Diggers move in to lay new pitch at MacCumhaill Park in Ballybofey

This is Páirc Sheáin Mhic Chumhaill as you’ve never seen it before.

The iconic Ballybofey stadium, home of Sean Mac Cumhaill’s GAA club and the Donegal senior football team, is undergoing a €500,000 redevelopment that will deliver a brand-new pitch, upgraded floodlights and improved facilities for supporters.
Club chairman PJ McGowan confirmed that work on levelling and draining the surface began last week.

With progress on schedule, he expects the ground to be ready in time to host some of Donegal’s National Football League fixtures next spring.

“We would have been happy to have it ready for the championship in April or May, but those with better knowledge than me about such things say it will be ready early in the spring in time to host some league games,” Mr McGowan said.

Read more: Round Three of the Donegal Senior Football Championship previewed

The old playing surface at Mac Cumhaill Park, long known for its undulations, is being completely levelled, with the exception of a slight crown down the centre, from goalmouth to goalmouth, to help rainfall run off into main drains along either sideline. A herringbone network of smaller drains will feed into these arterial channels, which discharge into the River Finn.

“During bad weather, we were often at the mercy of pitch inspections,” McGowan added. “We’ve finally taken the bull by the horns and while the redevelopment is a big project it's one that was badly needed, and it will leave us with a much more durable surface in all conditions.”
Expert guidance was sought from several quarters, including Croke Park’s head groundsman, Stuart Wilson, agronomist Ian McClements who has advised on playing surfaces from GAA to golf and soccer, and Kilcar's Declan Gallagher of Ocean Knowledge whose firm manages the pitches at the Donegal GAA Centre in Convoy.
Contractor William Coyle of Buncrana-based Pitch Dimensions moved on site in early August. The first step was to kill the old grass to allow for proper levelling and drainage. Last week, heavy plant machinery moved in to carry out the ground works necessary to dig the drains and lay the new playing surface.

Floodlight upgrades are also under way, with new energy-efficient LED bulbs being installed where the brightness can be adjusted for training, matches, or television broadcast standard. Toilet facilities and perimeter walls are being improved as part of the wider redevelopment.
The redevelopment was part funded by a €500,000 sports capital grant from the Department of Sport, with the GAA's Central and Ulster council's also making a contribution towards the floodlight upgrade.


Meanwhile, the Mac Cumhaill’s club has acquired a second ground at Railway Park in Stranorlar. It is currently being used for training and underage small-sided games, with the goalposts from Mac Cumhaill Park relocated there during the works. In the near future, Railway Park will be developed into a full-sized pitch.



For now, however, it is not capable of hosting full-sided matches and while the redevelopment is ongoing, Mac Cumhaill’s will stage their home fixtures at the Donegal GAA Centre in Convoy.