Armagh has a long tradition of football. Several clubs were already in existence before the formation of the County Board in 1889.[2]
Armagh became only the second team to win the Ulster Senior Football Championship in 1890. In the early years of the GAA, a club that won its county championship went on to represent the county and would also wear the county colours. Armagh Harps represented Armagh in the Ulster final, beating Tyrone (Cookstown's Owen Roes), but losing to All-Ireland Champions Cork (Midleton) in the All-Ireland Semi-Final.
Despite early success at provincial level, national success at junior and minor level and All-Ireland final appearances in 1953 and 1977, it took until 2002, under manager Joe Kernan, for the Armagh county team to win a first All-Ireland Senior Football Championship title. The county won the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship, in 1949 and again in 2009, but lost the 1957 All-Ireland Minor Football Championship final to Meath.
Kieran McGeeney took over as manager of Armagh in 2015. In 2024, he led them to a first All-Ireland Senior final since 2003. Armagh won the final to secure the Sam Maguire Cup for the second time, beating Galway 1-11 to 0-13.
Like most counties outside of the game's heartland of Munster and south Leinster, hurling has tended to live in the shadow cast by Gaelic football in Armagh, with the exception of border areas such as Keady, Middletown and Armagh City.
Armagh won the 2010 Nicky Rackard Cup, defeating London by a scoreline of 3–15 to 3–14 at Croke Park on 3 July. The county's minor team won the Ulster Minor Hurling League Division One title and reached the final of the Ulster Minor Hurling Championship. The county's under-21 team also reached the final of the Ulster Under-21 Hurling Championship. In 2011, Armagh reached the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship final for the first time since 1946 and advanced to the Ulster Under-21 Hurling Championship final for a second consecutive year, the first time in team history. Armagh won the 2012 Nicky Rackard Cup, its second time to lift the trophy, defeating Louth by a scoreline of 3–20 to 1–15 at Croke Park on 9 June.[3][4]
Camogie
The high point in Armagh's camogie history was an appearance in the National Camogie League final of 1995 against Cork, beating Galway and Wexford's first teams en route to the final. It came just one year after they qualified for senior status having won the All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie Championship in 1994, the "Premier Junior" championship for the Kay Mills Cup just twelve months earlier in 1993. The bulk of that team had emerged from an under-16 squad who reached the All Ireland final of 1988.
Under Camogie's National Development Plan 2010-2015, "Our Game, Our Passion",[11] five new camogie clubs were to be established in the county by 2015.[12]
Michael Murphy and Pauric Dowdall resigned as managers of the county camogie team; Mattie Lennon was appointed manager in March 2021.[13]
Armagh have the following achievements in camogie.
Armagh has a ladies' football team. They have reached one all-Ireland final, losing to Cork in 2006. They won the 2024 national league final against Kerry.
