Armagh GAA fans travel the globe for All-Ireland final glory

Armagh fans have one sleep left as they dream of glory in Sunday’s All-Ireland final at Croke Park against Galway.

It will be a short drive down the motorway for some, but the end of a globe-trekking adventure of planes, trains and automobiles for others.

Niambh Mulligan, who lives in New South Wales, Australia, was at the 2002 and 2003 finals and said she “couldn’t miss this”.

Her journey involved a 10-hour bus and train ride to Sydney, a 15-hour flight to Doha, another eight hours to Dublin, and that final trip up the road to family in Whitecross.

“It was definitely worth it,” she told BBC News NI.

“There wasn’t a second thought.”

Niambh added: “I didn’t even take a big suitcase, just a small one.

“I just took my jerseys.”

The traffic controller’s visa was to expire at the end of July, so a temporary extension was needed to allow Niambh time to get back to Australia after the match.

Her confirmation of tickets only came through in the early hours of Thursday so she could be at Croke Park with her brother and sister.

Niambh’s parents did not have the same luck, but “they would rather we go”, she said.

As for whether Armagh can claim a second Sam Maguire: “I think they will. I always said if they beat Kerry in the semi-final they would have it.”

Throw-in for Sunday’s senior men’s football championship final in Dublin is 15:30 local time.

If the match goes to extra-time and ends level, a replay is scheduled for 10 August.

Opponents Galway are nine-time winners. For the Orchard County, 2002 was the only success under manager Joe Kernan.

The captain then, Kieran McGeeney, is now in charge.

His cousin was “jumping up and down on the street” in New York and missed a bus home when she found out she had tickets.

“All emotions were going,” Gillian Kelly said.

“I thought if I have to go home to watch it in a pub in Dublin, that’ll be good craic, but when you know you have a ticket for that atmosphere in Croke Park, it’s a different situation.”

Gillian, from Mullaghbawn, has worked for a consultancy firm in the Big Apple for several years and watched the semi-final in a pub surrounded by Kerry fans.

She wanted to come home to feel the excitement in her local community.

“You don’t really get that when you live away in a bigger city,” she explained.

“Coming home makes that really special.

“Irish people are really good at looking out for each other; this is a bigger celebration of that reaction.

“Everybody comes out and puts the decorations out.”

Among them is Gillian’s car which she has painted orange and white.

“I thought my ma would kill me,” Gillian said.

“I only drive it when I come home. People go a bit mad!”

Success in 2002 remains fresh in the memory as a “really special moment” for the family.

Gillian said Kieran McGeeney was “delighted” to know she had come home, even though his focus is fully on the big match.

“Now seeing him as the coach, the evolution of that, has been really nice,” she said.

Matthew McCarthy, from the Clady/Ballymacnab area, spoke to BBC News NI as he waited to fly from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, where he works four days a week in the technology sector, to Dubai, where he lives with his wife and child.

From there it was a flight to Turkey and on to Dublin.

“How much do you love me?” was the text he received from his best man, who confirmed a ticket was available.

“I would go to every game if I was there, but them getting to a final, I couldn’t just sit at home and watch. I would do anything to get there.”

Getting there meant telling his wife, who is from South Africa and pregnant, that “it’s something I have to do”.

“I said to her as soon as the final whistle went against Kerry I just had to go to this,” he added.

“There was no negotiation, she knew what it meant to me.

“She said fine, just don’t go for too long!”

For Matthew, an All-Ireland final brings back fond memories of attending in 2002 and 2003 with his late father.

“For an Armagh person GAA is like a religion,” he said.

“It’s a bit surreal that they’re in the final in the first place.”