Meath GAA

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For more details of Meath GAA see Meath Senior Club Football Championship or Meath Senior Club Hurling Championship.
Meath GAA
Image:Meathnewcrest.jpg
Irish: An Mhí
Province: Leinster
Nickname(s): The Royals
County Colours: Green,Gold
Grounds: Páirc Tailteann, Navan
Dominant Sport: Gaelic football
NFL: Division 2
NHL: Division 2
Football Championship: Sam Maguire Cup
Hurling Championship: Christy Ring Cup
Ladies' Gaelic football: Brendan Martin Cup
Camogie: O'Duffy Cup
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
　
Standard colours

The Meath County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) (Irish: Cummann Luthchleas Gael Coiste An Mhí) or Meath GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic Games in County Meath. The county board is also responsible for the Meath inter-county teams

Contents

[edit] History

Meath official Dick Blake was the first great GAA reformer. He was also responsible for getting their first team to an All-Ireland in 1894. After that game, the referee wrote to the papers after the match admitting that one of Tipperary's points should have been disallowed but magnanimous Meath decided not to demand a replay. In 1911 Meath were declared Leinster football champions for 20 minutes, but when Kilkenny arrived late for the final, Meath agreed to play the match and were beaten.

[edit] Gaelic football

Meath were late commers to success in football, winning only their second Leinster Championship in 1939 (by this time Dublin had already won 21 Leinster titles) and their first All Ireland in 1949 (by this time Dublin had already won 15 of their 22 All Ireland Titles). Meath's big breakthrough came in 1949 with a goal from Bill Halfpenny. That great team of 1948-54 came out worst in two thrilling All-Ireland finals, one of them replayed, a semi-final and a League final against their neighbours, Cavan, but garnered another All Ireland with the help of a Tom Moriarty goal in 1954. Another neighbour Louth, struck up a rivalry similar to that with Dublin and Kildare in the 1990s: in the six championships between 1948 and 1953 the sides met each year. The 1949 match went to three meetings, those of 1950 and 1951 were replayed.

Meath's team of the 1960s showed a great reluctance to score until after half-time might have reached the 1964 All Ireland final had not Jack Quinn's goal been controversially disallowed. They were beaten in the 1966 final by a Galway team that include many legends such as Enda Colleran and the "Terrible twins from Tuam". After the 1966 final defeat, the Meath Centre back Bertie Cunningham delared his intentions, 'next year, we will come back and win the All-Ireland'. And sure enough Terry Kearns secured the Sam Maguire for Meath with a punched goal in 1967, to defeat Cork. Meath won the league in 1975 and looked a promising prospect for the All-Ireland. However defeat at the hands of Kevin Heffernan's Dublin team was an indication of what was to come. Heffo's Dubs prevented Meath from winning Leinsters. Then a talented Offaly team emerged to win more Leinster titles and be the only team capable of challenging the great Kerry team that dominated football between 1975 and 1986. Meath looked far from All-Ireland Championship material when they lost to Wexford in 1981 and Longford in 1982. Then a series of goalkeeping errors cost them the 1983 Leinster quarter-final against Dublin. By then they had converted the hurling team's masseur, Sean Boylan into a fully fledged team manager. His initial appointment was greeted with scepticism as it had always been known that Sean Boylan was a capable hurler, but his role in football was seen as limited to repairing the players. The first task of Sean Boylan was to prepare Meath for an opening match against a Dublin team led by legendary midfielder Brian Mullins. The first match resulted in a draw, as a result of a fortunate richocet shot from a Barney Rock against new Meath half back Colm Colyle. The replay was a draw also. However Dublin went on to win the match in extra time. Dublin won the All-Ireland that year. However people did not see Meath as being close to Championship winning material at that stage. In 1984 the GAA initiated a new prestigious competition called the Centenary Cup, to celebrate the first 100 years of the GAA. Kerry made it clear, that as the county with the greatest tradition, that Kerry should win this. However in the end the Centenary Cup final was played between Meath and Monaghan. Meath emerged as winners. After winning the Centenary Cup, Meath manager Sean Boylan was asked for comment. He replied to say that Meath intended to hold onto the next Centenary Cup (100 years later).

The 1980s team progressed cautiously to victory. They missed Mick Lyons for the 1984 Leinster final against Dublin and in 1985 slipped up against Laois in the semi-final. So it was not until 1986 that Meath won the first of three-in-a-row in Leinster and followed it up with All-Ireland victories in 1987 and 1988. This included two defeats to Cork. Meath also secured the league in 1988. No county has won two Championships, and the league between them since 1988. In 1989 Meath were defeated by Dublin. In 1990 Cork secured victory over Meath in an All-Ireland final, that accounted as Hurling-Football Double by Cork. In 1991 Meath started in their initial opening match against Dublin, in Croke Park. Meath managed to catch up on a Dublin lead, and long range point from PJ Gillic hopped over the head of legendary Dublin goalkeeper John O'Leary (Balbriggan), with the first match ending in a draw. This meant that the teams were required to meet again. Again the result was a draw, and extra time was required. Again the result after extra time was a draw. A third match was played. At this stage the entire country was discussing the great competition that had suddenly developed between these neighbours. The fact that both were seen as having strong defining characteristics added to the sense of competition. Dublin was urban, large, noisy, and the capital of the modern Ireland. Meath was more rural, heroic, and home to the capital of ancient Ireland, Tara. Dublin was identified as home to people of an easygoing, sociable, confident, straightforward, diplomatic, and street smart disposition with a team to represent. Meath was seen as representing people that were of an industrious, brave, determined, honourable, blunt manner. It was a battle between two different dispositions, even though the football techniques of both were similar. And yet because they were neighbours the players would often be living or working amongst the other team supporters. In addition the Meath player Terry Ferguson had a father who played for Dublin, Dublin player Paul Curran had a father who played for Meath and many Dublin fans had relatives living in Meath, this rivalry often existed within families. The third meeting of the teams was expected to be close, but because the Dublin players were younger and more resourceful, as time went on Dublin were expected to overcome Meath. But the third game again ended in a draw. Extra time was played. This resulted in another draw. At this stage it seemed that there would not be possible for either team to overcome the other. A fourth match was required. This time Dublin built up a lead, superior compared with the previous meetings. However the doggedness of the Meath players, and a goal (Kevin Foley, Trim) at the end of the match brought Meath level. The dynamics now favoured Meath and David Beggy (Navan O'Mahonys) managed to score a point to win the fourth match. A tired Meath then played the next match against Wicklow, which was also drawn. The replay resulted in Meath winning. Meath then proceeded to beath Laois, Offaly, Roscommon and in order to meet Down in the All-Ireland final. With each accumulated match, injuries were accumulating on the first fifteen players. Three Meath players started the All-Ireland final in an injury-free status. However the Meath team game plan of the time required at least 11 players in defined positions. Colm O'Rourke, a key part of the Meath game plan was incapable of playing a full seventy minutes. There were insufficient players for replacement, and by now Meath had acquired an air of invincibility. However Down were the only Ulster team to have a 100% success rate against Meath in the Championship, and represented the only 'bogey man' outfit. In the end Meath fell behind in the second half and had to stage another comeback. Colm O'Rourke came on to the field and started to help Meath accumulate scores. Bernard Flynn came within inches of scoring a goal. However Meath ran out of time, and Down went on to win a historic Championship. Meath won a league in 1994, with Tommy Dowd (Dunderry) as captain over Armagh. In 1994 Meath were beaten by Laois in the Championship, and many of the team of 86-94 retired. An new team was formed for 1995. This team included many new stars like Trevor Giles, Graham Geraghty and Darren Fay. However the younger players were completely inexperienced, for championship football against a Dublin team determined to win the Championship outright. The resultant 10 point drubbing defeat left a strong impression on the younger Meath players concerning how much work needed to be done to win silverware. In 1996 Meath were not expected to be successful. However Sean Boylan managed to lead the same team that got nowhere in 1995, to a Championship final in 1996. Meath came back from six points down to force a draw with Mayo in the 1996 All Ireland. Tommy Dowd, who was living in the Meath Gaeltacht, then managed to produce probably the longest speech by any Leinster captain. In 1997 Meath started the Championship against a Kildare team, that was very ambitious and led by the great Kerry legend Mick O'Dwyer. However Meath had a very good record against Kildare, and were expected to be sufficient to win, even accounting for the fact that Kildare were hungrier, and Kildare had superior fitness. Mick O'Dywers appointment created massive support in Kildare for the Kildare team. The opening match had full attendance in Croke Park, with Kildare fans managing to buy more tickets than the Meath fans in the ratio of 3:1. This was a sign of the times, as a few years earlier Meath were one of the best supported of any county, but their fans had got to used to success under Boylan, and no longer travelled big games in large numbers. This match seen Kildare emerge playing a level not expected by Meath. Kildare led for most of the match, with Meath managing to draw level in the last minute. The Meath forwards were finding the Kildare defense to be very difficult to negotiate. The replay resulted in another draw. Because this was a replay, extra time was now required to produce a winner. In extra time Kildare running on the never ending engine of Willie McCreedy in Midfield quickly created a six point lead. It seemed as if Kildare's fitness had run Meath into the ground. Then Boylan produced a tactical masterstroke, bring Jody Devine on to score six points in quick succession. Kildare responded and came very close to winning again with a goal, before Trevor Giles got a goal for Meath. The result was another draw. Meath and Kildare met again in a third match. This time the weather had changed, and the match was played in rain. Again Meath determination, and bravery resulted in Meath winning this. However as in 1991, this sequence of matches had resulted in accumulated injuries. Meath were without a meaningful defense in the Leinster Final against Offaly. This resulted in the Offaly attack running riot. In 1998 Meath produced a performance against Offaly that was like the effect of an unwound spring. However Kildare had already managed to beat Dublin, and were now playing again at a very high level of fitness and determination. The 1998 was a bad tempered affair, with Meath's Brendan Reilly sent off for a dangerous foul on Kildare centre back Declan Kerrigan. Kildare's fitness began to cause Meath more problems. Kildare again attacked in waves. However this time Kildare had learnt the lessons of the previous year and produced greater scores. In contrast, reduced to 14 players, and playing a team with superior fitness, Meath were unable to retrieve the situation. Kildare held onto their lead, and a last attack by Meath ended in a questionable refereeing decision, which resulted in Kildare moving the ball swiftly downfield. This presented an opportunity for Kildare to expose gaps in the Meath defense due to Kildare's numerical superiority, with a goal that firmly clinched the match for Kildare.

In 1999, Meath added a few new players to replace a team that had now lost Tommy Dowd, and to introduce some badly needed pace to compete with the increasing fitness levels of other counties. Like in in 1996 Meath were not expected to win anything. However with Kildare demoralised from losing the 1998 final, and Dublin drifting rudderless, Meath won the 1999 Leinster Championship. Meath now found themselves in an All-Ireland Semi-Final with Armagh. Armagh played all the best football in the first half, with teo incisive moves that opened up the Meath defense and resulted in goals. However the Meath players continued to play earnestly and industriously and started to reduce the lead. Then Armagh Full Back,Ger Reid, who had prevented the Meath Full Forward, Graham Geraghty, from inflicting his potential on the scoreboard, committed a second bookable offense and was sent off. This resulted in more freedom of movement for the Meath forwards, who now scored at will. Meath were now in an All-Ireland final with a capable Cork team, who were very young, and had not expected to reach the final so soon in their playing careers. With the tactical awareness of Boylan, and on-field leadership of Geraghty and Giles at hand, Meath won the All-Ireland of 1999. Meath played the opening match of the 2001 championship against Westmeath. This resulted in a last gasp victory for Meath. However the revised qualifier system meant that Meath met Westmeath again at a later date. This time it was expected that Meath would win. Again Meath had a psycholigical edge, having never lost a Championship match to Westmeath, with Boylan as manager, and many accomplished All-Ireland winning players on the team. Westmeath showed great tactical awareness, superior fitness, and great eagerness to play fast open football. This caused much dismay to the Meath defense, which at club level was more prepared for direct football, and man for man marking. In the last minute of injury time, the teams were level. Then Meath committed an unnecessary minor foul on a Westmeath forward. Star forward Dessie Dolan was presented with an opportunity to win the match for Westmeath, but missed the opportunity (it was too easy). Meath were again in difficulty in the replay, and were saved by a score from Ollie Murphy that defied at least five defenders who were caught ball watching. The strangest thing of all was that Murphy did not look at where he was kiciking the ball. He literally scored based on where he assumed there was a vacant position in the goal. Meath now faced Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final of 2001. Given Kerry's great experience, and tradition, and the fact that Meath were in the habit of cutting things a bit fine, it was expected that Kerry would win. In addition Kerry had the legendary Maurice Fitzgerald(Castle-Island), arguably the greatest footballer around at the time available. Kerry were managed by defense legend Páidí Ó Sé, and had a number of All-Ireland winners from 2000 available. However, what transpired was a collapse by Kerry, of unimginable proportions with a scoreline that made the Meathmen look like All-Ireland winners before the Final had even started. And this did not happen due to an expected physical approach from Meath. Ironically clashes between the Kingdom of Kerry and the Royals of Meath tended to be honourable, and very clean out of longstanding mutual respect for each others traditions. However Meath fans were baffled at Kerry's complete lack of focus. Meath dominated the match, on the basis that Meath might have peaked too early. Meath clearly expected a much firmer performance from Kerry. The and produced an embarrassing margin of victory. This left many Meath fans wary about the Final, with Meath fans and players completely resolute in their belief that nothing had been won. Galway in comparison had beaten a Derry team that had shown insufficient fitness, and eagerness to reach an All-Ireland final. Meath went into the All-Ireland final as overwhelming favourites. Meath and Galway were level at half time, in what was a careful cautious match. Galway quickly got an early lead in the Second half. Then a foul by Meath midfielder Nigel Nestor, on Jarlath Fallon resulted in a sending off. This was followed by an injury to star Meath forward Ollie Murphy, who was the most effective Meath forward that day, and Murphy had to be treated for injury. Galway now moved Padraic Joyce away from Meath defender Darren Fay, as Fay had managed to prevent Joyce from converting possession to scores. These changes to the balance between the teaqms gave Galway an edge on the field, that they had already been preparing in their own inner resolve. However just as the match seemed to be slipping away from Meath, John McDermott raised another attack on the Galway defense that resulted in a penalty awarded to Meath. Trevor Giles, the Meath captain, and ace free-taker was allocated the responsibility for this task, as part of his team role. However the ball just drifted wide. Galway went to win the match with a scoreline that left the Meath forwards considerably embarrassed. The Championship seasons since 2002 have seen the re-emergence of a resurgent Dublin team, and an extremely capable Laois team together have dominated Leinster football. At All-Ireland level, Kerry, Armagh and Tyrone have won honours and dominated finals. Meath have not earned any Championship honours since 2001. Furthermore Meath teams have been generally showing reduced levels of competitiveness, each year after exiting from the Leinster Championship. This indicates a general acceptance that the Leinster Championship is seen as most achievable objective. In 2005 Sean Boylan stepped down as Meath manager. Boylan's twenty two year term represents a record. In this spell he also managed to lead two entirely different teams to win four All-Ireland titles. He came very close to winning two more titles. He introduced an increased tactical awareness to the came. Critics have argued that in sending out highly motivated players, that he has increased the physical nature of the game. He was replaced by Eamon Barry, who won by default as no other candidates were willing to challenge Sean Boylan, based on the assumption that he was the preferred manager. This also show deep gratitude for players and fans alike for Sean Boylan. However this did not result in an improvement in fortunes, despite the role of Barry in managing Dunshaughlin to win Leinster Club Championships. The Meath football manager for the 2007 season is Colm Coyle. Colm Coyle was a selector under Sean Boylan. Colm Coyle also managed Monaghan, before managing Meath. Coyle has set modest objectives in the near term. Current key players include Graham Geraghty, Anthony Moyles, and Caomhin King. Meath showed improved performances at colleges and minor level in 2005, compared to previous years. This indicates improved potential for Meath in the medium term.

[edit] Honours

  • All-Ireland Senior Football Championships: 7
    • 1949, 1954, 1967, 1987, 1988, 1996, 1999
  • All-Ireland Junior Football Championships: 4
    • 1947, 1952, 1962, 1988, 2003
  • All-Ireland Minor Football Championships: 3
    • 1957, 1990 and 1992
  • All-Ireland Under 21 Football Championships: 1
    • 1993
  • All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Runners-Up: 9
    • 1895, 1939, 1951, 1952, 1966, 1970, 1990, 1991, 2001
  • Leinster Senior Football Championships: 20
    • 1895, 1939, 1940, 1947, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1999, 2001
  • Leinster Junior Football Championships: 16
    • 1947, 1952, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006
  • Leinster Minor Football Championships: 9
    • 1957, 1972, 1977, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1992, 1993, 2006
  • Leinster Under 21 Football Championships: 8
    • 1985, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2001
  • National Football League: 7
    • 1933, 1946, 1951, 1975, 1988, 1990, 1994

[edit] Notable Managers

[edit] Notable Players

[edit] Hurling

Twice Meath hurlers held half-time leads over traditional hurling counties in Leinster quarter-finals: over Dublin by 2-2 to 1-1 in 1936, and Kilkenny by 2-6 to 1-6 in 1949. In 1951 they held Wexford to a draw in the quarter-final, but lost the replay and Wexford went on to win the Leinster championship and join the elite. Having beaten Offaly to qualify for their ninth and last Leinster semi-final in 1954, Meath regressed until they won the 1985 Kehoe cup and the 1993 Senior B title,

After they re-entered the senior championship in 1994 their exploits included victories over Offaly, All-Ireland champions at the time, by 1-12 to 1-11 in a February 1995 NHL match in Athboy, and Wexford by 1-16 to 0-16 a fortnight later in Enniscorthy

[edit] Honours

  • All-Ireland Senior Hurling "B" Championships: 1
    • 1993
  • All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championships: 1
    • 1993
  • Leinster Junior Hurling Championships: 5
    • 1927, 1948, 1961, 1970, 1972
  • Leinster Minor Hurling Championships: 1
    • 1929

[edit] Clubs

Here is a complete list of Meath GAA clubs, correct as of 27 February 2007:

Ballinabrackey, Ballinlough, Ballivor, Bective, Bellewstown, Blackhall Gaels, Boardsmill, Carnaross, Castletown, Clann na nGael, Clonard, Cortown, Curraha, Donaghmore/Ashbourne, Drumbaragh, Drumconrath, Drumree, Dunderry, Dunsany, Duleek, Dunshaughlin, Gaeil Colmcille, Kilbride, Kildalkey, Killallon, Killyon, Kilmainham, Kilmainhamwood, Kilmessan, Kilskyre, Kiltale, Longwood, Meath Hill, Moynalty, Moynalvey, Moylagh, Na Fianna, Nobber, Oldcastle, O’Mahony's, Rathkenny, Rathmolyon, Ratoath, Seneschalstown, Simonstown, Skryne, Slane, St. Brigids, St. Colmcilles, St. Marys, St. Michaels, St. Patricks, St. Pauls, St. Peters Dunboyne, St. Ultans, St. Vincents, Summerhill, Syddan, Trim, Walterstown, Wolfe Tones

[edit] Ladies' Gaelic football

[edit] Honours

  • All-Ireland Junior Ladies' Football Championships: 1
    • 1994

[edit] External links

Gaelic Athletic Association
National Football League
Division 1 A

Cork | Donegal | Dublin | Fermanagh | Kerry | Limerick| Mayo | Tyrone
B

Armagh | Derry | Down | Galway | Kildare | Laois | Louth | Westmeath
Division 2 A

Carlow | Clare | Leitrim | London | Longford | Monaghan| Offaly | Roscommon
B

Antrim | Cavan | Meath | Sligo | Tipperary | Wexford| Waterford | Wicklow
National Hurling League
Division 1 A

Clare | Cork | Down | Offaly | Waterford | Wexford
B

Antrim | Dublin | Galway | Kilkenny | Limerick | Tipperary
Division 2 A

Armagh | Carlow | Derry | Laois | Meath | Wicklow
B

Kerry | Kildare | London | Mayo | Westmeath
Division 3 A

Donegal | Leitrim | Louth | Monaghan | Sligo
B

Cavan | Fermanagh | Roscommon | Longford | Tyrone
Connacht | Leinster | Munster | Ulster | Third level
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship - Christy Ring Cup (2007)

Carlow |  Down |  Derry |  Kerry |  Kildare |  London |  Mayo |  Meath |  Wicklow |  Westmeath

Liam McCarthy Cup (Tier 1)   -  Christy Ring Cup (Tier 2)   -  Nicky Rackard Cup (Tier 3)
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