THERE were tears in their eyes and probably in yours too.
Who writes these scripts? Jarlath Burns, in his first year as President of the GAA and the first Sam Maguire he presents is to his native Armagh who finished the game with his son, Jarly Og, and his nephew Paddy on the field…
You couldn’t make it up.
That their former county skipper Jarlath was the President made an unforgettable day even more special for the Orchard hordes in Croke Park and the thousands upon thousands cheering them on around the globe.
But amid all the hullaballoo, noise and colour, there was that touching personal moment between father and son - one of those moments that make the GAA what it is.
A joyous embrace before they lifted the Sam Maguire together on the iconic steps of the Hogan Stand.
“I didn’t know what I was doing,” says a smiling Jarly Og at the Carrickdale Hotel on Monday morning.
“I just caught eyes with him and I thought I might go up and share this moment with him.
“He missed out in ‘02, he retired in ‘99. He only wished the best for me, so I said I would go up and give him a hug and he would appreciate it.
“He said he was very proud of me and it was father-son stuff. It was a great moment.”
Jarlath Burns is only the second GAA President to come from the Orchard County (Alf Murray was the first in 1964-’67) and, although he was disappointed to lose to Larry McCarthy when he first ran for the office, it turns out he timed his election impeccably.
“You are holding it all in all week and through the months and maybe it was an outburst of emotion for that moment,” said Jarly Og, who made vital contributions in the semi-final and final.
“It’s a complete freakish thing and I’m sure if someone wrote the story like that people would say: ‘You can’t! That’s too unrealistic’. It’s not something I put too much thought into but now that it has happened its: ‘Wow, that is pretty insane!’
“He’s the second president from Armagh and it is our second All-Ireland and to be in his first year is insane. And people saying to me and saying to him: ‘Jeez wouldn’t be great to be handing Sam over (to Armagh)…' For that to happen is nuts.”
THIS historic season might never have happened for Jarly Og. Last year he decided to take a step back from Armagh but his self-enforced retirement lasted just three weeks. The pull of the orange jersey proved too strong and, after chatting to his cousin Paddy, he returned to the fold.
“I wanted to take a break,” he said.
“Life as an inter-county footballer, it takes over your life. It’s a 24/7 thing and I wanted to get away from it, take a break from it.
“I was talked back into it by Paddy. He called me up and said: ‘We need you. I think we can do something big this year and I don’t want to do it without you’. He got me round.
“Stephen Sheridan spoke to me as well and they got me and Geezer sitting down and chatting through it. Thankfully I came back.
“I don’t know what would have happened if I wasn’t here! I’m glad I am here, sitting beside you boys now!”
His running power and a superb score helped to get Armagh over the line against Kerry in the semi-final and on Sunday Burns leapt to grab a Shane Walsh free under his own crossbar and then ran the ball to safety under pressure from two Galway players.
The Silverbridge Harps clubman has been through some near-misses with Armagh and says those experiences helped his county finally reach the promised land.
“You look at the Dubs, they were winning it year-on-year and all those finals were tough games,” he said.
“But they just had the know-how to get through them and we were missing it.
“It comes from experience, it comes from being there on the big days. We just had to lose a few maybe to win it and it’s as simple as that.
“We trusted our conditioning and our mindset and it helped us through those moments.
“Every possession is so crucial. It’s hard to explain, you just have to stay in the zone and you can’t think of anything outside of it. You are just in the zone.”
THE Sam Maguire is just the second trophy Armagh have won in the last 10 seasons. The only other silverware was the Division Three title back in 2018 and Blaine Hughes, Paddy Burns, Ben Crealey, Aidan Forker, Niall Grimley, Rory Grugan and Andrew Murnin – all of whom played on Sunday – were in action that day against Fermanagh.
“It’s quite unusual, very unusual,” said Burns.
“I was even getting texts from boys like Conor Glass saying: ‘Look I’m jealous but fair play, you deserve it’ and Brian Fenton texted me. I nearly can’t believe it still! I was waking up in dreamland this morning: ‘Have we done this?’ Days like this don’t come around too often in this county.
“I can’t remember ‘02 but I know it was mayhem and the fans have been through so much so I’m delighted for them because they have been with us through thick and thin.
“When you’re coming through the ranks and the development squads you think you’re going to win an All-Ireland and it will happen. Coming through underage, we never won anything, we couldn’t get over the line.
“Obviously you’re going through the heartache and the penalties and you think there’s some sort of a curse there.
“I don’t know, we just got a bit of momentum. It’s mad where it can take you and sometimes in high-level sport, a bit of luck goes a long way too.
“We got it in the last couple of games, in big games and tight games. Maybe that’s what has been missing in other days.”
“It’s mad and I can’t believe I am sitting here talking about it! It’s surreal.”
