Irish: | Dún na nGall Tír Chonaill |
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Founded: | 1905 |
Province: | Ulster |
Dominant sport: | Gaelic football |
Ground(s): | MacCumhaill Park, Ballybofey |
County colours: | Gold Green |
Website: | County board website |
County teams | |
NFL: | Division 2 |
NHL: | Division 2B |
Football Championship: | Sam Maguire Cup |
Hurling Championship: | Nicky Rackard Cup |
Ladies' Gaelic football: | Brendan Martin Cup |
Camogie: | O'Duffy Cup |
The Donegal County Board (Irish: Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Coiste Dhún na nGall) or Donegal GAA is one of 32 county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland, and is responsible for the administration of Gaelic games in County Donegal.
The County Board is responsible for preparing the Donegal county teams in the various Gaelic sporting codes; football, hurling, camogie and handball.
The county football team was the third from the province of Ulster to win an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC), following Cavan and Down. It last won the All-Ireland SFC in 2012 and the Ulster Senior Football Championship in 2024. Donegal players comprised most of the 2012 All Stars Team of the Year, and the three nominations for the All Stars Footballer of the Year, ultimately won by Karl Lacey.[1] In addition, having been invited to assist the Celtic soccer team in Scotland, Donegal manager Jim McGuinness became the first Gaelic football inter-county manager to have been offered a role at a professional sports team abroad.[2] McGuinness's services have also been sought by Premier League soccer teams.[3]
According to a 2015 TUD study by Shane Mangan, Donegal had the largest playing population in Ulster, with 14,000 players at that time.[4]
Whereas the GAA has sustained a modest loss of players to the AFL over the years this is the first time that a top-rank inter-county manager has been offered a job in professional sport. McGuinness is unusual in the ranks of All-Ireland winning managers in that he has extensive academic qualifications in both sports science and sports psychology, in which he holds a masters degree.
It's a while back now but TUD lecturer Shane Mangan released figures in 2015 that showed the number of registered players in each county... Donegal, with the biggest playing population of the nine counties at almost 14,000 registered players, were 26th on the list for funding.