Meet Declan Patton - The Donegal man who guided Dublin to LGFA Leinster glory

Dublin, guided by a Donegal man, claimed their first Leinster Minor Ladies Football Championship in close to a decade on Bank Holiday Monday afternoon.

They defeated Kildare 4-13 to 0-14 in the final in Baltinglass, Co Wicklow and Declan Patton from Castlefin, a former Robert Emmets player, is their manager. It is Declan’s second season in charge of the minors, having taken on the job for the first time last season.

“We finally got over the line. It has been a long time coming for Dublin,” a very happy Declan told Donegal Live. “Dublin last won Leinster back in 2017, and not only that, they had not been in the final since then. We missed out on a place in the final on score average to Meath last year.

“Dublin has enjoyed great success at senior level in recent years and there has been no great emphasis on underage success. So that is why it is good to win Leinster and hopefully we can kick on now. We play the Connacht champions in the All-Ireland semi-final.

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“But that is not until July so we are taking two weeks off now from training before we get back at it again and of course the Leaving Certificate exams are on then in June.”

Declan has also coached Dublin to Leinster U-16 success and they lost out to Cork by a single point for a place in the U-17 All-Ireland final. That was two seasons ago and his first foray into managing and coaching at inter-county level.

Declan grew up and lived his early years in Hillhead, Castlefin and he put down his love and passion for Gaelic football to his late father Billy, Johnny Curran, P J Harper and Master Hughie McClafferty, his teacher at national school.

“I always say that despite all the good people I have worked with over the years and all the books I have read on sport and coaching, those men have been the greatest influence on my life as a player and a coach.

“They were light years ahead of their time. My late father Billy played for the club, coached and managed club teams and along with Johnny Curran and P J Harper they were a great team and great Robert Emmets men.

“Master McClafferty came to teach in Castlefin in the early 1980s and he did trojan work at introducing us to Gaelic football.
“He organised local leagues and entered us in Cumann Na mBunscoil competitions. I and many others that went to school in Castlefin owe a debt of gratitude to Master McClafferty for the love of the game he instilled in us.”

Declan played underage right up through the ranks with Robert Emmets: “I played right up along with a very good team at underage. We played in A competitions but the problem we had was we were in the same division as St Eunan’s.

“And they were always strong. I remember they beat us by a point in the 1989 Northern final at the Cross, Killygordon. Bernard Devine from Red Hughs was the referee and Terence McLaughlin, another man who was a big influence, was the manager.

“We had a very good team with the likes of Paul Curran, Damian Devine, John Brennan, Aaron McDaid, the current Robert Emmets senior manager, Martin McMenamin and Michael Kennedy. They were all great footballers and all played county underage at some stage.

“Terence McLaughlin was the man that gave me my first game in a Robert Emmets jersey. He watched me playing for Castlefin NS. I was in third class at the time.

“Terence came to me after the game and said the club U-12 team were playing Aghyaran the following evening up in Aghyaran and that was the start of my playing days with Robert Emmets.

“I was nine at the time and I played right up to senior level with the club. Unfortunately, I did not play much senior football with the club. After I did my Leaving Certificate I moved to Dublin and began nurse training. I returned for a while to play at weekends with the seniors.

“It was a great time to go to Dublin. We had just won the All-Ireland in 1992 and we felt good about ourselves that we had finally joined the elite of All-Ireland winners. But with the irregular hours of nursing, it was difficult so I joined the Whitehall Colmcilles club for a number of years.

“I then moved into coaching and managing teams. The first senior football team I managed was St Anne’s, Bohernabreena, in south Dublin. “Joe McNally and Ciaran Walsh, two All-Ireland winners with Dublin, were club members, two of the nicest and humblest of men you could meet. I enjoyed my time and as you can imagine, I learned a lot from two All-Ireland winners.
“And then I got my big break when Dave Billings, manager of the UCD College senior team, asked me to coach the UCD team. Dave Billings was a mentor to a number of Dublin senior teams in the 1990s and early 00s.

“I got to work with some of the top players in the country and we enjoyed good success with UCD and won a number of Sigerson Cup titles. I enjoyed my time with UCD and again learned a lot from Dave Billings and Brian Mullins, the former Dublin great, who was head of sport in UCD at the time. Fast forward to 2015, my daughters Emily, Isla and Hannah began playing with our local club here on the Navan Road, St Brigids. And so I got involved in coaching at St Brigids, which is what led me to where I am today."

His late father Billy passed away a number of years ago but his proud mother Philomena still lives in the family home in Hillhead, Castlefin.

Declan qualified as a general nurse in St Vincent's Hospital before going through further studies to his current position of Professor at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland University of Health and Sciences.