ARMAGH GAA nursery St Paul’s High School, Bessbrook nurtured the skills and moulded the characters of 14 of the players in the Orchard County’s Sam Maguire winning-squad this year.
All 14, including starters Connaire Mackin, Joe McIlroy, Blaine Hughes and goalscorer Aaron McKay, returned to their alma mater alongside Jarly Og Burns, Aidan Nugent, Ciaran Mackin, Ciaron O’Hanlon, Fergal O’Brien, Conor Magennis, Mark Shields, Stephen Sheridan, Jemar Hall and Greg McCabe, all of whom played their part in Armagh’s success.
As well as the playing personel, coaches Denis Hollywood and Ciaran McKeever and team physio Anthony Fearon are past pupils of the school that has also produced a conveyor belt of players for the Armagh Ladies’ team including Aimee and Blaithin Mackin.
And you could add the man who handed over the Sam Maguire to Armagh skipper Aidan Forker. Jarlath Burns, President of the GAA, has a long connection to the school.
Burns became principal of St Paul’s in 2013 while many of the stars of 2024 were pupils there and he will return once his term as Uachtarain Cumman Luthcleas Gael comes to an end.
Head of PE and Sport John Rafferty, a former Armagh defender and skipper, welcomed each member of the panel back to the school and included a personal, footballing anecdote as they made their way onto the stage.
Afterwards Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney hailed the positive influence the coaches and teachers at St Paul’s had made to the players in his panel.
“The first thing I’d like to do is congratulate St Paul’s,” said McGeeney.
“To be able to deliver 14 players on an All-Ireland-winning squad is nothing short of phenomenal.
“It’s not just that they have produced some of the best footballers this county has ever seen, they are some of the best role models and they are a pleasure to deal with.”
McGeeney added a personal message for the awe-struck first year pupils decked out in their Armagh gear who were packed into a raucous assembly hall.
“The pressure to be popular, the pressure to be someone else rather than yourself is huge throughout your life and everybody tries to fit in,” he said.
“My advice to you: Don’t fit in. Be yourself, be strong enough to stand up and be proud of who you are and what you’re about because that’s what makes you successful in this world.”
Also present was Jimmy Smyth, president of Armagh GAA and chairman of Ulster Schools GAA.
“On behalf of Armagh and Ulster Schools I must congratulate St Paul’s on a fantastic achievement,” said the revered 1977 All-Ireland final skipper.
“I asked John Rafferty after Armagh won the All-Ireland: ‘Are you sure it was 14?’ He was and that is all down to the work that has been done in this school.
“I go back a long way with St Paul’s and when you came here to play a match, you knew you were playing a match because the pupils at St Paul’s were always well turned out and well prepared.”
Smyth recalled an U14 game on a rainy day years ago and a conversation he had afterwards with St Paul’s teacher Brian Jennings, brother of legendary Newry-born goalkeeper Pat Jennings.
“Brian came up to me at the end of the match and we shook hands and he said: ‘It’s all about character’,” he said.
“Those words always stuck with me and it is all about character. These Armagh players have displayed character, not just this year but in previous years, and it all came to the fore in Croke Park when the Sam Maguire was won.”
