A Newry man has released a revamped version of a hugely popular Armagh GAA song released during the county’s run to All-Ireland final glory in 2002.
22 years since Damien Quinn’s Come on Armagh provided the soundtrack to their first All-Ireland Football Championship win, the folk singer is back ahead of next Sunday’s final.
Damien and youngest daughter Eimear recorded the song on Wednesday and released it on Thursday, with the video being viewed more than 100,000 times already on social media.
Players from the groundbreaking 2002 team such as Francie Bellew and current manager Kieran McGeeney have been replaced by new stars such as Rian O’Neill and Aidan Forker.
“I brought it out in 2002 and it was a massive hit with everybody,” Damien told The Irish News.
“It was all tapes in them days and there was no social media so it was a very different time back then.
“You had to go across the whole county and make sure you could get the shops filled with the tapes and that’s how you got the word out there.
“It was a catchy wee tune and kids at the time loved it, even to this day the amount of people that would know it and sing along, even if they weren’t born at the time, you wouldn’t believe.”
The folk singer says he had been overrun with messages from excited Armagh fans who were looking to see a new version of the 2002 hit.
“I have been inundated with messages from people asking me would I do an updated version,” Damien adds.
“I was away playing in Santa Ponsa last week and only got back on Monday, so I spent a couple of days redoing it and we recorded it on Wednesday.
“It’s been viewed 138,000 times so far, there’s lots of positive vibes about and I’m delighted with it.
“The whole buzz around the game has just lifted the spirits of everyone across the whole county.”
Like many fans, the Armagh singer is still on the lookout for a golden ticket to Sunday’s showdown with Galway.
“I have a few gigs booked in for the day of the match, but if a ticket comes my way I will certainly be in Croke Park.
“I remember playing at the Carrickdale the night of the homecoming in 2002, those were special days and it would just be incredible to see those scenes back again.
“There was thousands of people there, I still have a photograph of me lifting Sam on the stage after the players had lifted me up, let’s hope we can repeat that again next week.”
