They were celebrating in Lurgan on Sunday night after Clann Eireann ended a 58 year wait to regain the Armagh Senior Football Championship. Those celebrations were also taking place in Cushendall where the McCambridge family had a special reason to join in. Barry McCambridge, who wore the no. 3 jersey for Clann Eireann is a son of John and nephew of former Antrim hurlers Conor (Monty), Ciaran (Gazza) and Michael, long time Ruairi Og secretary Alastair, plus of course Oonagh (McKillop) and Bronagh (O’Hara).
Barry McCambridge in action against Crossmaglen legend Aaron Kiernan during Sunday’s Armagh Senior Football Final. Pic by John Merry
Conor, Ciaran and Alistair were in the Athletic Grounds with Conor’s son Oran and Ciaran’s son Alex cheering on the Lurgan side, the team who will now face Creggan in the quarter final of the Ulster Championship on December 5th.
One other connection with the north Antrim area. The trophy they played for on Sunday is the Gerry Fagan Cup, in memory of the legendry Armagh county secretary. Gerry Fagan was a Clann Eireann man and actually captained the team when the last won the championship in 1963. He was a teacher and started his career in Cargan School in 1948.