1948–49 National Football League (Ireland)

The 1948–49 National Football League was the 18th staging of the National Football League, an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

1948–49 National Football League

League details
Dates	October 1948 – 10 April 1949
League champions
Winners	Mayo (8th win)
Captain	Tommy Byrne
League runners-up
Runners-up	Louth
Captain	Seán Boyle
← 1947–48 1949–50 →

Mayo won the NFL with a narrow defeat of Louth in the final.^[1][2][3][4]

Format

Instead of geographic groupings, teams are placed into Divisions I, II, III and IV. The top team in each division reaches the semi-finals.

League Phase

Division I (Dr Lagan Cup)

Down v Monaghan

3 October 1948 Round

Down

0-10 — 0-7

Monaghan

Ballybay[5]

Antrim v Armagh

10 October 1948 Round

Antrim

2-9 — 4-2

Armagh

Armagh[6]

Down v Antrim

17 October 1948 Round

Down

3-10 — 3-6

Antrim

Newcastle[7]

Monaghan v Armagh

24 October 1948 Round

Monaghan

3-4 — 0-7

Armagh

Ballybay[8]

Down v Tyrone

31 October 1948 Final

Down

2-7 — 2-5

Tyrone

Lurgan[9]

Division II

Group A Results

Galway v Mayo

17 October 1948 Round 1	Galway	1-3 — 1-11	Mayo	Tuam[10]
				Attendance: 10,000

Kerry v Galway

31 October 1948 Round 2

Kerry

3-7 — 1-11

Galway

Austin Stack Park, Tralee[11]

Mayo v Kerry

21 November 1948 Round 3

Mayo

4-6 — 1-3

Kerry

McHale Park, Castlebar[12]

Group B Results

Roscommon v Sligo

17 October 1948 Round 1

Roscommon

4-6 — 1-11

Sligo

Strokestown[13]

Sligo v Leitrim

31 October 1948 Round 2

Sligo

2-5 — 2-6

Leitrim

Collooney[14]

Leitrim v Roscommon

14 November 1948 Round 3

Leitrim

2-5 — 3-8

Roscommon

Ballinamore[15]

Division II Final

Mayo v Roscommon

6 March 1949 Final

Mayo

2-11 — 1-5

Roscommon

Ballina[16]

Tables

Group A Team Pld W D L Pts Status Mayo 2 2 0 0 4 Qualified for Knockout stage Kerry 2 1 0 1 2 Galway 2 0 0 2 0

Group B Team Pld W D L Pts Status Roscommon 2 2 0 0 4 Leitrim 2 1 0 1 2 Sligo 2 0 0 2 0

Division III

Group A

Westmeath, Cavan, Meath

Group B

Louth, Dublin, Longford

Group B Results

Longford v Louth

31 October 1948 Round 1

Longford

1-2 — 4-8

Louth

Longford[17]

Division III Final

Louth	2-5 – 2-4	Cavan

6 March 1949

Croke Park, Dublin^[18]

Division IV

Group A

Limerick, Tipperary, Clare

Section B

Wexford, Wicklow, Carlow

Section C

Offaly, Kildare, Laois, Cork

Group C Results

Laois v Cork

17 October 1948 Round 1

Laois

3-3 — 2-4

Cork

O'Moore Park, Portlaoise

Play-Off

Wexford v Kildare

6 February 1949

Wexford

3-4 — 0-9

Kildare

Wexford Park, Wexford[19]

Knockout phase

Semi-final

Mayo	4-11 – 2-6	Wexford

27 March 1949

Croke Park, Dublin

---

Louth	4-5 – 3-4	Down

27 March 1949

Croke Park, Dublin^[20]

Final

Mayo	1-08 – 1-06	Louth
P Carney 0-4 (4f); T Acton 1-0; S Mulderrig, H Dixon, P Solan, M Flanagan 0-1 each		Jim Quigley 0-4 (3f); Frank Fagan 1-1, Stephen White 0-1[21]

10 April 1949

Croke Park, Dublin

Attendance: 28,342^[22]

Referee: Simon Deignan (Cavan)^[23]

GK 1 Tommy Byrne (Castlebar Mitchels) RCB 2 Paddy Gilvarry (Killala) FB 3 Paddy Prendergast (Dungloe, Donegal) LCB 4 John Forde (Ardnaree Sarsfields) RHB 5 Billy Kenny (UCG, Galway) CHB 6 Éamonn Mongey (Civil Service, Dublin) LHB 7 Seán Mulderrig (Ballina Stephenites) MF 8 Pádraig Carney (UCD, Dublin) MF 9 Henry Dixon (Claremorris) RHF 10 Liam Hastings (UCD, Dublin) CHF 11 Tom Langan (Garda, Dublin) LHF 12 Joe Gilvarry (Killala) RCF 13 Tom Acton (Ballina Stephenites) FF 14 Peter Solan (UCG, Galway) LCF 15 Mick Flanagan (UCD, Dublin)

GK 1 Seán Thornton (Civil Service, Dublin) RCB 2 Jack Bell (St Mary's) FB 3 Johnny Malone (St Mary's) LCB 4 Tom Mulligan (Dundalk Young Irelands) RHB 5 Seán Boyle (St Mary's) CHB 6 Paddy Markey (St Mary's) LHB 7 Paddy McArdle (St Mary's) MF 8 Jack Regan (Dundalk Gaels) MF 9 Hubert Reynolds (Dundalk Gaels) RHF 10 Frank Fagan (Dundalk Young Irelands) CHF 11 Jim Quigley (Dundalk Young Irelands) LHF 12 Stephen White (Dundalk Young Irelands) RCF 13 Hugh O'Rourke (Cooley Kickhams) FF 14 Tom Walsh (Owen Roe's) LCF 15 Mickey Reynolds (Stabannon Parnells)

References

1. Mayo results archive, 1949
2. "GAA Archive 1949". Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
3. GAA Final Teams Archived 2015-07-14 at the Wayback Machine
4. A nice surprise for Louth - Irish Independent
5. "Down Master Monaghan", Irish Independent, 4 October 1948, p. 7,
6. "Antrim had close call", Irish Independent, 11 October 1948, p. 7,
7. "Down's surprise for Antrim", Irish Independent, 18 October 1948, p. 6,
8. "Bad Finish beat Armagh", Irish Independent, 25 October 1948, p. 7,
9. "Down win Dr. Lagan Cup", Cork Examiner, 1 November 1948, p. 6,
10. "Carney stars in Mayo victory", Irish Independent, 18/10/1948, p. 6,
11. "Kerry leave it late against Galway", Cork Examiner, 01/11/1948, p. 6,
12. "Mayo again crush Kerry", The Ballina Herald, 27/11/1948, p. 6,
13. "Roscommon in scoring mood", Irish Independent, 18/10/1948, p. 6,
14. "Leitrim shock for Sligo", Irish Independent, 01/11/1948, p. 7,
15. "Group honours for Roscommon", Irish Independent, 15/11/1948, p. 7,
16. "Roscommon a well beaten side", Irish Independent, 07/03/1949, p. 7
17. "Easy for Louth at Longford", Irish Independent, 01/11/1948, p. 7,
18. "Louth's one point win in Croke Park thriller", Irish Independent, 07/03/1949, p. 7
19. "Wexford beat Kildare in close game", Irish Independent, 7 February 1949, p.7
20. "Louth combination too much for Down individualism", Irish Independent, 28/03/1949, p. 7
21. "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
22. "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
23. "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151