Cormac McAnallen
headshot | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Irish name | Cormac Mac An Ailín | ||
Sport | Gaelic football | ||
Position | Full Back / Midfield | ||
Born |
The Brantry, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland | 11 February 1980||
Died | 2 March 2004 | (aged 24)||
Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||
Occupation | Teacher | ||
Club(s) | |||
Years | Club | ||
?–2004 | Eglish | ||
Club titles | |||
Tyrone titles | 1 (Dublin) | ||
Inter-county(ies) | |||
Years | County | ||
?–2004 | Tyrone | ||
Inter-county titles | |||
Ulster titles | 2 | ||
All-Irelands | 1 | ||
All Stars | 1 |
Cormac McAnallen (Irish: Cormac Mac An Ailín; 11 February 1980 – 2 March 2004) was an Irish Gaelic footballer who played for the Eglish St Patrick's club and the Tyrone county team.
With Tyrone, McAnallen won the
McAnallen played for UCD while studying in Dublin and helped the university win the Dublin Senior Football Championship.
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 of successful teams, and was known as a particularly inspirational captain.[1]
Personal life
Cormac McAnallen was born on 11 February 1980 in Dungannon. 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. At St. Patrick's he was part of the team that won the Blackboard Jungle quiz on RTÉ (1996/97). He was a student at Queen's University Belfast between 1997 and 2001, and in 2001/02 he studied at University College Dublin (UCD), while doing teaching practice at St Benildus College, Stillorgan. He graduated from Queen's in 2000 with a B.A. in History, and in 2001 with a postgraduate diploma in Computer-Based Learning. He graduated from UCD in 2002 with a higher diploma in Education. He was posthumously named Queen's University Graduate of the Year in 2004.[2]
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.
Playing career
Inter-county
At
McAnallen was Tyrone
By this stage he was already playing for the Tyrone
He was a
In 2004, just over a week before his death, he captained Tyrone to success in the
Club
McAnallen won consecutive Tyrone Minor Championships with Eglish 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 Dublin Senior Football Championship medal in 2001 and 2002 captaining the team both years.
Province
McAnallen won a
International
McAnallen represented
College
McAnallen won the Ryan Cup with Queen's University Belfast in 1999, and the following year helped the university win the Sigerson Cup.
Other sports
McAnallen played hurling for the Clan na nGael club. While at St Pat's Armagh he played basketball and won Ulster Schools 'A' basketball titles from Under-14 to Under-19 levels. He also represented Ulster 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.[5]
Legacy
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/Cormac_McAnallen_Cup.jpg/250px-Cormac_McAnallen_Cup.jpg)
In 2004, the
In January 2005, the Cormac McAnallen’s GAC, a GAA club, was founded in Sydney, Australia.[7]
Honours
- Inter-county
- Senior
- All-Ireland Senior Football Championship:
- Winner (1): 2003
- National Football League:
- Winner (2): 2002, 2003
- Ulster Senior Football Championship:
- Winner (2): 2001, 2003
- Dr. McKenna Cup:
- Winner (1): 2004
- Under-21
- All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship:
- Winner (2): 2000, 2001
- Ulster Under-21 Football Championship:
- Winner (2): 2000, 2001
- Minor
- All-Ireland Minor Football Championship:
- Winner (1): 1998
- Runner up: 1997
- Ulster Minor Football Championship:
- Winner (2): 1997, 1998
- Ulster Minor Football League:
- Winner (1): 1998
- Club
- Dublin Senior Football Championship:
- Winner (1): 2002
- Tyrone Intermediate Football Championship:
- Winner (1): 1997
- Tyrone Minor Football Championship:
- Winner (2): 1996, 1997
- Province
- Railway Cup:
- Winner (1): 2003
- School/college
- Nannery Cup (Ulster U-15½ football championship):
- Winner: Year?
- Sigerson Cup:
- Winner: 2000
- Ryan Cup:
- Winner: 1999
- Individual
- All Star:
- Winner (1): 2003
- Nominated (runner up): ?
- All Stars Young Footballer of the Year– 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
See also
References
- ^ "Eglish St Patricks GFC". totalgaa.com. Archived from the original on 21 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
- ^ "Armagh's Fionnuala Mckenna Receives Major Queen's GAA Honour". Queen's University Belfast. 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
- ^ "Charity mission by fiancee of tragic GAA star Cormac". thecormactrust.com. 15 December 2004. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
- ^ Cormac McAnallen - Tribute, Tyrone GAA, archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 4 September 2021
- ^ Young, Connla (6 September 2017). "Mystery of tragic Tyrone captain Cormac McAnallen's last texts". irishnews.com. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
- ^ "International Rules cup named in memory of McAnallen". Irish Independent. 16 October 2004. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
- ^ "About the Club". Cormac McAnallen’s GAC. 14 April 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
Further reading
- McAnallen, Dónal (2017). The Pursuit of Perfection: The Life, Death and Legacy of Cormac McAnallen. Penguin Ireland. ISBN 978-1844883646.
- "Irish sport rocked by death of McAnallen". RTÉ. 2 March 2004.
Updated / Thursday, 14 Jun 2007
- "UCD Remembers Cormac McAnallen". University College Dublin. 2 March 2004.