'Forefathers of the club' - the uncle-nephew duo driving Monaghan's All-Ireland charge
IN AUGHNAMULLEN CIRCLES, the Bannigan name is GAA royalty.
Their association with the Monaghan club stretches back some 70 years. For local stalwart Brian McArdle, the Bannigan presence was there when he started playing and it was there again when he became a committee member. Everlasting.
McArdle says it started with Packie Bannigan. A founding father who served the club dutifully and captained Aughnamullen to their first junior championship title in 1957. He cut the path for his sons to follow. And for their sons, too, deepening the imprint of the Bannigan legacy.
'They're steeped in tradition in the club . . . the forefathers of the club.'
McArdle can remember brothers Eugene, Pádraig and Owen all representing the name with distinction. Gabriel Bannigan, another sibling, was just as influential. McArdle reckons he broke through to the senior ranks at around 16 and played for about a decade before his life diverted down to Dublin where he worked in banking for 30 years.
Micheál, son of Owen, is the latest in the Bannigan line. He will captain Monaghan into an All-Ireland quarter-final against Donegal later today in Croke Park. His uncle Gabriel will be running the line, plotting Donegal's downfall.
Monaghan boss Gabriel Bannigan. Leah Scholes / INPHO Leah Scholes / INPHO / INPHO
But back to Gabriel for a moment and the road that took him away from home. The miles didn't matter in the end. He has spoken before about how his late brother Owen kept him informed of events happening at home. They spoke on the phone everyday.
Gabriel never lost his link with Aughnamullen as a result, and he would have a major role to play as senior manager down the line.
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'He'd always be about,' says McArdle who worked under Bannigan during that stint.
'Even though he was living in Dublin, you'd always see him at matches there. You might have a beverage with him after the game. He always had the club at heart.'
Bannigan built up an impressive CV on the road. He held the reins at the St Sylvester's club in Malahide for five years, and was the Kilmacud Crokes boss for three seasons. In between those two posts, he took over an U16 team in Aughnamullen for the 2014 campaign and managed them to double success.
He felt the pull of home again in 2020 after Aughnamullen suffered relegation to the junior grade. The club 'wasn't in a great place', according to McArdle, and 'could go no lower'.
Bannigan's intervention sparked a remarkable rise.
'The whole atmosphere changed and a lot of it was to do with Gabriel's positivity,' says McArdle who conducted the stats for Bannigan during that term. 'Gabriel's outlook is very positive.
'Five or six of that U16 team on the senior team in 2020. That team in 2014 is probably the backbone of the senior team today. Gabriel's input was second to none.
'He started from scratch. He approached some of the older guys that would have been in their mid-30s and were going to retire and they stayed on for that year.
'He said, 'Aughnamullen shouldn't be a junior club.' We had experience with the boys there, and with the juveniles coming through, we had the basis of a decent team. But we needed everybody on board.
'A lot of that hard work was to do with Gabriel. His man-management skills were second to none and he had everybody on side. He had the whole parish on side.'
By the end of his first year in charge, Aughnamullen were junior champions. And with devastating efficiency too. They won the quarter-final against Aghabog by 11 points and were convincing 20-point winners against Oram in the semi-final (6-15 to 1-10). They went into the final with an overall tally of 10-80 and crushed Seán McDermotts by 4-21 to 1-11 in the final.
Bannigan brought Aughnamullen to the intermediate final the following year where Donaghmoyne were the victors, but the rules at the time dictated that Aughnamullen would be promoted on account of reaching the decider.
From junior to senior in less than three seasons. A swift recovery. So, when Bannigan was named as Vinny Corey's successor to take over the Monaghan footballers in 2024, McArdle didn't need to blink twice . He knew his former mentor had been working towards that goal since Corey brought him on board as a selector.
'Gabriel doesn't really apply to be a number two. Gabriel is number one. I knew Gabriel would be going for the job when Vinny stepped down. The club would have known that. Gabriel is very ambitious.
'I knew from day one. When Gabriel went in with Vinny, I knew that was only a stepping stone.'
The way Monaghan are playing under Bannigan is familiar to McArdle too. They topped the scoring charts across all the divisions in the league with a colossal total of 193 before the league final. In their Division 2 showpiece, Monaghan chalked up 1-6 in the final quarter of their 1-26 to 0-19 win over Roscommon. Division 1 champions Kerry are next in line in the league scoring stakes on 170 points.
Those are numbers that remind McArdle of the huge tallies Aughnamullen were churning out when Bannigan was in charge.
'That's the way the club plays,' says McArdle. 'It's all forward thinking. He's not defensive-minded. The two-points system is definitely one for us this year. It keeps a team in the game.
Michéal Bannigan kicking a goal for Monaghan in their All-Ireland round-robin win over Down. James Lawlor / INPHO James Lawlor / INPHO / INPHO
'Once you have the armoury of Micheál and Rory Beggan, these two points have really took us on.'
It was a brave call from Bannigan to name his nephew as the team captain in light of the nepotism allegations that might follow. But in McArdle's mind, there was no-one else who deserved it more.
'Micheál is a born leader. He's been a leader since he was U12.
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'I don't think there's someone in Croke Park trying to take Donegal down'
'He's the go-to man all the time. He got county player of the year last year. It's not that there isn't other candidates but Micheál was the standout choice. There was really nobody else in my opinion.'
Gabriel and Michéal Bannigan will be Aughnamullen's representatives in Croke Park today. Micheál will wear the 11 jersey while Gabriel will try to outwit the tactical cunning of Jim McGuinness.
Donegal had just two points to spare when Monaghan rallied from seven down in the Ulster quarter-final. But while Monaghan will come into this game well rested having won Group 3, Donegal must navigate a tricky six-day turnaround after their preliminary quarter-final win over Louth last Sunday.
The memory of Gabriel's brother, and Micheál's father, will be there in the background of the all-Ulster showdown. Owen Bannigan sadly died in 2014 after suffering a brain haemorrhage.
'I know for a fact that if Owen was alive today, Owen definitely would be side by side [with them]. He'd be a very proud man today. I'm sure he would be,' says McArdle.
Two generations of a local dynasty will hope to deliver for Monaghan today.
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