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BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Down edge Louth for second All-Ireland group stage win
Down made it two wins from two in the group stage of the All-Ireland series as they survived a late Louth fightback to win 0-25 to 0-24 at Pairc a delayed start to the game in Newry, Odhran Murdock kicked a fine two pointer a minute into the game to set Conor Laverty's men on their added two more points before a free from Sam Mulroy got Louth on the board after eight two-pointers from Danny Magill and Murdock further stretched Down's lead and they eventually moved nine clear before Niall McDonnell was thwarted by Ryan McEvoy in front of rattled off four points in a row to cut the gap, but a late scoring blitz helped Down to lead 0-16 to 0-7 at two-pointer and another effort from Mulroy helped the Leinster champions to chip away at Down's lead, reducing it to six points, but three in a row from the hosts helped them to re-establish their McKenny hit the post for Louth with Mulroy, Craig Lennon and Tommy Durnin scoring three straight two-pointers for the visitors as they moved to within three points of the had the momentum and got back to within one, before Mulroy's attempt after the hooter was blocked as Down held on for a narrow comfortably dispatched Clare in their first game, the Mournemen are in a commanding position ahead of facing Monaghan at a neutral venue in the final round of group games in a fortnight.
Irish Independent
27-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Louth GAA launch fundraising drive as Wee County Goes Racing
The launch event brought together key sponsors and supporters of Louth GAA to celebrate both recent on-field successes and the continued development of Gaelic games throughout the county. The evening highlighted the generous backing from main sponsor Michael Lynch Menswear, along with returning sponsors Protection & Prosperity Financial Services, Powerscreen New England, Morgan Fuels, and FLC Frank Lynch & Co. The county board was also delighted to welcome three new sponsors to the Wee County family: IFM, Anglo Printers, and Deeside Agri Services. 'The support from our business community has been phenomenal,' said Sean McClean, County Board Chairperson. 'Their commitment allows us to continue the vital work of developing Gaelic games across Louth.' The launch provided an opportunity to reflect on Louth's remarkable 2025 season, including appearances in the men's Leinster final, minor final, and u20 Leinster final. These achievements demonstrate the positive impact of the county board's ongoing development programs and emphasise that this success requires continued investment and community support to maintain momentum and build for the future. Following the tremendous success of last year's race day, anticipation is already building for the 2025 event. 'Everyone had such a fantastic day last year,' said Colm Marry, chairperson of the Wee County Goes Racing committee. 'We're excited to welcome you back to Fairyhouse for another great day of racing and fundraising.' The 'Wee County Goes Racing' event promises to be a highlight of the Louth GAA calendar, combining the excitement of horse racing with crucial fundraising for the county's Gaelic games development. Tables of 10 are available to book for €1500 from any committee member, while single seats can be purchased for €150.
Irish Independent
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Ahead of Wednesday's All-Ireland U20s football final, coach Decky Byrne says: ‘Louth are going to have to be at their very best' to compete with Tyrone
One of the biggest games in the history of Louth GAA will take place in the Box-It Athletic Grounds in Armagh this Wednesday (May 28) when the U20s take on reigning champions Tyrone in the All-Ireland final.
Irish Times
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Louth have ended their Leinster title famine – can they avoid the fate that usually follows?
In Louth this week, the job for Ger Brennan and his squad is to convince themselves that heaven is a hellhole. All around them, the county is shimmering. The people are lighter in themselves, giddy and bubbling still, the memory of a first Leinster title in 68 years so fresh and so clean. And yet somehow, the team has to convince itself that it didn't really happen. 'I'd almost make an appeal to the Louth supporters and clubs to just go easy on the lads as they prepare for Monaghan ,' Brennan told the Argus during the week. 'If they can just maybe put a lid on talk of the Leinster Championship win and just wish guys well for the challenge ahead and keep pushing on and build on that confidence, which is obviously there now, having secured a provincial title. So that's probably one of the biggest challenges I'd say for the lads. 'They're only with us a couple of times a week so it's all those other hours that you're with family and friends, and in work, that people can leave the Leinster final alone and we'll come back to that at the end of the year.' If history is any guide, Brennan may as well be shouting at the tides out in Clogherhead. Nothing in the GAA beats the ending of a famine. In most counties, winning the province is the only realistic hope of capturing that feeling. Louth's victory over Meath sent them straight in at number four on the all-time list of famines ending – only Westmeath (2004), Tipperary (2020) and Clare (1992) have won provincial crowns after a longer wait. READ MORE What happens next though? A flick through the record books tells us it's rarely anything good. In the history of the championship, there have been 28 occasions when a county has won a provincial title after a wait of at least 20 years. On 21 of those, the team lost its next game. Of the other seven, only one went on to win the All-Ireland – the mighty Roscommon team of 1943. [ When Roscommon were kings of football Opens in new window ] Louth's Leinster title was the 13th time in the past half-century that a county has ended a famine of more than 20 years. Of the other 12, only two won their next game – Kildare's stunning win over Kerry in 1998 and Derry's more rudimentary defeat of Clare in 2022. Armagh drew with Roscommon in 1977 and beat them in a replay. Otherwise, it has been the same story. Rinsed repeatedly. There's never been a single reason. Some of it is obvious enough – if you win your province after a few decades of yearning for it, the celebrations are generally wild and long and, most important of all, entirely necessary. When Monaghan beat Donegal in 2013 to win their first Ulster title in 25 years , nobody was worrying about an All-Ireland quarter-final against Tyrone . Not for a few days at least. Monaghan celebrate in the dressingroom after beating Donegal to win their first Ulster title in 25 years, in 2013. Photograph: Donall Farmer/Inpho 'I'll never forget how I felt on the Wednesday morning,' says Kieran Hughes, Monaghan's top scorer in that Ulster final. 'After two days on the beer, it was as if we'd lost by 40 points. I was out slurrying for farmers at the time and at one stage I was taking a break as the tank was being filled and I found myself sitting there in a complete daze. This is 10 days before an All-Ireland quarter-final. 'It's nearly the weekend by the time the hangover has passed through and your body is back to normal. By then, you've caught up on your sleep and you start to appreciate really what happened the previous week. But I remember being in a team meeting on the Sunday morning doing tactics on Tyrone and really only then clicking into it. That's a week gone at that stage. 'And meanwhile, the other team is fresh as a daisy, clawing at the fence to get at you. Tyrone were delighted to see us celebrating, I would have heard afterwards that they were passing around photos of us enjoying the win. We got plenty of verbals about it on the pitch as well. But you have to celebrate these things. Otherwise, what's the point?' Louth were back training the Wednesday after the Leinster final. After the homecoming hit all the major towns well into the wee hours of Sunday night, there followed what the Louth And Proud podcast called 'The Greatest Monday Club in History'. Nobody was hurrying them back on to the hamster wheel but Brennan did make the point that, 'if you celebrate it for too long, you reduce your chances of success and progression in the All-Ireland series'. [ 'Why not us?': Louth's Sam Mulroy says belief was at heart of county's march from lowest ebb to Leinster title Opens in new window ] Every team that ends a famine faces that same dilemma. The game is about glory and when you grab a rare slice of it for yourself, it has to be savoured. But at a certain point, you have to turn your attention to what comes next. Everyone agrees that the reset is the thing. It has to be quick and it has to be ruthless. But it's incredibly difficult – if you're a team making a breakthrough, winning your province is the only mountaintop you've been able to see for generations. Trying to suddenly convince yourself that it's base camp now rather than the summit is a new and unnatural feeling. Before Louth, the most recent mega-famine to end was Tipperary's in 2020. Deep in the abnormal heart of the Covid winter, they at least didn't have to worry about the after-effects of a few days on the lash since there were no pubs open. The usual run of dodging the public and the attendant hype wasn't a problem either. But they suddenly had an All-Ireland semi-final to get ready for. Yikes. 'Hindsight is great,' says Conor Sweeney, Tipperary captain in that year of years. 'We had a semi-final against Mayo and at the time, you'd like to think you were prepared. But subconsciously, the fact that we hadn't won a Munster title in 85 years, the fact that we as a group of players had been trying to do it for so long, maybe there's a part of you that relaxes a small bit when you're there. 'You kind of go, 'Well look, we've achieved the goal that we've always wanted to achieve and that we've been trying for so long to achieve.' Subconsciously, you're not as switched on for what's coming next as you should be. Tipperary players celebrate at the final whistle after beating Cork in the football championship final at Pairc Ui Chaoimh in November 2020. Before Louth, the most recent mega-famine to end was Tipperary's that year. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho 'We trained well in the two weeks leading up to the game and we felt we were as prepared as we could have been. We felt we had our homework done on the opposition. But then we conceded four goals in the first half. So clearly something wasn't right.' The key problem faced by every team in this situation is that it's all so unknowable. Louth players will have spent the past 10 days convincing themselves that they've done a proper reset but they're not going to know how successful they've been until Monaghan are running at them in Newbridge this weekend. 'They will have a fair indication after the first 10, 15 minutes of the game,' says Sweeney. 'Before that, you will not know, even though you will be telling yourself everything is fine. Part of me really hopes that they did over-celebrate – I follow a few of them online and I saw a few clips of them enjoying it and I was delighted to see it. You have to do that, you have to enjoy the fruits of all your hard work. 'But they can't know until the ball is thrown in how their heads really are. I'd say physically, they'll be fine. But it's the mental side of it. Can they park it and move forward now? I get the impression that they will – I definitely think they will come out of the group and they have a great opportunity there. But for this first game, they're going to be wondering do they have it.' That's the burden of success, especially long-awaited success. From the moment you climb the steps and lift the cup, you're playing catch-up. Nobody's knock is getting intense physio the next day. Nobody's expecting the analysis team to sit up half the night coding the next opposition. Above all else, there's a mental hurdle to be jumped that wasn't there before. 'When Tyrone beat us in the Ulster final in 2010,' says Hughes, 'I have a clear memory of sitting on the pitch with Colin Walshe and watching Brian Dooher lift the Anglo-Celt. Tyrone had won it so often by that stage that he lifted it with one hand and basically got the speech over and done with as quickly as possible. And me and Walshey were there going, 'What would we not do to be up there?' Three years later, we were and it was fantastic. 'But once you've done it, now you have to tell yourself that you're moving on to the next thing. And even just having to do that is a drain on your mental energy. Put it this way – Louth wouldn't have had to spend one minute before the Leinster final convincing themselves they were in the right mental place for it. But they definitely would have had to do it in the past week. That's all energy-draining.' Nothing beats ending a famine. Sometimes, though, it ends up beating you. If Louth can avoid that fate this weekend, it will be an achievement to rank alongside the Leinster title itself. Longest provincial famines – and what happened in the next game after they ended (* denotes a county's first ever provincial title) 102 years – Westmeath 2004* (Lost to Derry, AIQF) 85 – Tipperary 2020 (Lost to Dublin, AISF) 75 – Clare 1992 (Lost to Dublin, AISF) 68 – Louth 2025 (?) 67 – Leitrim 1994 (Lost to Dublin, AISF) 66 – Tyrone 1956* (Lost to Galway, AISF) 66 – Donegal 1972* (Lost to Offaly, AISF) 65 – Longford 1968* (Lost to Kerry, AISF) 64 – Offaly 1960* (Lost to Down, AISF) 57 – Laois 2003 (Lost to Armagh, AIQF) 55 – Down 1959* (Lost to Galway, AISF) 54 – Derry 1958* (Beat Kerry, AISF) 48 – Armagh 1950* (Lost to Kerry, AISF) 47 – Sligo 1975 (Lost to Kerry, AISF) 45 – Meath 1939 (Beat Cavan, AISF) 44 – Carlow 1944 (Lost to Kerry, AISF) 42 – Kildare 1998 (Beat Kerry, AISF)
Irish Daily Mirror
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Mirror
Louth GAA fans to get 'Louth and proud' for recording of new music video
Louth GAA fans are being asked to get 'loud and proud' to help in the recording of a music video for a new song. Fans are being asked to gather at the O'Raghallaighs club in Drogheda on Saturday afternoon to help film a 'once in a lifetime' video, celebrating last Sunday's Leinster Championship winning heroes. Supporters are encouraged to wear the red and white colours proudly, and sing "Hear the Voices of the Crowd - Stand up and make us proud," for the video. The event is being organised by Drogheda based musicians 'Dabilla.' The start time is set for 4.10pm, at which time an MC will guide fans in singing along to the tune. The recording is expected to be complete by 5pm. With the new recording of fans in the can, the audio will be added to the song that has already been written, the goal of which is to show the Louth players the level of support they have in the county.
