divided into provinces to replace the earlier system of the tuatha. ... External links Ulster Council website Category: ... // A nickname is a short, clever, cute, derogatory, or otherwise substitute name for a person or things real name (for example, Bob, Rob, Robby, Robbie, Robi, Bobby, Rab, Bert, Bertie, Butch, Bobbers, Bobert, Beto, Bobadito, and Robban (in Sweden), are all short for Robert). ... Fans of Tyrone (red-and-white) and Kerry (green-and-gold) flying assorted flags on All-Ireland day in Croke Park The GAA county colours of a county in Ireland are the colours of the kit worn by that countys representative team in the Gaelic Athletic Associations inter... St. ... Clones (Irish:Cluain Eois) – pronounced (IPA) – is a small town in western County Monaghan, in the border area of Ireland. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The National Football League (known for sponsorship reasons as the Allianz National Football League) is a Gaelic football tournament held annually between the county teams of Ireland, under the auspices of the Gaelic Athletic Association. ... The National Hurling League (known for sponsorship reasons as the Allianz National Hurling League) is a hurling tournament held annually between the county teams of Ireland, under the auspices of the Gaelic Athletic Association. ... The Gaelic Athletic Association The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Bank of Ireland Football Championship) is the premier knockout competition in the game of Gaelic football played in Ireland. ... The Sam Maguire Cup is the name of the Cup that Gaelic football-teams play for in the final of the Bank of Ireland All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the premier knockout competition in the game of Gaelic football played in Ireland. ... The Gaelic Athletic Association The Liam McCarthy Cup, the greatest hurling prize of all The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Guinness Hurling Championship) is the premier knockout competition in the game of hurling played in Ireland. ... The Nicky Rackard Cup is in effect a competition for the Division 3 hurling teams, the so-called teams in Ireland that would not be considered traditional hurling teams. ... Ladies Gaelic Football is the most prominent amateur team sport for women in Ireland. ... The Sam Maguire Cup is the name of the Cup that Ladies Gaelic football teams play for in the final of the All-Ireland Ladies Senior Football Championship, the premier knockout competition in the game of Gaelic football played by women in Ireland. ... Camogie (in Irish, Camógaíocht) is a Celtic team sport, the female variant of hurling. ... The ODuffy Cup (Irish Corn Uí Dhubhthaigh) is the name of the trophy that Camogie teams play for in the final of the All-Ireland Camogie Championship, the premier knockout competition in the game of camogie (a game similar to hurling played by women in Ireland). ... soccer jersey left arm with white shoulders File links The following pages link to this file: Oldham Athletic A.F.C. IFK Göteborg Malmö FF Template talk:Football kit Assyriska Helsingborgs IF Åtvidabergs FF User:Johan Elisson/football kits Categories: GFDL images | Football kit templates ... Image File history File links Kit_body_thinskybluesides. ... soccer jersey right arm with white shoulders File links The following pages link to this file: Oldham Athletic A.F.C. IFK Göteborg Malmö FF Template talk:Football kit Assyriska Helsingborgs IF Åtvidabergs FF User:Johan Elisson/football kits Categories: GFDL images | Football kit templates ... Image File history File links Kit_shorts. ... socks of kit template File links The following pages link to this file: Arsenal F.C. Ajax Amsterdam AZ Alkmaar A.S. Roma Torino Calcio A.C. Milan ACF Fiorentina Bristol City F.C. Charlton Athletic F.C. Chievo Verona Chelsea F.C. England national football team Wikipedia:WikiProject Football... A stylised Celtic cross serves as the traditional logo of the GAA. The Gaelic Athletic Association (The GAA) (Irish: Cumann Lúthchleas Gael) is an organisation which is mostly focussed on promoting Gaelic games - traditional Irish sports, such as hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball, and rounders. ... Gaelic games are the native sports of Ireland: principally Hurling, Gaelic Football and Camogie. ... Statistics Province: Ulster County Town: Monaghan Code: MN Area: 1,294 km² Population (2006) 55,816 Website: www. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The counties of Ireland, coloured by dominant sport. ... Camogie (in Irish, Camógaíocht) is a Celtic team sport, the female variant of hurling. ...

History

Gaelic football was recorded in Inniskeen in 1806 in a poem. Monaghan were prominent in Ulster championship competitions during the period 1914-30 and one of the first Ulster counties to contest an All Ireland final.

Gaelic football

In 1930 Monaghan beat Kildare in a well-merited if surprise semi-final victory, but the good evaporated on All-Ireland final day when Kerry beat them by 3-11 to 0-2 in the All-Ireland final without their goalkeeper touching the ball.

Recent Inter-county footballing history

In 1979 the Monaghan team came with an army of noisy supporters to Croke Park and were beaten by a devastating 5-14 to 0-07, again by Kerry. The huge support was understandable really as Monaghan had just won the Ulster championship for the first time in 41 years with a convincing defeat of Donegal. This followed wins over defending champions Down in the first round and a semi final win over 1977 champions and All-Ireland finalists Armagh in the semi-final. The Ulster final was remembered for Monaghans Kieran Finlays personal haul of 1-09, which was a record in an Ulster final for 20 years, until Armaghs Oisin Mc Conville bettered it with a 2-07 tally against Down in the Orchard countys 1999 Ulster final success. Remember the name Finlay as it is Kierans son Paul who is mentioned further down this page. Another notable feature of the 1979 Ulster final was that the ball was thrown in twice by the referee at the start. After the initial throw in, Donegal had got a point but it was disallowed and the game had to be restarted as the music band hadn't left the field. The Mc Kenna cup was also won in 1979. Victories in the Ceannarus Tournament against Roscommon and Dublin in 1979 brought gloss to the countys finest year on the football field in almost half a century.

Defeats to Armagh in 1980 and a shockingly disappointing defeat to Down in 1981 in a replay (Down went onto win the Ulster title that year), Tyrone in 1982 left the county feeling as if they were back in the doldrums again.

In 1984 the Centenary cup final was reached following wins over Limerick, Mayo, Offaly (quarter final) and Derry (semi-final after extra time) The Offaly and Derry games were played in Croke Park as was the final against Meath which Monaghan lost by 0-10 to 0-08. Monaghan also won Division 3 of the N.F.L. that year and lost to Meath in the quarter final. A big Ulster championship win over Antrim was "rewarded" with a disappointing 2-08 to 0-09 defeat to Armagh in the semi final.

However 1985 was the countys greatest year to date when a National League final victory against Armagh in 1985 created a momentum that peaked in 1985 when current Louth manager Eamonn McEneaney kicked one of the most spectacular equalising points in many years from 48 metres out near the sideline beside the Hogan stand to draw the thrilling All Ireland semi-final against Kerry on a scoreline of Monaghan 2-09 to Kerrys 1-12. Kerry won the replay on a 2-09 to 0-10 score.

That National football league title of 1985 was won by Monaghan on a 1-11 to 0-09 score against pre-match favourites Armagh. The game was effectively settled by an Eamon Mc Eneaney penalty in the first half when referee John Gough from Antrim decided that an Armagh defender had taken too many steps in his own penalty area. Armagh got to within a point in the second half but a flurry of exceptional long range points from Bernie Murray, Eamon Mc Eneaney and Ray Mc Carron brought the trophy to Monaghan for the first time ever.

The Ulster championship was also a stirring success. An easy first round victory over Donegal in Castleblayney, marked by a spectacular Eamon Murphy goal, followed by a lucky draw against Armagh in the semi final and one point victory in the replay saw Monaghan meed Derry in the Ulster final. The first day against Armagh, Monaghan relied on pure luck to survive for a draw, as Armagh dominated the game from start to finish, doing everything but score. Paddy Linden saved a penalty, while and Armagh player saw the line barely 30 seconds after coming onto the field as a substitute, following an apparent high tackle on Declan Flanagan. The replay was a better match but a late Armagh goal had Monaghan concerned. However they won by 1-11 to 2-07.

In the Ulster final against Derry Eamon Mc Eneaney helped himself to 2-04 as Monaghan recorded and easy 2-09 to 0-08 win. As stated the drawn All-Ireland semi final against Kerry was athriller but the absence of David Byrne through injury in the second half probably cost Monaghan victory. Eamon Mc Eneaneys last gasp equiliser was something special but in the replay Kerry were ruthless and despite serious Monaghan pressure the Kingdom won by 5 points. Monaghans run that year was something special considering the fact that they were missing Declan Loughman, Gerry Hoey and Bernie Murray with broken legs. All three were prominent in the National football league win over Armagh while they would form the spine of the Ulster championship winning side of 1988. It could be argued that with these three players on board, Monaghan could have won the All-Ireland in 1985. Certainly their absence robbed the team of vital strength in depth.

The 1986 league final was reached once more but this time the opposition was Laois. Played in front of over 30,000 supporters the Laoismen edged out Monaghan by 2-06 to 2-05. Monaghans championship run in 1986 consisted of a draw against Down in Castleblayney thanks to a last gap Eamon Mc Eneaney free while in the replay Down emerged victors in Newcastle on a 2-11 to 0-11 score. A promising season was over before it had begun.

In 1987 the league semi-final was reached again where Monaghan and Kerry played out a thrilling game at Croke Park. A superb second half performance against the wind had Monaghan leading by a couple of points near the end but a Pat Spillane goal and a late point by Mikey Sheehy saw the Kingdom win by 2-11 to 2-09. Monaghans goals came from Mick O' Dowd and Hugo Clerkin. Disappointment followed in the Ulster championship with a shock 0-14 to 0-12 loss to Cavan in Breffni Park. The early promise of 1985 looked over as two successive seasons of flattering to deceive left the county in a state of gloom.

In 1988 the league semi-final was again reached but ended in a 4-12 to 1-08 drubbing from Dublin in Croke Park. However a good league run prior to that had rescued a season where relegation to Division 2 of the National Football League looked a distinct possibility. A change in management during that league run also added to the merit of the achievement. The 1988 All Ireland semi-final against Cork was even less memorable - Monaghan were holding out against a gale force wind in the first half and were 0-08 to 0-01 behind at the break. Goalkeeper Paddy Linden had saved a penalty from Larry Tompkins. Two early second half points brought Monaghan to within 5 points. A highly controversial goal following an apparent foul on Monaghans Brendan Murray rocked the Monaghan revival and Cork took over. Lindens display in that match was a significant factor in him being the first Ulster goalkeeper to receive an All-star award that year. As stated the game was decided when Cork scored a dubious goal and the All-Ireland dream died again. With that defeat, the successful team of the mid 80s started to break up.

However 1988 will be remembered for the Ulster title win over Tyrone when a "Nudie" Hughes goal following a fumble by Tyrone keeper Aidan Skelton saw Monaghan win by 1-10 to 0-11. An interesting facet of this particular game was that all Monaghans scores came from play. Previous wins over Cavan (0-16 to 0-14), again marked by a 5 star performance from Nudie Hughes and Down (1-11 to 0-09) had brought Monaghan to the Ulster final.

In 1989 Monaghan scraped home with an 0-08 to 0-05 win against Antrim in Casement Park, Belfast where the homesters literally kicked the game away. Down ended Monaghans run in Castleblayney a few weeks later.

The 1990s and early part of the 2000s were lean years for the county. Notable wins in that period were championship successes over Donegal in 1995 and defending All-Ireland champions Armagh in 2003. The Mc Kenna cup was also won in 1995 against Derry and in 2003 against Tyrone.

Another noticeable effort was a dramatic second half display against Derry in 1992, which saw a 9 point deficit hauled back to earn a draw. Wins were also recorded over Antrim in 1990 and Cavan in 1993 and 1994. After losses to Fermanagh in 1999 and 2000, a win over them was recorded in 2001.

The National football league run of 1998 was also memorable for Monaghan when they surprisingly qualified from a "group of death" that included Tyrone, Dublin, Kerry, Cavan and Sligo to qualify for the quarter finals against Down in Croke Park. Behind at one stage early in the second half by 1-05 to 0-02, the Down goal scored by James Mc Cartan, a rousing rally with goals by Darren Swift and Stephen Mc Ginnitty and a spectacular individual point by Peter Duffy saw Monaghan cause a mild surprise with a 2-05 to 1-06 win. The semi final against Derry was less memorable and defeat on a score of 1-12 to 0-08 was the result. The game had a bit of controversy too when a Mark Daly goal was disallowed and a Monaghan player was sent off. It set the tone for a niggly Ulster championship meeting between both sides a few weeks later. Monaghans Edwin Murphy was sent off on the advice of a linesman but video evidence subsequently cleared him later. However it didn't stop Monaghan suffering a heavy defeat on the day to Derry.

1999 was even less memorable at senior level, the big highlight being the county U-21 side winning the Ulster championship with a final success over Donegal thanks to a last gasp super point from Kieran Tavey. The run ended with a 2-10 to 0-08 defeat to eventual champions Westmeath in Croke Park.

At minor level there was an upsurge in fortunes with the county U-18 team reaching the Ulster minor league finals in 2000 and 2002 losing to Tyrone on both occasions by a point. The Ulster championship final was reached in 2001 for the first time in 18 years when a splendid effort fell short with a 2-13 to 0-13 defeat again to Tyrone. A missed penalty late on when only 4 points separated the sides was a big blow, however on reflection it was Monaghans misfortune to meet Tyrone sides that would backbone their senior All-Ireland winning sides of 2003 and 2005.

2005 was another memorable year for the county when they contested the Division 2 National football league final against Meath at Croke Park. However it took a last gasp point from Paul Finlay in the final league game against Longford in Clones to earn a draw and automatic promotion to Division 1 for the first time in 18 years. The league semi final against Derry in Clones was also a thriller from a Monaghan perspective. A goal within 15 seconds of the throw in by Tommy Freeman set Monaghan on their way and despite Rory Woods being sent off Monaghan held out for a 1-13 to 1-11 win.

The N.F.L. Division 2 final was a thrilling ding dong battle between two well match sides and was full of top drawer scores. It had the 40,000+ crowd on their feetfrom start to finish. Fortunes ebbed and flowed between both sides and in injury time Meath looked like holding onto a 2 point victory. However a Paul Finlay free with the last kick of the game (sounds familiar) from 40 yards out was deflected into the Meath net by a Meath player and Monaghan edged out 3-13 to 3-12 winners. This game preceded the National football league final which saw Armagh overcome Wexford to gain their first league title. This marked Monaghans first visit to Croke Park in 7 years, that resulting in a 1-12 to 0-08 N.F.L. league semi final defeat to Derry back in 1998.

Derry gained revenge in the Ulster championship with a 1-17 to 2-08 win, but back door wins over London, Wexford and Louth brought Monaghan to a last 12 meeting with eventual All-Ireland champions Tyrone in Croke Park. In a very entertaining game the tactic of isolating Tommy Freeman up front caused havoc for Tyrone in the first 25 minutes as they leaked 1-05, the goal a spectacular effort from Freeman. However a shrewd management move from Tyrone resulted in a player being brought back to double mark Freeman and the Farney threat was quashed. On the day Monaghan had no plan "B" and Tyrone took over. They ran out flattering 2-14 to 1-07 winners in the end, limiting Monaghan to a single point from a free in the second half. All the pre match hype surrounded the question as to whether or not Tyrones Ryan Mc Menamin would be playing having being suspended following an incident in the Ulster final. He missed the game but later returned for the quarter final against Dublin. Freemans exploits in the summer of 2005 brought him an All-star nomination and an "Irish News" Ulster All star award on the "40".

2006 saw Monaghan compete in Division 1A of the National football league but apart from a win over Dublin and a draw with Offaly, there was little else to celebrate despite battling displays against Kerry and Tyrone and relegation followed in the spring. The season ended in the championship qualifiers with a desperately poor display against Wexford resulting in an 0-08 to 0-06 defeat. The Mc Kenna Cup final was also reached early in the year but ended in a heavy defeat by Tyrone.

2007

2007 will see Monaghan compete in Division 2A of the National football league. The results of the first two matches away to Roscommon and home to Longford will go a long way to determining the league placings for Monaghan in 2008. Defeat in these two games will mean that Monaghan will occupy a lowly league position in 2008. Other games in the group include away trips to London and Clare while home games against Leitrim, Carlow and Offaly will also prove stern tests. The Ulster Championship sees Monaghan play in the quarter final against the winners of Cavan and Down; who meet in the preliminary round. If successful there they will play the winners of Derry and Antrim in the semi-final. Having avoided the "big 2" namely Armagh and Tyrone, this could well be viewed as Monaghans best chance of reaching an Ulster final for the first time in 19 long years. However in recent seasons they have flattered to decieve and have disappointed their supporters when something big was expected from them. This is a big year fro the Farney county. Time will tell if the team management and players have ther wherewithal to deliver on the big occasion.

Honours

• All-Ireland Junior Football Championships: 1
  • 1956.

• National Football League Division 1: 1
  • 1985.

• National Football League Division 2: 1
  • 2005.

• Ulster Senior Football Championships: 12
  • 1888, 1906, 1914, 1916, 1917, 1921, 1927, 1929, 1930, 1979, 1985, 1988.

• All-Ireland Junior "B": 1
  • 1998.

• Ulster U-21 football Championships: 2
  • 1981, 1999.

• All-stars (football) 6
  • Eugene"Nudie"Hughes 3 (1979,1985,1988).
  • Ciarán Murray 1 (1985).
  • Ray Mc Carron 1 (1986).
  • Paddy Linden 1 (1988).

Hurling

Honours

• All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championships: 1
  • 1997.

• Ulster Senior Hurling Championships: 1
  • 1914, 1915.

Ladies' Gaelic football

Honours

• All-Ireland Ladies' Senior Football Championships: 2
  • 1996, 1997.

• All-Ireland Ladies' Minor Football Championships: 1
  • 1994.

• All-Ireland Ladies' Junior Football Championships: 1
  • 1992.

Camogie

Sources

• The Monaghan Gael by Seamus McCloskey 1967.
• Monaghan GAA Centenary History by Seamus McCloskey, 1984.
• Emyvale GAA History Seamus McCloskey, 1984.
• The memory of a loyal Monaghan GAA supporter.

External links

• Monaghan on Hoganstand.com
• National and provincial titles won by Monaghan teams
• Monaghan GAA site