In 1944, Armagh County Board established a committee, led by Poppy Fearon, to promote and enhance the playing of hurling. It is interesting to note that two years later, a Northern Division was attempted to be established within the National Hurling League structure. This competition was designed to popularise hurling in the North.
Armagh’s initial scheduled contest was to be the visit of Fermanagh on 24/11/1946, which unfortunately became a casualty of the elements as heavy rain saw the postponement of this encounter. The fledgling competition ultimately did not complete.
In another attempt to assist the growth of hurling within the province, during the vast majority of the 1970’s, the Ulster Junior Hurling Championship was aligned with the third tier of the National Hurling League, which was the backdrop to Armagh and Fermanagh finally clashing in the competition.
At Lisnaskea on 21/05/1972, under a constant downpour and before a few dozen spectators, Armagh had built what appeared a secure ten points lead by the break, with two goals in the opening minutes proving the catalyst. But Fermanagh responded in kind to close the gap to a mere four points, before the Orchard County eased further ahead to an ultimately match-winning position. Scores from Jimmy Carlisle (1-5) and Alexis Murphy (2-1) proved vital in a 3-9 to 2-3 success.
The counties met again at the same venue in league action almost twelve months later, when the father and son combination of Jimmy Carlisle Snr and Jnr accounted for the majority of the scores in a comprehensive 4-13 to 1-4 victory.
The 1970’s was the most prolific period for games between the proud counties as Armagh won all six encounters during this period.
The next time the counties met in league action was in 1992, where Fermanagh held Armagh to a draw in Enniskillen. Armagh came out on top in the remaining three encounters during that decade.
The noughties saw Fermanagh achieve a first league win over Armagh in a tight encounter in Keady, edging home by the bare minimum on a 1-13 to 0-15 scoreline.
This game was sandwiched between Armagh victories at Sherry’s Field and Killeavy.
The most recent meeting in the competition was in 2023 at this weekend’s venue, the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds, and an exciting contest it proved to be. Goals in the second period by Tomas Galvin (2) and Danny Magee seemed to have Armagh’s passage to a Division 3a Semi-final, though Fermanagh were battling for their divisional lives, retaliating with two goals of their own creating a nervy last five minutes, where the men in orange edged home 3-17 to 3-16.
This weekend’s encounter may not have the same divisional importance, but both counties will be targeting strong performances to aid preparations for the fast approaching Nickey Rachard Cup, where they will meet again in mid-April.