Cormac McAnallen ( ga, Cormac Mac An Ailín; 11 February 1980 – 2 March 2004) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

er who played for the Eglish St Patrick's club and the Tyrone county team. With Tyrone, McAnallen won the

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, and twice won both the

Ulster Senior Football Championship The Ulster Senior Football Championship is an inter-county competition for Gaelic football teams in the province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and begins in early May. The final is usu ...

and

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

titles. At underage level he won an All-Ireland Minor and two All-Ireland Under-21 Championships with Tyrone. He also won an All Stars Award for his performances in the 2003 Championship. McAnallen played for UCD while studying in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

and helped the university win the

Dublin Senior Football Championship The Dublin Senior Football Championship (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the '' Go-Ahead'' Dublin Senior Football Championship) is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition between the top Dublin GAA clubs. The winners of the ...

. McAnallen died suddenly on 2 March 2004, aged 24. Despite his relatively short career, he won almost every honour in the game. He was often

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of successful teams, and was known as a particularly inspirational captain.

Personal life

Cormac McAnallen was born on 11 February 1980 in

Dungannon Dungannon () is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 14,340 at the 2011 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council had its headquarters in the ...

. He lived in the Brantry, with his parents Brendan and Bridget, and his brothers Donal and Fergus. Between 1984 and 1990 Cormac attended Derrylatinee Primary School; from 1990 to 1997 he attended St Patrick's Grammar School in

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 ...

. At St. Patrick's he was part of the team that won the Blackboard Jungle quiz on

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

(1996/97). He was a student at

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

between 1997 and 2001, and in 2001/02 he studied at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

(UCD), while doing teaching practice at St Benildus College,

Stillorgan Stillorgan (, also ''Stigh Lorcáin'' and previously ''Tigh Lorcáin'' or ''Teach Lorcáin''), formerly a village in its own right, is now a suburban area of Dublin in Ireland. Stillorgan is located in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, and contains ma ...

. He graduated from Queen's in 2000 with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in History, and in 2001 with a

postgraduate diploma A postgraduate diploma (PgD, PgDip, PGDip, PG Dip., PGD, Dipl. PG, PDE) is a postgraduate qualification awarded after a university degree, which supplements the original degree and awards them with a graduate diploma. Countries that award postg ...

in Computer-Based Learning. He graduated from UCD in 2002 with a

higher diploma A higher diploma is an academic award in Iraq, Libya, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and Oman. In Iraq, it's one year after bachelor's degree (i.e., not equivalent to a bachelor's degree). In Ireland it is a postgraduate qualification at t ...

in Education. He was posthumously named Queen's University Graduate of the Year in 2004. From 2002 to 2004, Cormac's main subject of teaching was history and politics at St Catherine's College, Armagh, and he managed school sports teams. He also however taught other subjects such as history, politics, mathematics, computers, French and Religion. He was well liked by students and staff alike. In his after-school hours he acted as a Youth-Sport co-ordinator in the Armagh district, and he was frequently a coach at Tyrone GAA summer camps. In December 2003, McAnallen became engaged to Ashlene Moore. In his spare time, McAnallen played a wide range of sports – including

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 ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

– and loved watching every type of sport. He was also a keen participant in quizzes, and he took a great interest in history and

Gaelic culture The Gaels ( ; ga, Na Gaeil ; gd, Na Gàidheil ; gv, Ny Gaeil ) are an ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man in the British Isles. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languag ...

Playing career

Inter-county

Minor Minor may refer to: * Minor (law), a person under the age of certain legal activities. ** A person who has not reached the age of majority * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Music theory *Minor chord ** Barb ...

level, McAnallen won the 1997 Ulster Minor Championship with Tyrone and they went on to reach the All-Ireland Minor final, but were defeated by

Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

. The following year with McAnallen as captain, Tyrone defended their Ulster crown and also went on to win the All-Ireland Minor title. He was named Personality of the Year by the Ulster GAA Writers Association in 1998. McAnallen was Tyrone Under-21 captain in 2000 and 2001. In both those years the county won both the Ulster Under-21 Championship and the All-Ireland Under-21 Championship twice. By this stage he was already playing for the Tyrone

Senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

side. In 2001 he won an Ulster Senior Championship medal and was named both

All Stars Young Footballer of the Year The GAA & GPA Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percent ...

and the Ulster GAA Writers Association's Footballer of the Year. He was a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

on the Tyrone team that won back-to-back

titles in 2002 and 2003. In 2003 he moved to the full-back position and two months later the team won the

for the first time in the county's history. Tyrone had also won the Ulster Championship earlier in the summer en route to winning the All-Ireland. McAnallen was rewarded with an All Star award for his performances in the 2003 Championship. In 2004, just over a week before his death, he captained Tyrone to success in the Dr. McKenna Cup.

Club

McAnallen won consecutive Tyrone Minor Championships with

Eglish Eglish () is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is about 6 km southwest of Dungannon, in the Mid Ulster District Council area. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 93. The village has grown in a dispersed form an ...

in 1996 and 1997. He won a Tyrone Intermediate Championship medal with the club in 1997. McAnallen played for UCD while studying at the university and won the

medal in 2001 and 2002 captaining the team both years.

Province

McAnallen won a

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship ( ga, An Corn Idir-Chúigeach) or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster ...

medal with

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

in 2003 and also played in the competition in 2001.

International

McAnallen represented

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in the

International Rules Series The International Rules Series is a senior men's international rules football competition between the Australia international rules football team (selected by the Australian Football League) and the Ireland international rules football team (s ...

against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 2001, 2002 and 2003.

College

McAnallen won the Ryan Cup with Queen's University Belfast in 1999, and the following year helped the university win the

Sigerson Cup The Sigerson Cup is the trophy for the premier Gaelic football championship among Higher Education institutions (Universities, Colleges and Institutes of Technology) in Ireland. It traditionally begins in mid January and ends in late February. ...

Other sports

McAnallen played hurling for the Clan na nGael club. While at St Pat's Armagh he played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and won Ulster Schools 'A' basketball titles from Under-14 to Under-19 levels. He also represented

at basketball from Under-14 to Under-17 levels.

Death

McAnallen died in his sleep on 2 March 2004, aged 24, from an undetected heart condition,

sudden adult death syndrome Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS) is a sudden unexpected death of adolescents and adults, mainly during sleep. One relatively common type is known as Brugada syndrome. The syndrome is rare in most areas around the world but occurs in p ...

Legacy

In 2004, the

Cormac McAnallen Cup The International Rules Series is a senior men's international rules football competition between the Australia international rules football team (selected by the Australian Football League) and the Ireland international rules football team (se ...

, the cup that Ireland and Australia play for in the

, was named in his honour. In January 2005, the Cormac McAnallen’s GAC, a GAA club, was founded in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Honours

;Inter-county ;Senior *

: **Winner (1): 2003 *

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

: **Winner (2): 2002, 2003 *

: **Winner (2): 2001, 2003 * Dr. McKenna Cup: **Winner (1): 2004 ;Under-21 *

All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship The GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the EirGrid GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship) is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association ( ...

: **Winner (2): 2000, 2001 *

Ulster Under-21 Football Championship The Ulster GAA Football Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Ulster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest int ...

: **Winner (2): 2000, 2001 ;Minor *

All-Ireland Minor Football Championship The Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Championship is the premier under-17 "knockout" competition in Gaelic football played in Ireland. 2017 was the final year of the minor under 18 football championship as it were replaced by an under ...

: **Winner (1): 1998 **Runner up: 1997 *

Ulster Minor Football Championship The Ulster Minor Football Championship is the Minor "knockout" competition in the game of Gaelic football played in the province of Ulster in Ireland. The series of games are organised by the Ulster Council. The trophy for the winning side is Th ...

: **Winner (2): 1997, 1998 *Ulster Minor Football League: **Winner (1): 1998 ;Club *

: **Winner (1): 2002 *

Tyrone Intermediate Football Championship The Tyrone Intermediate Football Club Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the LCC Group Tyrone Intermediate Football Club Championship) is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by mid-tier Tyrone GAA clubs. Galbally Pearses ...

: **Winner (1): 1997 *Tyrone Minor Football Championship: **Winner (2): 1996, 1997 ;Province *

: **Winner (1): 2003 ;School/college *Nannery Cup (Ulster U-15½ football championship): **Winner: Year? *

: **Winner: 2000 *Ryan Cup: **Winner: 1999 ;Individual * All Star: **Winner (1): 2003 **Nominated (runner up): ? *

– Winner (1): 2001 * ''Irish News'' Ulster GAA All-Star – Winner (2): 2001, 2003 *Ulster GAA Writers Association Personality of the Year: – 1998 *Ulster GAA Writers Association Footballer of the Year: – 2001 *Belfast Telegraph Personality of the Year: – 2001 ;Scór *Trath na gCeist, Scór na nÓg Thír Eoghain (3): 1992, 1993, 1994 *All-Ireland Scór na nÓg Trath na gCeist: 1995 *Trath na gCeist, Scór Sinsear Thír Eoghain (3): 1999, 2001, 2003

References

External links

The Cormac Trust

Campa Chormaic

Cormac McAnallen's GAC Australia
{{DEFAULTSORT:McAnallen, Cormac 1980 births 2004 deaths All Stars Young Footballers of the Year Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Dual players Eglish St Patrick's Gaelic footballers Irish international rules football players Irish schoolteachers People educated at St Patrick's Grammar School, Armagh People from Dungannon Tyrone inter-county Gaelic footballers UCD Gaelic footballers Winners of one All-Ireland medal (Gaelic football)