Personal information | |||||||||
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Sport | Gaelic football | ||||||||
Born | County Down, Northern Ireland | ||||||||
Occupation | Teacher | ||||||||
Club management | |||||||||
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Inter-county management | |||||||||
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Inter-county titles | |||||||||
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Peter McGrath (born 6 June 1953), from Rostrevor, County Down, is an Irish former Gaelic footballer and current manager. He managed the Down senior football team to the All-Ireland titles in 1991 and 1994.[1][2]
McGrath was employed for almost thirty years as a physical education teacher at St Colman's College, Newry.[3] He retired from this position in 2006.[4]
McGrath played at all grades for Rostrevor GAC, including togging out for the first team aged only 15, and represented St Colman's at all levels of schools' competition; he also played for Down Minors.[5] McGrath captained the first Queen's University team to win the All-Ireland Freshers title by defeating UCD 2-16 to 0-6 in Dundalk in March 1973.[6][7]
In 1987 McGrath was in charge of the Down team that won the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship.[3] He managed the Down senior team between 1989 and 2002[8] and was at the helm when Down won the Ulster and All Ireland Senior Championships in 1991 and 1994.[9] He managed the Ireland team in the International Rules Series in 2004[10] and 2005.[4]
McGrath managed the Down U-21 team to the All Ireland final in 2009,[11] before stepping down in October 2009.[12]
McGrath has had spells in club management with Cooley Kickhams,[13] An Riocht[14] and Bryansford.[15] He also coached the Gaelic football teams at St Colman's College, guiding them to five Hogan Cup wins between 1975 and 1998.[16]
In October 2010, he returned to county management after being named as the Down minor manager on a three-year term, his second time in charge of the team.[3][17]
He was twice manager of the Fermanagh Senior Football team and took the team to the All-Ireland quarter-final in 2015 after having gained promotion to Division Two of the National Football League for 2016.[18][19]
He managed the Louth senior football team in 2018 but resigned after ten months into a two-year term following a shock Championship defeat to Leitrim.[20]
He managed his native club St Bronagh's, Rostrevor, for three years having taken over for the 2019 season, the club's centenary year. He remains in charge of the club's minor team.[5]
McGrath was appointed manager of Antrim GAA club Aghagallon in March 2023.[21]
Ireland
Ulster
Down
Club
School