FOR the past number years, two unique photographs have stood out above the rest in the corner of the Clan na Gael social club, situated at Davitt Park. They are the signed images of Diarmaid Marsden and Barry O’Hagan, holding the Sam Maguire aloft.
The pair were instrumental in guiding Armagh to their first ever All-Ireland title in 2002 and followed a long line of Clan na Gael players to represent the Orchard County on All-Ireland final day. But they were the first to return to the club with Celtic Crosses.
That was until July of this year and the pair have recently been joined on the wall at the social club. Stefan Campbell and Shane McPartlan, members of Kieran McGeeney’s crop of new All-Ireland winners, hang proudly beside them.
Marsden was the Clan na Gael manager when McPartlan first came on the scene and it was under his watch that the Clans won the Intermediate Championship title in 2020, leading them back to senior football.
“Diarmaid Marsden, ‘Bumpy’ (O’Hagan), they’re your heroes,” said McPartlan, who is hoping to once again replicate his clubmen by winning championship gold in the blue and white of Clan na Gael.
“When you actually see them and work with them, you learn so much off them with that wealth of experience and they’ve also got the medals to back it up. It was great when I first came in to learn from those boys, it was just unbelievable.
“We had Joe (Lavery), Diarmaid and Austy (Ronan Austin), they took us for the first couple of years. Now we have Ronan (McMahon), Eamonn (McAvoy) and Austy in with us and the work rate and everything they do for us is first class.”
McPartlan and his teammates are aiming to end a 30-year wait for a Senior Championship title, and it’s their Lurgan neighbours Clann Eireann, winners of the Gerry Fagan Cup as recently as 2021, that stand in their way.
The two great rivals clashed at the semi-final stage last season, with the Clans upsetting the odds to emerge victorious after extra time and reach the decider for the first time since 2006, where they lost to Crossmaglen.
The main focus for Ronan McMahon’s men this Saturday evening, in the refixed county final, will be on getting the best out of themselves on the day and not worrying about who stands in the opposite corner.
“I suppose last year was a strange one,” added McPartlan, recalling their 0-14 to 1-9 win. “They went up by five or six points, Soup (Campbell) put on a show to get us back into it and practically won it for us.
“But Clann Eireann and Cross, they have set the benchmark. They have been flying the last number of years and the likes of us and Madden, we’re all playing catch up and we’ve been trying to chase them.
“You see the youth that Clann Eireann have brought through and where it’s got them, we’re just trying to do that, and we’ll see what happens but we’re just pushing for a performance more than anything.”