When the phone starts pinging and you get the same WhatsApp message via several different routes you know something is up. When you open it and see your own mug, you think 'ah feck'. I have long ago made peace with the fact I don’t have the thick skin to make a proper go at the punditry/social media side of things.
So I keep a low profile - I'm a social media snooper a friend informed me - and stick to trying to be fair and logical in any commentary I make.
Seán Fitzgerald I most definitely ain’t!
Yet, there I was, my pic with the not so eloquent caption "Monaghan are a strange people".
Now, despite the fact that I have it from a good source that a certain senior Monaghan player replied: "to be fair, he has a point", I still feel it necessary to go over the context - the Ulster final this afternoon being the topic.
Having accepted the prevailing sentiment that this is very much Armagh’s final to lose, the case needed to be made for the Farney men.
And it’s not a hard case to make. In the basic elements they have plenty of strong cards. In Rory Beggan they have the definition of a game-winner. Not just the all-important kick-outs, nor even his two-pointers, which he hits with a nonchalance usually reserved for 14-yard free kicks, but his general play as well.
His efforts for Micheál Bannigan’s game-changing goal against Derry showed it perfectly. It's not for Beggan, the role of a goalkeeper pushing up and then panicking, if the ball actually is played on top of him.
With the game on the line, he aggressively attacked the kick-out and immediately had the head up, releasing a kick pass of the utmost quality, the deftest delivery to pick out Bannigan perfectly on the run. He really is some pup!
In front of him, the likes of Ryan O’Toole, Dessie Ward and Killian Lavelle in defence, Michéal McCarville and Karl Gallagher in the middle and the attacking duo of Bannigan and Stephen O’Hanlon are top quality players that Monaghan quietly carry.
The bench, though, perhaps demonstrates best the changing of fortunes for Monaghan since their rough Division 1 campaign. Frequently Gabriel Bannigan’s cloth was stretched so thin that it was being ripped apart as his squad was decimated by absentees and injuries.
Now when he looks behind him he has the experience of Ryan Wylie, Jack McCarron, Gary Mohan, David Garland and Ryan McAnespie to call on or the brand new out-of-the-box talents, Bobby McCaul and Max Maguire.
'Monaghan are strange people'
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) May 14, 2026
Breaking down the Ulster Final 🏐 Catch all the insights from Enda McGinley on the #RTEGAAPodcast 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/iZI2HmvhJR
That’s a whole lot of strong individual parts. But that’s not Monaghan. They are the team that so often has been so much greater than that. Which brings us to the strange people line.
Monaghan love the underdog tag and probably do it better than just about anyone else. Somehow it releases their unique split personality of being a hugely humble people but one with a deep-lying steely belief that they can take on anyone and the love of punching upwards.
There is no 'Down swagger' inside, no 'Tyrone chip' on the shoulder, no 'Donegal persecution complex', no 'Cavan old money' grandeur nor 'Derry middle-child syndrome'. They relish taking on teams they happily also recognise as higher up the food chain, always remaining immensely proud of who and what they are.
Certain things in their build-up speak perfectly of this. Over the past week they have had past Ulster finalists and winners do interviews, reminiscing of deciders of the past. Trickled into the veins of the county via the social media platforms, they are very much saying these are very special days for us as a people.
Gabriel Bannigan announced his team on video link with the supporters club. This is Monaghan’s team of the people taking to their home patch in Clones against Armagh. It has firm echoes of the mood that seemed to grip Roscommon and Hyde Park last weekend. Not a bad omen!
In saying all that, surely not!
Having been lucky enough to witness the last three unbelievable Ulster finals and Armagh’s agonising loss in each, I just think surely Kieran McGeeney’s men can’t lose out this time.
As of now they have to be the greatest team not to have won an Ulster title. Their consistency over multiple years reflects their continued progression towards excellence in the game. They have belied an almost Kerry level of injury to still turn in powerhouse performances where their running game, intensity and in-game awareness can either grind teams down or blow them away.
An Armagh win at a canter is certainly a possibility. It would be ironic that McGeeney’s tortured chase to be reunited with the Anglo Celt he was such a frequent holder of as a player, would end with an underwhelming walk in the park.
In a way, if Armagh are to eventually achieve their moment of Ulster deliverance they deserve a final proper test. That requires Monaghan to show up with every bit of ‘Monaghanness’ they have. From what I know of Monaghan, I don’t see us being disappointed.
Watch Dublin v Westmeath in the Leinster Football final (2pm) and Armagh v Monaghan in the Ulster Football final (4.15pm) on Sunday from 1.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app and listen to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Watch The Saturday Game and The Sunday Game from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on all matches on the RTÉ News app and on rte.ie/sport
