The Ulster Council () is a provincial council of the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

sports of

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

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

, camogie, and

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

in the province of

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

. The headquarters of the Ulster GAA is based in the city of Armagh. The first Ulster GAA Convention was held on 22 March 1903 in Armagh.

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

solicitor George Martin was elected as first president with L. F. O'Kane (

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

) as first secretary. Victor O'Nolan ( Tyrone), the father of writer Flann O'Brien, was elected vice-president. Danny Murphy ( Down) has been Ulster Council secretary and chief executive officer since 1998. Murphy is a former vice president of the GAA and president of Ulster GAA. On 4 July 2012, Murphy was awarded an Honorary Doctorate for Services to Sport and Community Relations.

County boards

* Antrim * Armagh * Cavan *

* Donegal * Down * Fermanagh *

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), Monaghan barony. The population of the town as of the 2022 cen ...

* Tyrone

Football

Provincial team

The Ulster provincial football team represents the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

in Gaelic football. The team competes in the Railway Cup.

Players

Players from the following county teams represent Ulster: Antrim, Armagh,

, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh,

and Tyrone.

Competitions

Inter-county

Club

All-time top scorers from Ulster county teams

As of 3 June 2008 according to the BBC. ;Notes: *Includes Ulster Championship, All-Ireland Championship and Qualifiers.

All-time top goalscorers from Ulster county teams

As of 15 June 2008, according to the '' Sunday Tribune''. Notes: *Includes Ulster Championship, All-Ireland Championship and Qualifiers.

Hurling

Provincial team

The Ulster provincial hurling team represents the

in hurling. The team competes in the Railway Cup.

Players

Competitions

Inter-county

Ulster has always been the weakest of the provinces in hurling terms, possibly due to the difference between the

promulgated by the early

and the "commons" game played in Ulster. The Ulster hurling team have only won four Railway Cup semi-final games in their history (1945, 1992, 1993 and 1995), it, however, lost in each of those Railway Cup deciders. There have been some successes over the years, mostly by Antrim teams: * 1943: Antrim defeated

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

and Kilkenny, but lost to Cork in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final * 1982: Gerry Goodwin ( Tyrone) won the All-Ireland Poc Fada Championship * 1983: Loughgiel Shamrocks (Antrim) won the

All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Club Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Club Championship, is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-coun ...

* 1989: Antrim defeated Offaly, and subsequently lost to Tipperary in the All-Ireland final * 2010: Graham Clarke ( Down) won the All-Ireland Poc Fada Championship

Club

* Ulster Senior Club Hurling Championship * Ulster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship * Ulster Junior Club Hurling Championship * Ulster Under-21 Club Hurling Championship

"Team Ulster" in the Liam MacCarthy Cup

In 2020, a concept was discussed among players and managers, with a proposal that a combined "Team Ulster" would compete in the Liam MacCarthy Cup.

Grades

Camogie

Gael Linn Cup

The Ulster camogie team has twice won the premier representative competition in the women's team field sport of camogie, the Gael Linn Cup, in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

and 2007.

Gael Linn Trophy

The Ulster provincial junior camogie team won the Gael Linn Trophy on eight occasions:

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1998,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and 2002.

Honours

* Disability Sport NI's Inclusive Sport Award: 2021

References

External links

Ulster Council website
{{GAA bodies 1903 establishments in Ireland Provincial councils of the Gaelic Athletic Association Gaelic Sports organizations established in 1903