In Gaelic football, the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, the deciding match of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship competition, is considered the highest honour for referees to be appointed to officiate.
The most recent final (2024) was refereed by Sean Hurson, with Brendan Cawley on standby; Paddy Neilan as linesman; Derek O'Mahoney on sideline; and two umpires from Ardboe and one each from Clonoe and Coalisland. The 2022 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was also refereed by Hurson, with Neilan on standby; Barry Cassidy as linesman; Sean Laverty on sideline; and two umpires from Ardboe and one each from Clonoe and Moortown. The 2021 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was refereed by Joe McQuillan, with David Gough on standby; Brendan Cawley as linesman; Ciaran Brannigan on sideline; and two umpires from Kill Shamrocks and one each from Drumalee and Killygarry. The 2019 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was refereed by David Gough, with Conor Lane on standby; Barry Cassidy as linesman.
Selection According to The Irish Times, the referee is often "centre stage" during All-Ireland SFC finals.
Men who referee a final that ends in a draw cannot also referee the replay. This rule was highlighted in 2019, when David Gough — thought by consensus to have had a good game — was replaced by Conor Lane for the replay. Colm O'Rourke in the Sunday Independent column, "The GAA's view that the referee of a drawn game cannot take the replay defies common sense and logic. Why disqualify a referee when he has done a good job? If the referee is not up to it then certainly he should be left off, but when there is almost universal agreement that he is the best referee in the country then give him all the big games and replays too. The players want the best referees". The original title (as published) was "Nothing more dangerous than a wounded lion", with the subheading the same as here.
Brian White was the first to benefit from the rule change when he got to referee the 2000 replay.
Referees are chosen by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) for their impartiality and their assessed performance scores over that championship season. A clue to the identity of the final referee may be found among those chosen to referee All-Ireland quarter-finals. In recent years, a referee who has overseen an All-Ireland SFC semi-final is never chosen for the final. However, he has tended to have refereed a quarter-final.
A referee who has officiated at one of the semi-finals is traditionally overlooked when deciding the referee for the same year's final. The referee is expected to be under 50 years of age.
When the decision is made, the identity of the referee chosen is revealed following the All-Ireland SFC semi-finals and ahead of the final. A period of media attention may ensue, sometimes even before the announcement has been made.
Traditions On the day, the referee is introduced to the President of Ireland ahead of the game.
The All-Ireland final referee gives the match ball to the captain of the winning team at the end of the game.
The referee receives a Celtic cross for each final he officiates. The referee may also be presented with a match ball, such as Martin McNally was in 2026.
Referees Pre-1928
YearRefereeReferee's clubRef(s)1887John CullinaneTipperary 1889T. O'Driscoll 1890J. J. KennyDublin 1891T. J. WhelanLaois 1892Dan FraherWaterford 1893T. GilliganDublin 1894 (1st/2nd?)R. T. Blake (Dick Blake)Meath 1895J. J. KennyDublin 1896Thomas DooleyCork 1897Spencer LyonsLimerick 1898John McCarthyKilkenny 1899L. StanleyLouth 1900T. H. Redmond 1901John McCarthyKilkenny 1902Thomas F. O'SullivanKerry 1903John McCarthyKilkenny 1904John FitzgeraldCork 1905M. F. CroweDublin 1906John FitzgeraldKildareRoseberry 1907John FitzgeraldKildareRoseberry 1908M ConroyDublin 1909M. F. CroweDublin 1910w/o /scr.1911M. O'BrennanRoscommon 1912Tom Irwin 1913M. F. CroweDublin 1914 (1st/2nd)Harry BolandDublin 1915Pat DunphyLaois 1916Pat DunphyLaois 1917Pat DunphyLaois 1918Pat DunphyLaois 1919Pat DunphyLaois 1920Willie WalshWaterford 1921Willie WalshWaterford 1922Pat DunphyLaois 1923James ByrneWexford 1924T. ShevlinRoscommon 1925? 1926T. ShevlinRoscommon 1927T. ShevlinRoscommon
1928 to 1969: Introduction of the Sam Maguire Cup
YearRefereeReferee's clubRef(s)1928Tom BurkeLouth 1929Tom BurkeLouth 1930Jim ByrneWexford 1931T. KeatingTipp 1932Martin O'NeillWexford 1933Martin O'NeillWexford 1934Sean McCarthyKerry 1935Stephen JordanGalway 1936Sean McCarthyKerry 1937 (1st/2nd)M. HennessyClare 1938 (1st)P. MaguireCavan 1938 (2nd)Peter WatersKildareRaheens 1939J. FlahertyOffaly 1940Seamus BurkeKildare 1941Patrick McKennaLimerick 1942Sean KennedyDonegal 1943 (1st)Patrick McKennaLimerick 1943 (2nd)P O MiotainWexford 1944Paddy MythenWexford 1945John DunneGalway 1946 (1st)Bill DelaneyLaois 1946 (2nd)Paddy MythenWexford 1947M. O'NeillWexford 1948M. J. FlahertyOffaly 1949D. RyanKerry Austin Stacks, Tralee1950Simon DeignanCavan 1951Bill Delaney Laois 1952 (1st/2nd)Sean HayesTipperary 1953Peter McDermottMeath 1954Simon DeignanCavan 1955Willie GoodisonWexford 1956Peter McDermottMeath 1957Patsy GeraghtyGalway 1958Simon DeignanCavan 1959John DowlingOffaly 1960John DowlingOffaly 1961L. MaguireCavan 1962Eamonn MoulesWicklow 1963Eamonn MoulesWicklow 1964Jimmy HattonWicklow 1965Mick LoftusMayo 1966Jimmy HattonWicklow 1967John MoloneyTipp 1968Mick LoftusMayo 1969John MoloneyTipp
1970 to 2000
YearRefereeReferee's clubRef(s)1970P. KellyDublin 1971P. KellyDublin 1972 (1st)Fintan TierneyCavan; originally from LongfordButlersbridge1972 (2nd)Paddy DevlinTyrone 1973John MoloneyTipp 1974Paddy DevlinTyrone 1975John MoloneyTipp 1976Paddy CollinsWestmeath 1977John MoloneyTipp 1978Seamus AldridgeKildareRound Towers 1979Hugh DugganArmagh 1980Seamus MurrayMonaghan 1981Paddy CollinsWestmeath 1982P. J. McGrathMayoKilmaine1983John GoughAntrim 1984Paddy CollinsWestmeath 1985Paddy KavanaghMeath 1986Jimmy DenniganCork 1987Pat LaneLimerickSt Senan's1988 (1st/2nd)Tommy SugrueKerry 1989Paddy CollinsWestmeath 1990Paddy RussellTipp 1991Séamus PriorLeitrimAughnasheelin1992Tommy SugrueKerry 1993Tommy HowardKildare 1994Tommy SugrueKerry
YearRefereeReferee's clubStandby refereeOther linesmanSideline officialRef(s)1995Paddy RussellTipp 1996 (1st/2nd)Pat McEnaneyMonaghanCorduff Paddy Russell Pat Spillane: "Paddy Russell had watched two incidents... and the poor man had a bad year last year from us". 1997Brian WhiteWexfordCushinstown 1998John BannonLongfordLegan Sarsfields 1999Mick CurleyGalway 2000 (1st)Pat McEnaneyMonaghanCorduff 2000 (2nd)Brian WhiteWexfordCushinstown
2001 to 2024
YearRefereeReferee's clubStandby refereeOther linesmanSideline officialRef(s)2001Michael CollinsCorkClonakilty 2002John BannonLongfordLegan Sarsfields 2003Brian WhiteWexfordCushinstown 2004Pat McEnaneyMonaghanCorduff 2005Michael MonahanKildareRaheens 2006Brian CroweCavanCavan Gaels 2007David ColdrickMeathBlackhall Gaels 2008Maurice DeeganLaoisStradbally 2009Marty DuffySligoKilgass 2010David ColdrickMeathBlackhall GaelsGearoid O ConamhaMaurice DeeganSyl Doyle2011Joe McQuillanCavanKill ShamrocksDavid ColdrickPat McEnaneyMaurice Condon2012Maurice DeeganLaoisStradbally 2013Joe McQuillanCavanKill ShamrocksCormac ReillyPadraig O'SullivanMichael Duffy2014Eddie KinsellaLaoisCourtwoodMarty DuffyPádraig HughesRory Hickey2015David ColdrickMeathBlackhall GaelsJoe McQuillanConor LaneDerek Fahy2016 (1st)Conor LaneCorkBanteer Maurice Deegan2016 (2nd)Maurice DeeganLaoisStradballyDavid Coldrick/Sean HursonDavid Coldrick/Sean Hurson 2017Joe McQuillanCavanKill ShamrocksConor LanePadraig O'SullivanNiall Cullen2018Conor LaneCorkBanteer 2019 (1st)David GoughMeathSlaneConor LaneBarry CassidySean Hurson 2019 (2nd)Conor LaneCorkBanteer 2020David ColdrickMeathBlackhall Gaels 2021Joe McQuillanCavanKill ShamrocksDavid GoughBrendan CawleyCiaran Brannigan2022Sean HursonTyroneGalbally ParsesPaddy NeilanBarry CassidySean Laverty2023David GoughMeathSlaneMartin McNallyJames MolloyFergal Kelly2024Sean HursonTyroneGalbally ParsesBrendan CawleyPaddy NeilanDerek O'Mahoney
2025 to present YearRefereeReferee's clubStandby refereeOther linesmanSideline officialHawk-Eye OfficialTime OfficialRef(s)2025Brendan CawleyKildareSarsfieldsMartin McNallyDavid ColdrickThomas MurphyGarreth WhelanSeán Laverty2026Martin McNallyMonaghanCorduffSean HursonThomas MurphySean LonerganKillan JonesMarty Duffy
Referees with more than one final = referee still active at inter-county level RefereeNumber of finalsYearsPat Dunphy61915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1922John Moloney51967, 1969, 1973, 1975, 1977T. Shevlin41924, 1926 (draw), 1926 (replay), 1927Paddy Collins41976, 1981, 1984, 1989Tommy Sugrue41988 (draw), 1988 (replay) 1992, 1994Pat McEnaney41996 (draw), 1996 (replay), 2000 (draw), 2004David Coldrick42007, 2010, 2015, 2020Joe McQuillan42011, 2013, 2017, 2021Paddy Mythen31943 (replay), 1944, 1946 (replay)John McCarthy31898, 1901, 1903M. F. Crowe31905, 1909, 1913Brian White31997, 2000 (replay), 2003Maurice Deegan32008, 2012, 2016 (replay)32016 (draw), 2018, 2019 (replay)Simon Deignan31950, 1954, 1958J. J. Kenny21890, 1895R. T. Blake21894 (1st), 1894 (replay)John Fitzgerald21906, 1907, a man by the same name done the 1904 final but it says Cork and not Kildare?Harry Boland21914 (draw), 1914 (replay)Willie Walsh21920, 1921Tom Burke21928, 1929Martin O'Neill21932, 1933Sean McCarthy21934, 1936M. Hennessy21937 (draw), 1937 (replay)P. Maguire21938 (draw), 1938 (replay)Patrick McKenna21941, 1943 (draw)Sean Hayes21952 (draw), 1952 (replay)John Dowling21959, 1960Eamonn Moules21962, 1963Mick Loftus21965, 1968P. Kelly21970, 1971Paddy Russell21990, 1995John Bannon21998, 200222019 (draw), 202322022, 2024 James Byrne did 1923, a Jim Byrne did 1930? J Flaherty (Offaly) did 1939, then an MJ Flaherty (Offaly) did 1948? Pat Dunphy (1922) has the distinction of also taking charge of the 1922 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final in the same year. John Dowling (1960) has the distinction of also taking charge of the 1960 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final in the same year. Jimmy Hatton (1966) has the distinction of also taking charge of the 1966 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final in the same year.
See also FA Cup Final referees, the closest the English have
References