Donegal GAA

Donegal GAA
Irish:Dún na nGall
Tír Chonaill
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]

  1. ^ "Donegal's Karl Lacey is named Gaelic Footballer of 2012". BBC Sport. 27 October 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  2. ^ Moran, Seán (9 November 2012). "McGuinness move would be huge blow to Donegal". The Irish Times. Retrieved 9 November 2012. 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.
  3. ^ "Donegal dismiss reports linking Jim McGuinness to Liverpool FC". RTÉ Sport. 5 October 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  4. ^ O'Kane, Cahair (10 August 2021). "Kicking Out: At what point do we question urban investment?". The Irish News. 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.