Five Armagh GAA facts you might not know

The only orange jersey in all of Ireland

Interestingly, Armagh used to wear the same colours as Kilkenny - black and amber - also the same as the colours of the Co Armagh club, Crossmaglen Rangers.

This was up until 1926, when Armagh played Dublin in the All-Ireland Junior Football Championship.

They ended up wearing orange tops knitted by Poor Clare nuns from Omeath in Co Louth - although some accounts wrongly claim that these were presented as a neighbourly gesture by an Orange Lodge.

Armagh went on to win the tournament in 1926, and it was the first national title won by an Ulster county – over four decades since the starting point of the GAA in 1884.

Perhaps that is why they have stuck with the colour orange ever since - good luck?

Nowadays, the Armagh jerseys are part of just a few teams that are no longer manufactured by Tyrone sportswear maker O’Neill’s.

Instead, they are produced by homegrown Craigavon firm, McKeever’s.

Manager married to a Kerrywoman Maura

Armagh’s win over Kerry in the semi-final this year will go down in history, and the television cameras made sure to pick up former forward and legend for the Kingdom, Kieran Donaghy.

The four-time All Ireland winner with Kerry joined Armagh’s backroom team as a coach four years ago, but a few weeks ago, it was evident that his loyalty lay with the men in orange as he barked orders at them pitchside during the nervy semi-final against his home county.

However, what many may not realise is that head coach, Kieran McGeeney, is married to a Kerry woman.

The pair wed in 2014, and Maura, who is from Knockeen in Castleisland, Co Kerry, is the sister of Ruairi O'Rahilly, a former Kerry footballer also.

There was no love lost between the teams though, with McGeeney’s crew stealing a two-point win in extra-time against the green-and-gold GAA powerhouse.

Armagh have missed a penalty in every All-Ireland final they’ve been - in bar one

We already know that penalty shoot-outs aren’t exactly Armagh’s strong point.

Of the seven that have occurred in the championship since the first in 2022, Armagh have, remarkably, been on the losing side in four of them.

But, did you know that Armagh have actually missed a penalty (during normal match time) in almost every All-Ireland final they’ve been in?

In 1953, they trailed by just two points to Kerry, when they were awarded a penalty with 11 minutes to go, but Bill McCorry shot wide from the spot and the Kingdom saw the game out with a four-point winning margin.

The fact he had missed that shot was even mentioned by the priest in his funeral eulogy.

Paddy Moriarty actually scored one and missed one in their 1977 final defeat to Dublin, and in 2002, Oisin McConville missed a penalty too - again against Kerry - but at least the Orchard County ended up getting over the line that day and securing their first - and to date - only Sam Maguire.

There were no penalties given to them in the ‘03 final against Tyrone - but could they be due one again this weekend?

Jarlath Burns and Jarly Óg

If Armagh win on Sunday, it is understood that it will be the first time that a serving GAA President will have a son playing on the winning panel.

As Jarlath Burns makes his speech, he will no doubt share a special moment with his son, Jarlath Óg Burns.

Many neutral fans may not realise that Jarlath Senior wasn’t actually on that All-Ireland winning team of ‘02 - he had retired from the inter-county game after captaining the team to an Ulster title in 1999.

Watch: Armagh turns orange and white ahead of the All-Ireland final

The story of the whiskey in McKeever’s bar

Charlie McKeever owns a bar with his namesake in Portadown, and in the 1980s - not too long after Armagh’s 1977 All-Ireland loss - his father gave him a bottle of Redbreast 12-year-old whiskey, with the instruction that it was not to be opened until Armagh won the Sam Maguire.

Fast forward to 2002 and the bottle finally got its day in the sun. The players had a small swig of it each, and now that same empty bottle still sits proudly in McKeever’s Bar.

Charlie said that he still has plenty of whiskey for the lads if they do it again on Sunday, but no bottle will hold as much significance and poignancy as that one, which is now around half a century old and on display for all to see.