FRIDAY evening will see a very special event at St Mary’s College Belfast as GAA historian and author Dónal McAnallen, will take to the stage with special guests to honour and reflect upon 'Antrim's Greatest Ever Team'.
The event will focus on the 80th and centenary anniversaries for the Antrim Ulster Football winning team of 1946, and the very first Dr McKenna Cup winners of 1926 in an event jam-packed with GAA history and tales of the glory days.
The evening will act as a rite of passage and a commemoration for those heroes and icons of old, and a chance for the families of those greats to be remembered in a very special evening at St Mary’s.
One key feature of the evening will see the story of Antrim’s greatest ever footballer, legendary Kevin Armstrong.
Kevin was a key asset on the 1946 panel, and played a legendary career winning Railway Cups with Ulster and collecting 10 Ulster championship crowns for Antrim (eight hurling and two football).
The story of Kevin Armstrong is known to many, but his career is one that can never be forgotten.
The Andersonstown News sat down with three sons of the late great Kevin Armstrong ahead of the event and talked about their father’s career.
“It was the eldest Pat, when he started playing had it the toughest," said Gerard Armstrong.
“It was always written in newspaper reports ‘son of the famous’, then when we (Gerard and Donal) came along it was brothers of the ‘son of the famous Kevin Armstrong', so he took the blunt of that for the most part of his career with Donal and I not having that tag line.”
“I watched my dad here (MacRory Park) when he played a reserve game for O’Connell’s in his later years, he might have been around 50 years of age and I was the ball boy and it was great. There was no big catch net in those days and the ball would have shot down the Falls Road. It was a found memory of when I was a young kid and the best I have of being at one of dad’s games."
It's never easy following the footsteps of such a legendary figure.
But the Armstrong name continues to hold weight to this day thanks to the success the three brothers enjoyed in their time wearing O’Donovan Rossa colours.
All three enjoyed successful spells for the Shaws Road side, but explained how a lack of youth development at their father’s club, O’Connell’s, virtually rendered it close to impossible for them to follow in his footsteps.
“It was our uncles on our mother’s side who were Rossa men,” said Donal.
Kevin Armstrong pictured with Antrim's 1946 Ulster Title winning team 
“O’Connell’s only had a senior team back then, so there was no chance for us to head there and play as youngsters, whereas Rossa had a proper development squad the whole way through and that’s why we ended up there and by the time we were old enough to play senior I think O’Connell’s no longer existed.
“The only one of the brothers who played (for O’Connell’s) was our older brother Kevin but by our time between them not having a squad and the loyalty to Rossa it made sense to stick around.”
Pat, who is the eldest of three brothers, is a renowned Rossa legend having won championship titles in the colours of blue and saffron across three decades with titles in the 70’s, 80’s and finally in 1991.
Pat recounted playing against his father in the latter stages of his career in an Ulster past and present tournament with dad Kevin playing on the opposing team.
“I was fortunate enough to be able to actually play against my dad," he said.
“It was an All-Star event, Ulster past versus the Ulster present squad, the game took place in Ballybay in Monaghan and that was some experience being part of a game like that and then watching all the show bands appear afterwards and to go against him (father, Kevin) was good fun.”
The Armstrong clan hold a special place in the annals of GAA history within Antrim and of course in the more recent history of O’Donovan Rossa.
The three brothers were part of the championship winning squads across both football and hurling in 1970s and 1980s, with all three also appearing on the squad in the last Antrim Football Championship title win back in 1991.
“Pat, has actually won titles for Rossa across three decades,” stated Gerard.
“In 1973, 1989, and 1991 he lifted a football championship for Rossa, alongside two hurling championships in 1977 and 1988. Then of course Donal and I won multiple too across those years with the last one coming in '91 when we beat St Paul’s.
“When we all played together.People used to joke and say that Pat only passed the ball to me (Gerard), but then when me and Donal played on the Rossa team they used to joke saying he’d only pass the ball to me because the other two (Donal and Pat) couldn’t score.”
The three brothers not only lived up to the expectation of their father’s legacy but cemented their own and are renowned amongst circles in Antrim GAA with Donal himself famously starting in the 1989 All-Ireland hurling final against Tipperary.
“All our sons and nephews all play and represent Rossa in some capacity at the minute, and they all know about their grandfather," said Gerard.
“They are very proud of that, but you’re right when you say a lot of younger people wouldn’t be aware of players like dad and those famous teams.
“One of the things that is so important to help re-grow and re-establish the game in Belfast is without a doubt getting Casement Park built.
“At the end of the day I think it is vital. If you want to improve football and hurling, then you have to be able to have somewhere like that where it’s a real honour to play.”
Donal Armstrong agreed with his brother’s sentiment about Casement, and acknowledged the recent downturn in GAA membership over the past decade since Casement closed.
“I think the disappearance of Casement Park can be married in with the fact that there was a big drop in standards and participation when it came to the game within Belfast, especially at underage.
“I remember back in my playing days, not every club had their own pitch in those days, and a lot of the underage games that were played took place in Casement Park, and I feel that it was a privilege that as a young lad you would be able to play in the main pitch and then a week later you were watching the county or club senior outfits tog out.
“It was special, and it’s gone now.”
When asked about the event on Friday, the Armstrongs believe that it is not only a fantastic event to remember their dad, but to encourage the GAA within Antrim and Belfast.
“It’s a great chance to get out and recognise some of those forgotten heroes, especially since it has been a 80-year wait for an Ulster title, and then 100 years on from the All-Ireland appearance.
“We’ve loved being a part of it and helping Hugh McGettigan, and of course Dónal McAnallen to get the event up and running and we just hope it will be a fantastic evening for everyone involved."
Tickets for the event are free, but require to be claimed via the Antrim website prior to the event on Friday evening.
