Everyone wants to be from Armagh these days — and it behoves us locals to be generous with those clamouring for their bit of Orchard County greatness.
I’m blessed with an unassailable claim as I’m from Mountnorris, name-checked in The Boys From The County Armagh, along with its cathedral city of Armagh and Newtown(hamilton), Forkhill, Crossmaglen and Blackwatertown.
Of course, there are a lot of other things which define Armaghness: shopping for a wedding present in Alexander’s in Markethill; a Sunday carvery at Lacey’s in the Carrickdale Hotel (only technically in Co Louth); a walk around the Mall in the city on Boxing Day, or shouting for joy when the GAA team wins the All-Ireland.
Who could resist the feel-good atmosphere of Armagh’s win over Galway at Croke Park in Dublin on Sunday?
Fans celebrate as the Sam Maguire arrives in Armagh for the first time in 22 years
Armagh had been perpetual underdogs in football in recent years, losing in penalty shootouts on many painful occasions.
To be an Armagh fan was to feel hard done by and unlucky. Yet, love for team and county is a light that never goes out.
My childhood memories are tangled up with the fortunes of Armagh and memories of my Aunt Angela washing the team’s jerseys, O’Neills footballs stored in the garage.
My father Francis and his late brother Joe, a stalwart who became president of the county board and of St Killian’s in Whitecross, were supporters through many lean decades.
That unwavering dedication taught me the value of perseverance and loyalty.
We were rewarded by Armagh’s big win against Kerry in the All-Ireland of 2002, but we couldn’t have imagined that it would be another 22 years before they’d win again.
Even before Sunday’s match had begun there was joy and optimism in the streets around Croke Park, swarms of people of all ages dressed in dazzling orange and white. Win or lose, we felt at the heart of a really special day.
A Camlough man dressed as Tigger bounded around, raising money for Chuan Mhuire Addiction Treatment Centre and Caolan Finnegan, a Crossmaglen Rangers star who has brain cancer.
The family of Natalie McNally arrived to huge cheers after their walk from Craigavon to raise money for Women’s Aid and Caolan.
After the heart-stopping match were stirring speeches from GAA president Jarlath Burns and team captain Aidan Forker. Their oratory will resonate in the hearts of people all around for a long time to come.
“They said we wouldn’t win the All-Ireland… we won the All-Ireland,” cried manager Kieran McGeeney at Monday’s homecoming.
“Let today be a lesson to anyone anywhere who has a dream in life that, with belief, anything is possible… never give up on what you’re chasing. Up Armagh,” shouted Aidan Forker before lifting the Sam Maguire Cup.
As Burns hugged his son Jarly Óg, one of the players, the family values core to the GAA were on display. There’s reverence displayed for all of life’s stages, happy and sad.
The Armagh family doesn’t just mean blood ties, but your friends too. I’d tried on Sunday to meet up with my pals Anita, who’s from the city and who I’ve known since we were 11, and Brendan, from near Madden, but we couldn’t get a location or time confirmed.
Fortuitously, we bumped into each other on Clonliffe Road after the match and got a snap — a contrast to the rather gloomy picture of Anita and I in our Armagh jerseys following our All-Ireland final loss to Tyrone in 2003.
Debate raged all week about whether Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Daniel Wiffen was technically correct to say he’s from Co Armagh, when his home village of Magheralin is in fact in Co Down.
The question appeared to be settled in his favour when his parents confirmed that while the village is Co Down, its postcode is Armagh. Daniel also attended St Patrick’s Grammar School in Armagh.
Not that anything could top being an Olympic gold medallist — but the burnishing of Daniel’s Armagh credentials adds lustre to this most golden of weeks for the county.