Paul Barden (born 1 July 1980) is a former

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 ki ...

er who played at senior level for the Longford county team from October 1998 until February 2015 when he announced his retirement. He was the longest serving inter-county player in the country until his retirement. He won an

O'Byrne Cup The Bord na Móna O'Byrne Cup is a Gaelic football competition organised by the Leinster GAA and first staged in 1954. The competition is named after Matt Byrne, a former Wicklow GAA club and county officer. By virtue of a quirk in translation, ...

medal with them in 2000, he also won 2 O'Byrne Shield medals in 2006 and 2007. He was also a member of the

Ireland international rules football team :''This article concerns the men's team; for information on the Irish women's team, see Ireland women's international rules football team.'' :''This article concerns the hybrid sport of International Rules Football; for information on Ireland's n ...

in 2002 and 2006. He also 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 ...

with

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of ...

in 2001 and 2002. In 2011, he helped

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the mee ...

overcome

Roscommon Roscommon (; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60, N61 and N63 roads. The name Roscommon is derived from Coman mac Faelchon who buil ...

in the National Football League Div 4 final 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 h ...

. In 2012, Longford were back at

, this time for the Division 3 final and again won beating

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 ...

with Barden once again captain. He plays his club football with Clonguish with whom he won 3

Longford Senior Football Championship The Longford Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition organised by Longford GAA among the Senior grade Gaelic football clubs in County Longford, Ireland. The winning club qualifies to represent its county ...

s in 2003, 2004 and 2009. He also plays

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 ...

with the club and won

Longford Senior Hurling Championship The Longford Club Hurling Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition organised by Longford GAA among hurling clubs in County Longford, Ireland. The winner qualifies to represent the county in the Leinster Junior Club Hurl ...

s in 2003, 2005 and 2006. He is the nephew of 1960s Longford footballer

Brendan Barden Brendan Barden was a Gaelic footballer from County Longford, Ireland. He was part of the Longford team that won a National Football League title in 1966 as captain, an O'Byrne Cup in 1965 and a Leinster Senior Football title in 1968. In 1962 he ...

Honours

* 3

s (2003, 2004, 2009) * 5

s (2003, 2005, 2006, 2012, 2019) * 2

s (2001, 2002) * 2 O'Bryne Cup Shields (2006, 2007) * 1

(1999) * 1 National Football League Division 4 (2011) * 1 National Football League Division 3 (2012) * 1 May Player of the Month (2012)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barden, Paul 1980 births Living people Clonguish Gaelic footballers Clonguish hurlers Dual players Gaelic football forwards Irish international rules football players Longford inter-county Gaelic footballers Longford inter-county hurlers