When the boys we know from long ago will gather round to sing
They’ll mention Jim McCullough, Gaelic Football’s uncrowned king…
The poem ‘Big Jim McCullough’
JIM McCullough was a super-star of the GAA long before that term was ever coined.
The Pearse Og clubman played for Armagh during the 1930s and ’40s when Cavan ruled the Ulster championship, winning 17 titles over those two decades.
When a ‘Team of Ulster’ was named, there were 14 Cavan men on it - and McCullough.
An outstanding midfielder, for years after he retired Armagh folk kept a constant lookout for the player who might be ‘the next McCullough’.
The ‘All-Time Great Award’ McCullough was presented with by the GAA in 1983 takes pride of place alongside ‘Houlie’s’ Allstar blazer and Ronan Clarke’s two Allstar trophies at the superb exhibition Pearse Og held in their social rooms to mark the club’s 75th anniversary.
From the 1950s through to today’s team, the exhibition is a treasure trove of photographs, match reports, newspaper clippings, jerseys and memorabilia from decades at the Armagh City club that has produced McCullough and, much more recently, Armagh stars including Ger Houlihan, Clarke, and Andy Mallon.
When the idea went out for the exhibition, club members scoured their attics and photograph albums and the result is a fascinating walk down memory lane that showcased the proud history of the Cathedral City club.
“We put it on for club members, friends, supporters and former players and teammates from years gone by hoping that they all come back and have a look,” said club chairman Tommy Martin as interested observers took in the various displays on Saturday morning.
The exhibition opened on Thursday and, unfortunately because of the Ulster Club Final at the Athletic Grounds on Saturday, it had to be dismantled a little earlier than planned but nevertheless ‘the Ogs’ have welcomed a constant stream of visitors to the club.
“There’s been people coming along that I haven’t seen for years, they’ve come from far and near enjoying all the history of the club,” says Tommy, who played corner-back on the club’s first-ever Armagh senior championship-winning team in 1985.
With Sean Gordon captaining the side from full-back, the Brother Ennis-managed Ogs beat neighbours Armagh Harps to win the title that day 40 years ago.
The exhibition includes the famous flag that club legend Patsy Duffy unfurled after the victory. The late physio had it hidden in his tracksuit ‘Pearse Og Armagh champions 1985’ before the game and he took it out after the four-point success.
Patsy did the same thing for the 1986 final but the Ogs lost that day.
However, undaunted he changed ‘86’ to ‘88’ with a marker for the final two years’ later and the flag emerged again on the field after Pearse Og beat Killeavy to regain the title.
The city side were winners again in 1993 and were able to check the dominance of the great Crossmaglen side (in between the Rangers’ 13-in-a-row and a six-in-a-row) in 2009.
These days the Ogs play their football at Intermediate level but Tommy sees a bright future ahead for the club.
“We’re starting to rally again,” says Tommy.
“Success comes in cycles and I hope this is another cycle starting. We had the Gerard Houlihan era in the 1980s and then the Ronan Clarke and Andy Mallon era in the 2000s but unfortunately we came up against a mighty Crossmaglen team then.
“Now we’ve been stuck in Intermediate football but we won the Intermediate U21 championship last year and got to the Senior U21 final this year.
“We have good players coming through so hopefully we’re heading back to senior football.”
