Fermanagh GAA

:"For more information on Fermanagh GAA see: Fermanagh Senior Club Football Championship or Fermanagh Senior Club Hurling Championship."

infobox GAA county
county gaa = Fermanagh GAA
crest =
irish = Fear Manach
province = Ulster
nickname = The Ernesiders
county colours = Green and white
grounds = Brewster Park, Enniskillen
dominant sport = Gaelic football
nfl div = Division 2
nhl div = Division 4
football champ = Sam Maguire Cup
hurling champ = Nicky Rackard Cup
ladies football = Brendan Martin Cup
camogie = O'Duffy Cup
pattern_la=_whiteshoulders|pattern_b=_whiteshoulders|pattern_ra=_whiteshoulders
leftarm=00CD00 |body=00CD00 |rightarm=00CD00 |shorts=FFFFFF |socks=00CD00
|The Fermanagh County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ( _ga. Cummann Luthchleas Gael Coiste Fear Manach) or Fermanagh GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Fermanagh. The county board is also responsible for the Fermanagh inter-county teams

History

Fermanagh has the smallest GAA playing population in Ireland, and is the only county in Ulster to have never won the Ulster Senior Football Championship.Despite this there is a strong GAA tradition in the county, which went largely unrewarded until the remarkable achievement of the 2004 team in reaching the All Ireland semi-final and forcing the match to a replay.

Fragments of a poem from 1806 describe a football match between Louth and Fermanagh at Inniskeen, Co Monaghan.

Fermanagh beat Cavan in the 1914 Ulster semi-final and were nominated by the Ulster Council to play against Wexford in the All-Ireland semi-final. Because the train schedules did not allow them to get back for Sunday night, and the Great Northern Railway Company refused to run a special train because they were opposed to sport on Sunday, Fermanagh had to abdicate the responsibility to Monaghan, who later beat them in the Ulster final anyway.

One of Ulster's great footballers, Armagh-born Jim McCullough, played for Fermanagh in the mid-1930s and helped them reach the 1935 Ulster final and 1936 National League final.

Peter McGinnity was the outstanding player of the under-21 team which reached two All Ireland finals and defeated Derry and Tyrone to reach the 1982 Ulster final, Despite a Peter McGinnity goal that put them in the lead with 20 minutes remaining, they lost 0-10 to 1-4 to Armagh. Fermanagh beat the reigning national league champions Down the following year but have failed in four semi-finals since then and as yet remain the only county in the province to never win the Anglo-Celt cup.

Under manager Pat King, they managed a hat-trick of success in 1997 in the B Championship, McKenna Cup and Division 4 of the National League.

Fermanagh are a beneficiary of the change to the GAA championship in the 2000s. In 2003 they beat Donegal in the Ulster championship, then Meath and Mayo in the All Ireland qualifiers to reach the quarter-final. They went to a replayed semi-final in 2004, beating Meath, Cork and Donegal and most memorably of all Armagh, thanks to a late point by Tom Brewster, before losing to Mayo. In 2006 despite running All-Ireland favourites Armagh close twice in the Ulster Championship, Fermanagh yet again ended the season without a trophy after losing out to neighbours Donegal in the fourth round of the Qualifiers. The 2007 season saw Fermanagh lose their National League Division one status having failed to register a single point from the seven match campaign. They performed quite well in the championship however, only losing by an injury-time point to Tyrone in Ulster. They defeated Wexford (for the second consecutive season) in the first round of the all-Ireland qualifiers. However, they were unable to record a third win in four seasons over Meath in Navan in July, losing narrowly by two points despite dominating the latter stages. Charlie Mulgrew, manager for four seasons, stood down after this match. He was succeeded by Malachy O'Rourke. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/7046193.stm BBC SPORT | Northern Ireland | Gaelic Games | O'Rourke is new Fermanagh manager ] ]

On the 21st of June 2008, Fermanagh defeated Derry in the provincial semi-final to become Ulster finalists for the first time since 1982. [cite news |url=http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2008/0621/fermanagh_derry.html |title=Fermanagh 1-11 Derry 1-09 |date= 22 June 2008 |work=RTÉ Sport |accessdate=2008-06-24] [cite news |url=http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/sport/gaelic-football/owens-goal-puts-fermanagh-into-ulster-sfc-final-1418592.html|title=Owens goal puts Fermanagh into Ulster SFC Final |date= 22 June 2008 |work=Irish Independent |accessdate=2008-06-24]

Honours

*"'All-Ireland Vocational Schools Championships:1
**1966

*All-Ireland Junior Football Championships: 1
** 1959

*Ulster Junior Hurling Championships: 1
** 1994

*All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championships: 1
** 1994

All Stars
1982 Peter McGinnity
2004 Barry Owens, Martin McGrath
2006 Barry Owens

Football/Hurling Clubs in Fermanagh

AUGHADRUMSEE: (Black and White)
BELCOO: (Light Blue and Navy)
BELNALECK: (Red and White)
BROOKEBORO: (Red and Black)
COA: (Black and Amber)
DERRYGONNELLY: (Purple and Gold)
DERRYLIN: (Green, White and Gold)
DEVENISH: (Blue and White)
ENNISKILLEN: (Yellow and Blue)
ERNE GAELS: (Yellow and Black)
IRVINESTOWN: (Green and Gold)
KINAWLEY: (Blue and White)
KNOCKS(H): (Orange and White)
LISBELLAW(H): (Green and White)
LISNASKEA: (Red and Green)
LISNASKEA(H): (Red and Green)
MAGUIRESBRIDGE: (Red and Black)
NEWTOWNBUTLER: (Red and White)
ROSLEA: (Green and White)
ST. JOSEPH'S: (White and Green)
ST. PATRICK'S: (Red and White)
TEEMORE: (Green and White)
TEMPO: (Maroon and White)

Notable Players

* P. McGinnity

* B. Owens

* M. McGrath

* M. Little

* E. Maguire

* Tom Brewster
* Rory Gallagher
* John Hanna

References

External links

* [http://www.ourmanagh.com Ourmanagh - Fermanagh Gaelic Games Fan Forum]
* [http://www.hoganstand.com/Fermanagh/ Fermanagh on Hoganstand.com]
* [http://www.hoganstand.com/Fermanagh/Profile.aspx National and provincial titles won by Fermanagh teams]
* [http://www.hoganstand.com/Fermanagh/Titles.aspx Club championship winners]
* [http://fermanagh.gaa.ie/ Fermanagh GAA site]
* [http://www.kinawleygfc.com/ Up to date League tables for Club football in Fermanagh]
* [http://www.freewebs.com/comeonfermanagh/ COME ON FERMANAGH - team support song, official site]