Megan makes history for the ‘Bridge

In this historic 40th anniversary year of Scór and the 125th anniversary of the GAA, local teenager Megan Burns created history for her own club, Silverbridge Harps GFC, when she won the All-Ireland Scór na nÓg title in Solo Singing at the weekend.

In a fantastic day in the history of the club, sixteen-year-old Megan had the honour of winning its first ever national title when she swept the boards with her flawless rendition of the classic Gaelic ballad, Fil A Rún Ó, at the All-Ireland final in Athlone on Saturday.

Speaking to the Examiner, a jubilant Megan said she was “absolutely delighted but still in shock” at her success.  “Winning this award means so much to me,” she said, “and especially to represent my club and be the first person from the club to win an All-Ireland is a dream come true.  It means so much that I have made my club proud.”

Megan paid tribute to the support she has received from her parents and wider family circle, dozens of whom made the journey to Athlone.  She also singled out the Murphy family from Silverbridge, in particular Peter, Kieran and Brian, who, she said, have shown her immense support and encouragement.

Eldest daughter of Jarlath and Suzanne, Megan’s parents are naturally delighted at her achievement.  “We are absolutely incredibly proud of Megan,” Jarlath said.  “Getting to an All-Ireland final and participating in it is wonderful, but winning makes it even more special.”

Remarking that Silverbridge has reached the All-Ireland final stage of Scór previously, with the quiz team in 1995 and their ballad group in 2002, Jarlath added, “Silverbridge has always been very strong in Scór but never won an All-Ireland, so this is a wonderful and brilliant occasion, not just for Megan, but for the club.  In this the 40th year of Scór and the 125th anniversary of the GAA, it is extra special that this is the year Megan did it.”

Jarlath again paid tribute to those in Silverbridge club and throughout the county who are deeply involved in keeping this integral part of the GAA alive, particularly the Trojan work carried out by the Armagh County Secretary of Scór, Philip McGovern.

In turn, on behalf of the Armagh Scór committee, Philip extended sincere congratulations to Megan and the Silverbridge club, on their achievement.  

“Throughout the years, Silverbridge club has always been well represented in both junior and senior Scór and it’s wonderful to see that dedication being rewarded with an All-Ireland title,” he said, adding that the club has often provided their excellent facilities to host many Ulster finals over the years.

Chairman of Silverbridge GFC, Kieran Murphy, heaped praise on the club’s highly talented prodigy and said she is an excellent ambassador for the club.

“After 40 years of competing in both Scór Sinsear and Scor na nÓg, it’s wonderful at last to achieve success at the highest level,” he said and he extended sincere thanks and congratulations to Megan for the dedication she has put into her performances that has led her to take the penultimate prize.

Kieran also paid tribute to the effort and hard work put in to promoting Scór in Silverbridge club and further afield by Peter Murphy and, in the past, by Pat Treanor.  No doubt, without their endeavours and unswerving dedication to this competition – the cultural wing of the GAA – this weekend’s achievement may not have been realised.

Megan is to be guest of honour at a reception in the clubrooms this Friday evening, to mark the club’s long association with Scór, where the Chairman and Secretary of the All-Ireland Scór committee will be in attendance.

Mullaghbawn

The Burns family lives in Mullaghbawn from where the group of young musicians representing Cú Chulainn GFC also travelled on Saturday to perform in the Instrumental Music section of the event.

Despite putting in a fantastic performance, they were up against extremely tough competition and were unfortunate to come up just short, beaten in the end by Cork club Boherbue.  Nevertheless, they did themselves and their club extremely proud to reach this stage of the competition and we will, no doubt, be seeing much more of these hugely talented musicians in the future.

The achievement of all these young performers cannot be underestimated as anyone familiar with Scór will know the high standard of performance that is required to take a county or provincial title, much less a national one.  Their success only serves to emphasise the reservoir of talent that exists in the south Armagh area.  

No doubt this is just the start of such top level success and we look forward to its repetition for many years.

In the meantime, Comhghairdeas to Megan Burns, our newest All Ireland champion!