The Armagh county hurling team represents Armagh GAA, the

county board A county board is a common form of county legislature, particular of counties in the United States. Related forms of county government include: * Board of Supervisors — a form of county legislature in some U.S. states * County commission, ...

of the Gaelic Athletic Association, in the

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

sport of

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

. The team competes in the Nicky Rackard Cup and the

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...

. Armagh's home ground is

Athletic Grounds The Athletic Grounds ( ga, Páirc Lúthchleasaíochta) is a GAA stadium in Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is the county ground and administrative headquarters of Armagh GAA and is used for both Gaelic football and hurling. Uses The stadium i ...

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

. The team's manager is

Karl McKeegan Karl McKeegan (born 1978) is an Irish former hurler who played as a centre-back at senior level for the Antrim county team. Playing career McKeegan began his hurling career at juvenile and underage levels with the Ruairí Óg club in Cushe ...

. The team has never won the Ulster Senior Championship, the All-Ireland Senior Championship or the National League. The team is nicknamed the Orchard men.

History

Like most counties outside of the game's heartland of

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

and south Leinster, hurling has tended to live in the shadow cast by Gaelic football in Armagh, with the exception of border areas such as Keady, Middletown and Armagh City. In 2006, Armagh won the NHL Division 3 championship, winning all its games in the group stages before defeating

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town *Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia **Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * County ...

by a scoreline of 3–10 to 1–11 in the final at Breffni Park in

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...

. The step up to Division 2 proved to be a difficult one for the men from the Orchard County. While the team failed to win any of its group games, it was unfortunate to lose to Meath and also managed to come within a point of

2006 Christy Ring Cup The 2006 Christy Ring Cup was the second staging of the Christy Ring Cup, the Gaelic Athletic Association's inter-county hurling tournament for second tier teams. The cup began on 3 June 2006 and ended on 6 August 2006. Westmeath were the defe ...

finalists

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...

. Heavier defeats were suffered at the hands of more established counties such as

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

and Laois. Armagh returned to the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship in May 2007 for the first time in almost 60 years with a match against Derry. Despite a strong performance, the team lost out on a semi-final encounter with neighbouring team

Down Down most often refers to: * Down, the relative direction opposed to up * Down (gridiron football), in American/Canadian football, a period when one play takes place * Down feather, a soft bird feather used in bedding and clothing * Downland, a ty ...

due to an injury-time score. The advances made in the county over the previous two years placed it as the favourite in the

2007 Nicky Rackard Cup Final The 2007 Nicky Rackard Cup final was a hurling match played at Croke Park on 11 August 2007 to determine the winners of the 2007 Nicky Rackard Cup, the 3rd season of the Nicky Rackard Cup, a tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association f ...

against Roscommon on 12 August; however, Armagh lost this game by two points. Armagh won the

2010 Nicky Rackard Cup The 2010 Nicky Rackard Cup is the 6th annual third-tier hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The teams competing are Armagh, Fingal, London, Louth, Monaghan, Roscommon, Sligo and Tyrone. The 2009 champions, Meath w ...

, defeating London by a scoreline of 3–15 to 3–14 at

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

on 3 July. The county's minor team won the Ulster Minor Hurling League Division One title and reached the final of the Ulster Minor Hurling Championship. The county's under-21 team also reached the final of the Ulster Under-21 Hurling Championship. In 2011, Armagh reached the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship final for the first time since 1946 and advanced to the Ulster Under-21 Hurling Championship final for a second consecutive year, the first time in team history. Armagh won the

2012 Nicky Rackard Cup The 2012 Nicky Rackard Cup is the eighth season of the Nicky Rackard Cup since its establishment in 2005. A total of six teams will contest the Nicky Rackard Cup, including four sides from the 2011 Nicky Rackard Cup and one promoted team from t ...

, its second time to lift the trophy, defeating Louth by a scoreline of 3–20 to 1–15 at Croke Park on 9 June. Armagh lost the

2015 Nicky Rackard Cup The 2015 Nicky Rackard Cup (tier 3) was the eleventh staging of the Nicky Rackard Cup hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2005. The cup competition began on 2 May 2015 and culminated on 13 June 2015. ...

final to Roscommon by a scoreline of 2–12 to 1–14, even though Roscommon had one less player due to a straight red card and the team was behind for the entire second-half until scoring a goal from a 20-metre free at the end. Armagh won Division 2B in 2016, earning promotion to Division 2A. But it was then relegated. Armagh defeated Down in the

2016 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship The 2016 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship was the 68th staging of the Ulster hurling championship since its establishment by the Ulster Council in 1901. The final is traditionally played on the second Sunday in July. The winners receive the ...

semi-final, giving them a place in the final, where Antrim prevailed. Armagh also lost to Antrim in the

2017 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship The 2017 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship was the 69th staging of the Ulster hurling championship since its establishment by the Ulster Council in 1901. The tournament was moved to April, instead of the usual June/July dates, in order to accom ...

final. Armagh lost the

2016 Nicky Rackard Cup The 2016 Nicky Rackard Cup was the 12th staging of the Nicky Rackard Cup hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2005. The competition began on Saturday 23 April 2016 and ended on Saturday 4 June 2016. R ...

final to Mayo by a scoreline of 2–16 to 1–15, giving Mayo a first Nicky Rackard trophy. Armagh lost the

2017 Nicky Rackard Cup The 2017 Nicky Rackard Cup was the 13th staging of the Nicky Rackard Cup hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2005. It is the third tier of senior inter-county championship hurling.Hurling tiers - 1. ...

final to Derry by a scoreline of 3–23 to 2–15. Armagh lost the 2019 Nicky Rackard Cup final to

Sligo Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...

by a scoreline of 2–14 to 2–13; though the team was four points ahead of Sligo as the game reached its conclusion, Sligo scored two late points and a goal to secure a one-point victory.

Managerial history

Sylvester McConnell? P. Kelly, the former Meath hurler, 2017– Kelly took charge of Armagh for the

2018 National Hurling League The 2018 National Hurling League was the 87th season of the National Hurling League for county teams. Wexford finished top of Division 1B in 2017 and were promoted to Division 1A for 2018. Galway finished second in Division 1B in 2017 and so mi ...

. Kelly stood aside upon Armagh's relegation to Division 3A of the

, replaced by interim manager Padraig O'Connor, O'Connor then being reappointed in 2019 Terence "Sambo" McNaughton was appointed manager in March 2022.

was appointed manager in October 2022.

Honours

:''Official honours, with additions noted.''

National

* National Hurling League Division 2B ** Winners (1):

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

* National Hurling League Division 3 ** Winners (2):

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

* All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship/ Nicky Rackard Cup ** Winners (5): 1978, 1979, 2000,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

** Runners-up (5):

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Provincial

* Ulster Senior Hurling Championship ** Runners-up (3): 1946,

* Ulster Under-21 Hurling Championship ** Runners-up (4): 1968, 1979, 2010, 2011 * Ulster Minor Hurling Championship ** Winners (1): 1975 * Ulster Junior Hurling Championship ** Winners (6): 1949, 1965, 1973, 1990, 1991, 2000 *Ulster Minor Hurling League Division 1 ** Winners (1): 2010

References

{{GAA National Leagues County hurling teams