Land of the Giants Campaign 2010

Titanic struggles, famous victories, crushing defeats. Tales of heroism, valour, grace under pressure. Happiness, hope, despair and devastation. The ingredients for any epic tale.

And, for Lairdesign and Ulster GAA the perfect inspiration for the stunning visual campaign that has been used to promote the last two Ulster Championships. The most competitive of provincial championships. Maybe you have to be from Ulster to understand…

Fehin Quinn of Lairdesign explains: “The famous Ulster cycle of folks tales recounts the tales of Cuchullain and the Red Branch; stories of epic battles between larger-than-life figures in signature landmark locations throughout Ulster.

“We tried to capture that landscape and that sense of these legendary figures doing battle throughout Ulster in epic head-to-head contests.”

He added: “These were the starting points for the Land of the Giants campaign. Over the decades, the Ulster Championship has seared into our collective minds those matches, heroic achievements, and days of individual brilliance. Days when we are there and we could tell others we were there.”

The Inspiration

With the ancient tales of Ulster the inspiration, the link with the Championship was easily slotted into place.

In hurling, the modern day Cuchullain’s carry the flame. In football the giants of the game bestride the Championships like the colossus from the tales of Finn McCool.
Fehin says: “The Tyrone writer John Montague compared the Ulster landscape to a manuscript that we have lost the ability to read. Such is the richness of the sense of place. The GAA in Ulster is no different. Every club, every county and every pitch has its unique history. We’ve tried to capture that.”

He points to the collective Ulster memory that recalls Art O’Hagan snatching a goal at Casement from Cavan in Casement in 1953; Down with their tracksuits and their interchangeable forwards coming out of Ulster to claim three All-Ireland titles.

The seventies saw the Armagh of Kernan, Moriarty and Smyth emerge to contest an All Ireland Final. Frank McGuigan in Clones in 1984; Down and Derry in the Marshes in 1993 and again at Celtic Park in ’94.

The landscape of the province provides an endless manuscript of great players and great achievements. Frank McGuigan in the lee of Ardboe Cross, the likes
of Kieran McGeeney born and raised in Slieve Gullion and Brian McGilligan from Dungiven sur, nestling among the Sperrin foothills. Sambo and the hurlers of Antrim living cheek by jowl among the beautiful Glens or their Down rivals clustered in the Ards. Martin McHugh by the Atlantic Shore, or the Cavan legend John Joe O’Reilly the Pride of Cornfean.

“More than any other province we celebrate the uniqueness of the Ulster Championship. It’s cut-throat lack of sentimentality with shocks every year.”

And we all know what that means – the sudden clinical despatch of the Ulster dream in a flurry of scores plunging one tribe into despair for another fruitless year. To the victors, the joy of fighting another day.

The ‘Land of the Giants’ pays homage to all these achievements, and those of the modern day giants of the game. They have become legends in their own right with their own epic tales. Bear witness. If you’re from Ulster, you know what it means.