Paul Barden (born 1 July 1980) is a former

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

er who played at senior level for the Longford county team from October 1998 until February 2015 when he announced his retirement. He was the longest serving inter-county player in the country until his retirement. He won an

O'Byrne Cup The O'Byrne Cup is a Gaelic football competition organized by the Leinster GAA and first staged in 1954. History The competition is named in honour of Matt Byrne (b. 14 February 1870), a former Wicklow GAA club and county officer. By virtue of ...

medal with them in 2000, he also won 2 O'Byrne Shield medals in 2006 and 2007. He was also a member of the

Ireland international rules football team The Ireland international rules football team is the representative team for Ireland in international rules football, a compromise between Gaelic football and Australian rules football. The team is made up of Irish players from the Gaelic Athl ...

in 2002 and 2006. He also won a

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship () or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster GAA teams are co ...

with

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

in 2001 and 2002. In 2011, he captained

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It had a population of 10,952 at the 2022 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meeting of ...

to victory over

Roscommon Roscommon (; ; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60 road (Ireland), N60, N61 road (Ireland), N61 and N63 road (Irelan ...

in the National Football League Div 4 final at

Croke Park Croke Park (, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and headquarters of the Gaelic At ...

and in 2012, Longford were back at

, this time for the Division 3 final and again won beating

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

with Barden once again captain. He plays his club football with Clonguish with whom he won 3

Longford Senior Football Championship The Longford Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition organised by Longford GAA among the Senior grade Gaelic football clubs in County Longford, Ireland. The winning club qualifies to represent its county ...

s in 2003, 2004 and 2009. He also plays

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

with the club and won

Longford Senior Hurling Championship The Longford Club Hurling Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition organised by Longford GAA among hurling clubs in County Longford, Ireland. The winner qualifies to represent the county in the Leinster Junior Club Hurl ...

s in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2019 . In 2020 he was voted the best Longford Footballer of the past 50 years (1970-2020) in an Irish Independent poll of top 20 Longford footballers.

Honours

* 3

s (2003, 2004, 2009) * 5

s (2003, 2005, 2006, 2012, 2019) * 2

s (2001, 2002) * 2 O'Bryne Cup Shields (2006, 2007) * 1

(1999) * 1 National Football League Division 4 (2011) * 1 National Football League Division 3 (2012) * 1 May Player of the Month (2012)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barden, Paul 1980 births Living people Clonguish Gaelic footballers Clonguish hurlers Dual players Gaelic football forwards Irish international rules football players Longford inter-county Gaelic footballers Longford inter-county hurlers 21st-century Irish sportsmen