Video shows fight breaking out on Hill 16 during Louth v Meath
Some 65,000 packed into GAA HQ for the novel final but with tensions brewing in Hill 16 during the game, a fight broke out among a small number of Louth and Meath supporters.
The short video shows a number of Louth and Meath fans pushing and shoving before punches begin to be thrown, while it appears a male Meath supporter threw a punch at a female Louth fan, further escalating the brawl.
The Irish Mirror has contacted the Garda Press Office enquiring if any arrests were made during the clash.
The final ended up a tense affair with Louth ending their 68-year Leinster title famine as they beat Meath 3-14 to 1-18 in a thriller.
Meath went into the break as one point leaders despite conceding three first-half goals while Louth began to turn the screw in the second half and battled into a lead.
A late Sam Mulroy two-point free was enough to set daylight between the two teams while All-Star wing back Craig Lennon's final score of the game gave Louth a two-point cushion to end the game.
It has been a victory that has been a long-time coming for the Wee County with Sunday their third Leinster Football final appearance in a row. Louth, under the stewardship of Ger Brennan, were narrowly beaten by Dublin in the 2024 final and their win means they are drawn into a favourable All-Ireland group with Clare, Monaghan and Down while Meath take on Kerry, Roscommon, and Cork.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Daily Mirror
24 minutes ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
'Despair is this morning draped like dark bunting over Barefield'
Despair is this morning draped like ominous, dark bunting over the Clare village of Barefield. The reverberations of the gun shots which ended the lives of Vanessa Whyte and her teenage children, James and Sara Rutledge, 150 miles away in Fermanagh echo in a haunting, incomprehensible volley across the 45-year-old's home place. Even under the July sunshine, Barefield is a place without light, the mood, to borrow from a 1950s Deep South preacher describing the climate of horror during that decade of serial Mississippi lynchings, blacker than a thousand midnights. A family wiped out, endless hopes and dreams expunged, heartbeats stilled in the heartbeat it takes to squeeze a cold trigger. The flag of decency flies at half-mast. Parents, lost for words, hug tightly to their offspring. Vanessa had studied veterinary medicine, a woman with a vocational urge to bring compassion into the world of struggling creatures, to ease their distress. Vanessa Whyte, pictured here wearing a Clare GAA jersey, alongside her children Sara Rutledge and James Rutledge (Image: The Police Service of Northern Ireland) For many years she was a camogie player, most vibrantly alive when she stepped onto a rectangle of grass, hurl in hand, and felt that exhilarating dopamine rush of sporting combat course through the entirety of her being. Her sense of place is self-evident in a beautiful photograph of James, Sara and herself attending a Clare hurling match, most likely one of the games on their run to 2024 All-Ireland glory, a milestone clinched a year to the week before the brutal tragedy. Vanessa stands between her two children, a protective, affectionate arm draped around each of their shoulders. The three of them, pillars supporting the others' lives. A portico of love. All are uniformed in The Banner's saffron and gold colours. Sara wears a Clare training top, her flowing mane held back by one of the headbands which are a fashion item on big match days. James, smiling blissfully, is blanketed by a county flag. Vanessa's county jersey, a badge of identity, is proudly on display beneath an unzipped sleeveless jacket. Though her eyes are hidden beneath sunglasses, her pride and maternal affection are strikingly evident in every pixel. Two decades living outside Clare, but the fire of place still burning at her core. Forever a daughter of the Banner. And though her children were affiliated with GAA clubs in Fermanagh, that they inherited their mother's passion for that beautiful Atlantic county of her birth is self-evident. Vanessa Whyte and her children, Sara (13) and James (14), on the big screen at Croke Park ahead of All-Ireland football final The picture is a sunburst of joy, a chorus of togetherness. It is the music of a family song. An idyllic scene that summons the words of the writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "the time when they loved each other best, without hurry or excess." A snapshot that teems with life, yet, this morning, unimaginably, none of the photograph's trio of carefree figures breathe. A hailstorm of death rained down on Maguiresbridge, hard by Enniskillen, on Thursday. The narrow street of our understanding struggles to simultaneously accommodate these two truths - the vitality bursting from the match day freezeframe and the monstrous ending which leaves its three subjects with suddenly stilled hearts. At such moments, the world becomes a sentence without grammar, baffling, opaque, beyond comprehension. Earlier this week, I spoke to my friend Mick Galwey, the beloved former Munster and Ireland rugby player. A Kerryman imbued with the dust of the land that formed him (and a teenage All-Ireland winner under Mick O'Dwyer in 1986), our conversation centred around tomorrow's Croke Park showpiece, the mesmeric David Clifford front and centre of our chat. Hearses carrying the three coffins. (Image: Justin Kernoghan) Mick, a man of emotional depth, speaks with powerful empathy about the sudden death of his friend and teammate Anthony Foley. "Axel" was just 42 and coaching Munster when, without warning, his heart ran out of juice in the autumn of 2016. Galwey had been best man at Foley's wedding. Seven years between them, but they were tight. Like an elder and younger brother. Just a week before his death, Foley had driven straight from a match to Mick's 50th birthday party. "Not a bother on him. In mighty form. A week later he was dead. It took me to a very dark place. You are wondering 'what is this about?' "It was devastating and terrifying to realise you can be laughing and joking and seemingly in full health one day and then, bang, it is all over. Christ." Though the circumstances are very different, the surge of emotion that floored a warrior giant as he accompanied his friend's body home, the cortege driving past their old Thomond Park stomping ground to find the streets lined by thousands, the footpaths wet with tears, will, I suspect, resonate with those closest to Vanessa. The three are to be buried in Ennis, Co. Clare, on Saturday. (Image: Jonathan Porter/PressEye) A huddle of broken family and friends, poor souls who must be adrift in the heaviest fog of grief and bewilderment. Galwey's memories, though stark, poetically express the human impulse to draw strength from the deepest bonds: "You are broken hearted, I mean broken hearted, but you want to grab the guy next to you and say, I don't know, say, 'I love you.'" Sport - notably, hurling - is an essential thread in the fabric of Barefield, a means for a small place to maintain its identity, even as the tentacles of the nearby big town, Ennis, sink deeper and deeper into its heartland. Jamesie O'Connor, the 1997 Hurler of the Year, a totemic figure on Ger Loughnane's class of 1995, the one that ended Clare's 81 year wait for an All-Ireland, hurled for the local club, St Joseph's Doora-Barefield. His brother Christy, the long-time St Joseph's goalkeeper and a decorated sports writer, penned an evocative, award-winning tome about a year in the life of the village centrepiece, a communion of people that was such a part of Veronica's life. Titled "The Club", the book is set against the backdrop of two tragedies in the parish and reveals the central role - supportive, cathartic, practical, distracting, vital - the local GAA branch plays at times of stygian struggle. Vanessa's father, Joe, played on St. Joseph's first ever county hurling winning team in 1954. Her brothers, Steve and Ivor, hurled alongside Jamesie and Christy. It is a familiar tale. Among the more affecting moments of big match days at Croke Park are when tributes are paid to a recently deceased stalwart, their picture flashing up on the big screen as the PA announcer, Gerry Grogan, gives a potted history of their life of service. What gets me right in the gut is when, spontaneously, a burst of applause, gentle at first, then rising in volume yet always respectful, accompanies the brief eulogy. Most people don't personally know the deceased, but they are aware of somebody just like them in their own community. A father, a daughter, a neighbour, who, though their volunteerism or their sporting deeds, improved the lives of others. In that cameo, when applause disturbs the silence, goodness lives. As it indisputably will in Clare and Fermanagh in the days ahead, a sustaining counterpoint to the unfolding horror and disorientation that makes it hard to breathe. No mother will look at the pictures of Vanessa with James and Sara without seeing their own children and feeling the strongest protective surge of something visceral and primal wash over them. Something born in the womb. Tragedies like these are a crossword puzzle in an alien tongue. How can anybody begin to look for answers when they cannot even comprehend the clues. A year ago, on a joyous day, perhaps Vanessa and her children sang along as Tony Kelly inspired All-Ireland glory was accompanied by a deafening Croke Park chorus. "Oh my lovely rose of Clare/you're the sweetest girl I know/the queen of all the roses/and the pretty flowers that grow/you are the sunshine of my life/so beautiful and fair/and I will always love you/my lovely rose of Clare. Those words means infinitely more this morning. Barbarously difficult weeks and months stretch before those who share a bloodline with Vanessa, James and Sara. They will know the profound truth in Mick Galwey's description of broken hearts, in the elemental need to hold somebody close and tell them, with tears filling their eyes and unbearable hurt stabbing at their soul, they are loved.
The 42
7 hours ago
- The 42
'I probably won't play for the Lions again. I want this to be a good memory'
EVEN THOUGH HE jokes that he'd prefer if Tadhg Furlong wasn't starting for the Lions tomorrow, Joe Schmidt has as much respect for the Wexford man's achievement as anyone else. Starting nine Lions Tests in a row in a magnificent feat, all the more so in a position as demanding as tighthead prop. At the age of 32, Tadhg Furlong is already a great of Irish rugby, even if being a prop means he won't be as regularly mentioned as others in those kinds of discussions. And the Leinster man's status as a Lions legend is now well beyond debate. 'He's such a gifted player and such a good character,' said Wallabies boss Schmidt, who was the Leinster head coach when Furlong joined the province. 'The first time I met him, he came in with his Mum and Dad with Collie McEntee, who was coaching the Leinster academy. I was coaching there, and he got brought into the office and introduced himself. He blocked the sun briefly, and those shoulders haven't got any smaller since. 'He's certainly an impressive young man and a world-class player, so if he wants a day off on Saturday I'd be happy to see that.' Schmidt remembers tough times for Furlong at the start, initially due to injuries and then the kind of teething problems that any young prop faces in professional rugby. Ireland's tour of South Africa in 2016 was 'a baptism of fire' for Furlong at scrum time, recalled Schmidt, but he soon began to thrive and by 2017, he was the Lions' first-choice tighthead. Furlong and Schmidt with Ireland in 2017. Bryan Keane / INPHO Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO Schmidt gave Furlong his Ireland debut in 2015 and benefited massively from the Wexford man's 'multi-purpose' ability in the years that followed. 'I'll never forget the deft little offload he gave to Bundee Aki to go through a gap to give CJ Stander a try at Twickenham [in 2018],' said Schmidt. 'Those skills he has with the ball, his ability to carry himself, and he's very good, quite dynamic in the defensive line. 'We were here [in Australia] on tour in 2018 and I remember David Pocock was just about to decide to get over the ball and Tadhg Furlong put him back a couple of metres from the ball. Advertisement 'He's a pretty well-rounded, literally well-rounded, character.' Furlong himself would probably laugh at that last tongue-in-cheek comment from Schmidt. He has always come across as someone with an endearing, self-depracating humour. Not that he's not entirely serious about his craft. Furlong's work ethic and resilience have helped him to get to this point of a huge achievement with the Lions. He is a smart rugby player, someone whose role in the Ireland and Lions leadership groups isn't about shouting and roaring, but more about providing calm messages and contributing to discussions around how the team should play. Not all tighthead props are as tactically aware as Furlong. Even the way he describes how he has had to change with the game across three Lions tours illustrates that. 'Rugby was so different back then,' said Furlong of his first tour in 2017. 'You're around the corner, you're just working hard and then the game kind of got into one-out carriers and I found my mould there. Furlong celebrates the Lions' second Test win. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO 'Then the game changed to more of a pass and options at the line and it kind of changed my game. 'And it's changed in a way to a hybrid of all of them at the minute, I feel. So, you try to change your game as the game changes.' Many people doubted that Furlong would get to this point where he has started all three of the Tests on this tour. That was down to the recurring hamstring and calf issues he had all season, meaning he only played once for Ireland and eight times for Leinster. But Furlong always had faith he would be right for the Lions tour. 'It wasn't a big enough injury to warrant it,' said Furlong. 'It was like, we need to get back and play here, lads, because it's on your calendar. You want it so badly. I think the cruel thing is when you go on one, you just want to go on more. You go on that first one, and you take it all in. 'The second one is kind of like you want to perform and the third one, you just want to appreciate it all because you don't want it to pass you by, you know that kind of way? 'There was a stage this season where we were having conversations with medical staff. It's like, 'What is going on here? We need to nip this stuff in the bud.' They managed to do that, and Furlong has thrived. Lions boss Andy Farrell had faith that the experienced tighthead would deliver on the big occasions. Furlong at the Lions captain's run today. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO Furlong has been rooming with Ireland and Leinster team-mate Thomas Clarkson this week as the latter continues to gain valuable experience while remaining on tour with Farrell's men. There's no one better for Clarkson to be learning from. Furlong is still only 32 and he'll hope that this tour is only the start of a period of better luck on the injury front. But he senses that tomorrow's Test will be his final one for the Lions. 'I'm not going to say I won't, I probably won't… I probably won't play for the Lions again. 'It's been very good to me. It's been very good to my career. You want to play well in it. 'I'm kind of leaving a lot of that emotional stuff behind us. Without being clinical about it, you want to give the best version of yourself to it. 'Sometimes the last memory is the lasting memory you have in a jersey. I want it to be a good one.'
The 42
7 hours ago
- The 42
Dublin and Meath name teams for All-Ireland final showdown
DUBLIN AND MEATH have named their starting teams for Sunday's All-Ireland ladies senior football final. Dublin have made one change in personnel, with Orlagh Nolan replacing Caoimhe O'Connor, while Meath are unchanged. Nolan is in line for a first inter-county start since the 2024 All-Ireland series after recovering from an ACL injury. O'Connor suffered a hamstring setback in Dublin's All-Ireland quarter-final win over Galway, but she's fit enough to make the bench. Nolan replaced O'Connor after 27 minutes on that occasion to make her return, capping an impressive substitute appearance with 0-1 — and an assist for Carla Rowe's brilliant back-heel goal in extra-time. Meath have announced the same starting fifteen that dethroned Kerry in the semi-final — and for the seventh successive game — but key defender Katie Newe is a doubt after suffering a knee injury that day. Rivals Dublin and Meath renew their rivalry in a repeat of the 2021 final, when the Royals ended the Drive for Five to win their first All-Ireland title. Advertisement Throw-in at Croke Park on Sunday is 4.15pm, with the game live on TG4. Dublin 1. Abby Shiels (Lucan Sarsfields) 2. Jess Tobin (Cuala), 3. Leah Caffrey (Na Fianna), 4. Niamh Donlon (St Oliver Punkett ER) 5. Sinéad Goldrick (Foxrock-Cabinteely), 6. Martha Byrne (Cuala), 7. Niamh Crowley (Fingallians) 8. Éilish O'Dowd (Na Fianna), 9. Hannah McGinnis (Skerries Harps) 10. Nicole Owens (St Sylvester's) 11. Carla Rowe (Clann Mhuire — captain), 12. Orlagh Nolan (Ballinteer St Johns) 13. Hannah Tyrrell (Na Fianna), 14. Niamh Hetherton (Clontarf), 15. Kate Sullivan (St Sylvester's). Meath 1. Robyn Murray (Navan O'Mahonys) 2. Áine Sheridan (St Michael's), 3. Mary Kate Lynch (Summerhill), 4. Katie Newe (Ratoath) 5. Aoibhín Cleary (Donaghmore Ashbourne, captain), 6. Sarah Wall (St Peter's Dunboyne), 7. Karla Kealy (Dunshaughlin Royal Gaels) 8. Orlaith Sheehy (Dee Rangers), 9. Marion Farrelly (St Michael's) 10. Megan Thynne (Dunsany) 11. Niamh Gallogly (Dunshaughlin Royal Gaels), 12. Ciara Smyth (Skryne) 13. Emma Duggan (St Peter's Dunboyne), 14. Vikki Wall (St Peter's Dunboyne), 15. Kerrie Cole (Na Fianna) ***** Laois and Tyrone, and Antrim and Louth, have also named their teams for the intermediate and junior finals. You can see them here. Dublin's full matchday squad is available to view here. *****
