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| Irish: | Ulaidh |
|---|---|
| Number of counties: | 9 |
| Province colours: | Gold Black |
| Major grounds: | Casement Park,Belfast St Tiernach's Park,Clones |
| Most All-Ireland titles | |
| Hurling: | None |
| Football: | Down andCavan (5 each) |
| Most provincial titles | |
| Hurling: | Antrim (48) |
| Football: | Cavan (40) |
| Interprovincial Championship wins | |
| Hurling: | 0 |
| Football: | 28 |
| Standard kit | |
        Regular kit | |
Ulster GAA (Irish:Comhairle Uladh) is the administrative body for theGaelic Athletic Association the traditional Irishprovince ofUlster, consisting of the six counties ofNorthern Ireland plusCavan,Donegal andMonaghan in the Republic of Ireland.
Ulster GAA oversees a range of administrative tasks including the organisation of provincial level competitions such as the annualUlster Senior Football Championship as well as the Ulster teams which compete in provincial competitions.Headquartered in Armagh City, the current President is Armagh’s Michael Geoghan[1] and the Secretary is Down’s Brian McAvoy.[2]
Ulster GAA is responsible forGaelic football,hurling andhandball in the province, whilstLadies Gaelic football,camogie androunders (despite being a GAA sport) are administered by separate bodies.
The Gaelic Athletic Association was founded in Hayes Hotel in Thurles County Tipperary on 1 November 1884 by Michael Cussack. With the support of patrons such as Land League leaders Charles Stewart Parnell and Michael Davitt, as well as Archbishop Thomas Croke, the association quickly grew, with clubs being established in parishes across Ireland.The first Ulster club to affiliate to the national organisation was Ballyconnell in County Cavan in 1885 and over the next few years clubs and county boards were formed in Cavan, Monaghan, Armagh, Fermanagh and Derry.[3]
The first Ulster Football Championship was held in 1888, which consisted of two games between Red Hand of Monaghan and Moch Finn’s of Cavan. The first game resulted in a draw on 19 August and Red Hand won the subsequent replay on 9 September. No championship was held the following year, but in 1890 Armagh defeated Antrim and then Tyrone to lift their first title. Neither Cavan nor Monaghan entered the competition. In 1891, Cavan regained their title, defeating Armagh after a replay, but this was the last Ulster Championship to be held until 1901.
The early association was beset with problems, owing to a litany of issues including rapid growth, thedisapproval of Sunday games in Protestant areas and the distance between Ulster and the GAA’s headquarters in Munster. The association effectively failed to operate with only a handful of clubs operating in the middle of the 1890s.[4]
By 1901, the association saw a revival, coupled with the growth of Conradh na Gaeilge in areas like Belfast. The first Ulster Council was established at a meeting in Armagh in 1903 with Belfast solicitor George Martin elected as the first President and MV O’Nolan (father of writer Flann O’Brien) as Vice-President and 20-year-old Derry draper Louis O’Kane as secretary.[5]
TheUlster provincial football team represents theprovince ofUlster in Gaelic football. The team competes in theRailway Cup.
Players from the followingcounty teams represent Ulster:Antrim,Armagh,Derry,Donegal,Down,Fermanagh,Monaghan andTyrone.
| Competition | Year | Champions | Title | Runners-up | Next edition | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ulster Senior Football Championship | 2022 |  Derry | 8th |  Donegal | 2023 | ||
| Dr McKenna Cup | 2022 |  Monaghan | 15th | Donegal | 2023 | ||
| Ulster Junior Football Championship | 1986 |  Tyrone | 3rd | Monaghan | TBD | ||
| Ulster Under-20 Football Championship | 2022 | Tyrone | 15th |  Cavan | 2023 | ||
| Ulster Minor Football Championship | 2022 | Tyrone | 25th | Derry | 2023 | ||
| Dr Lagan Cup | 1967 | Donegal | 4th | TBD |
| Competition | Year | Champions | Title | Runners-up | Next edition | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ulster Senior Club Football Championship | 2022 | Glen | 1st | Kilcoo | 2023 | ||
| Ulster Intermediate Club Football Championship | 2021 | Steelstown | 1st | Moortown | 2022 | ||
| Ulster Junior Club Football Championship | 2022 | Stewartstown Harps | 2nd | Drumlane | 2023 | ||
| Ulster Under-21 Club Football Championship | |||||||
| Ulster Minor Club Football Championship | 2019 | Lavey | 1st | Termon | TBD | ||
| Ulster Senior Club Football League | 2016 | Glenullin | 3rd | Coalisland | TBD |
As of 3 June 2008 according to the BBC.[6]
| Rank | Player | County team | Tally | Total score | Championship years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oisín McConville | Armagh | 11–197 | 230 | 1997– |
| 2 | Peter Canavan | Tyrone | 9–192 | 218 | 1989–2005 |
| 3 | Paddy Bradley | Derry | 13–170 | 209 | 2000–2012 |
| 4 | Paddy Doherty | Down | 15–159 | 204 | 1954–1971 |
| 5 | Peter Donohoe | Cavan | 17–133 | 184 | 1945–1955 |
| 6 | Seán O'Neill | Down | 17–125 | 176 | 1959–1975 |
| 7 | Charlie Gallagher | Cavan | 10–142 | 172 | ?–? |
| 8 | Steven McDonnell | Armagh | 15–111 | 156 | 2000– |
| 9 | Seán O'Connell | Derry | 11–118 | 151 | 1957–1975 |
| 10 | Ronan Carolan | Cavan | 2–138 | 144 | ?–? |
As of 15 June 2008, according to theSunday Tribune.[7]
| Rank | Player | County team | Number of goals | Championship years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steven McDonnell | Armagh | 17 | 2000–2012 |
| Peter Donohoe | Cavan | 1945–1955 | ||
| Seán O'Neill | Down | 1959–1975 | ||
| 4 | Paddy Doherty | Down | 15 | 1954–1971 |
| 5 | Paddy Bradley | Derry | 13 | 2000– |
| Ger Houlahan | Armagh | 1984–2000 | ||
| James McCartan Snr | Down | 1958–1967 | ||
| Brendan Coulter | Down | 2000–2015 | ||
| 9 | Joe Stafford | Cavan | 12 | 1943–1949 |
| Enda Muldoon | Derry | 1997– | ||
| Jason Reilly | Cavan | 1997– | ||
| 12 | Seán O'Connell | Derry | 11 | 1957–1975 |
| P. T. Treacy | Fermanagh | 1960–1973 | ||
| Oisín McConville | Armagh | 1997–2008 |
Notes:
TheUlster provincial hurling team represents theprovince ofUlster in hurling. The team competes in theRailway Cup.
| Competition | Year | Champions | Title | Runners-up | Next edition | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ulster Senior Hurling Championship | 2017 |  Antrim | 57th |  Down | TBD | ||
| Ulster Senior Hurling Shield | 2017 | Derry | 1st | Tyrone | TBD | ||
| Conor McGurk Cup | 2022 | Down | 2nd | Donegal | 2023 | ||
| Ulster Intermediate Hurling Championship | 1998 | Down | 4th |  London | TBD | ||
| Ulster Junior Hurling Championship | 2004 | Down | 8th | Fermanagh | TBD | ||
| Ulster Under-21 Hurling Championship | 2017 | Derry | 6th | Down | TBD | ||
| Ulster Minor Hurling Championship | 2017 | Antrim | 59th | Derry | TBD |
_-_Railway_Cup_2008.jpg)
Ulster has always been the weakest of the provinces in hurling terms, possibly due to the difference between thehurling promulgated by the earlyGaelic Athletic Association and the "commons" game played in Ulster. The Ulster hurling team have only won fourRailway Cup semi-final games in their history (1945, 1992, 1993 and 1995),[8] it, however, lost in each of those Railway Cup deciders.[8]
There have been some successes over the years, mostly byAntrim teams:
In 2020, a concept was discussed among players and managers, with a proposal that a combined "Team Ulster" would compete in theLiam MacCarthy Cup.[9][10][11][12]
| Championship | County team |
|---|---|
| Senior | |
| Leinster SHC | Antrim |
| Joe McDonagh Cup | Down |
| Christy Ring Cup | Derry |
| Tyrone | |
| Nicky Rackard Cup |  Armagh |
| Donegal | |
| Fermanagh | |
| Lory Meagher Cup | Cavan |
| Monaghan | |
The Ulster camogie team has twice won the premier representative competition in the women's team field sport ofcamogie, theGael Linn Cup, in1967 and2007.
The Ulster provincial junior camogie team won theGael Linn Trophy on eight occasions:1979,1989,1990,1991,1993,1998,2000 and2002.
Over the next couple of years over one hundred clubs were formed in the southern half of Ulster, and county boards were established in An Cabhán, Muineachán, Ard Mhacha, Fear Manach and Doire.
By 1891, the GAA in Ulster (and in other parts of the country) was on a downward spiral. It had grown perhaps too rapidly in these early years, and it was unfit to withstand the many problems that confronted it at once. The parochial rivalries that had helped it to spread also led to bad feeling, and frequently disputes on the playing f ields were carried on through letters in the newspapers. Several prominent Catholic clerics condemned the association from the pulpit, on account of the fights and drunkenness at many early Gaelic games on Sundays (which apparently scandalised sabbatarian Protestant neighbours), and the efforts of the Irish Republican Brotherhood to infiltrate it.
In March 1903 Comhairle Uladh (the Ulster Council) was established by a meeting in Armagh City. George Martin, a solicitor from Belfast, was elected as the first Uachtarán; Michael Victor O Nolan, a customs and excise official living in Strabane and father of the famous writer Brian O Nolan ('Flann O'Brien'), was appointed Leas-Uachtarán; and Louis O Kane, a 20-year old draper's assistant from Derry City, was given the role of secretary.