McBrearty: Donegal's most successful ever and the captain who shaped the future

Donegal’s most successful footballer ever - Patrick McBrearty - has opted to retire from the inter-county set-up on medical advice, given the sustained recurrence of a knee injury.

The Kilcar clubman is the county’s only - male or female - seven-time Ulster SFC winner and was the youngest member, at 19, of Jim McGuinness’s All-Ireland winning panel of 2012 when he started at corner-forward. 

McGuinness, in his first-ever championship match as manager against Antrim in the Ulster preliminary round of 2011, gave McBrearty, who had played minors that same afternoon in Ballybofey, his first Donegal senior appearance. He would end up scoring 15 goals and 465 points for Donegal.

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“He’s 17 years of age but he’s very strong,” McGuinness said afterwards that rainy May day. “Fourteen stone and six foot one and very, very fast. He’s a lot stronger than some of the players we have at the moment.”

Next time out, McBrearty was a starter and a goalscorer against Cavan in Breffni as Donegal went on to win a first Anglo-Celt Cup in 19 years, defeating Derry at St Tiernach’s Park in Clones. He hadn’t been born the last time Donegal lifted the trophy.

In 2018, with Declan Bonner at the helm, Donegal’s hopes outside of the province were dealt a massive blow when he suffered a season-ending cruciate ligament tear in the Ulster SFC final win over Fermanagh.

When Murphy initially stepped aside following the 2022 campaign, manager Paddy Carr made McBrearty captain, and McGuinness would later continue that tradition. Although McBrearty, following his return from a “soft tissue” injury this season, led the parade in the All-Ireland final against Kerry, despite not being named to start. 

As captain, it was always going to be difficult following in the footsteps of Murphy, who was in the role from 2011 until 2022. However, when Donegal football hit one of its lowest ebbs in 2023, it was McBrearty who helped reshape its future. 

Carr had lasted just six Division 1 games and was gone when an already relegated Donegal got thumped 0-21 to 0-9 in Roscommon with Aidan O’Rourke filling in, with the championship ending unspectacularly in defeat to Tyrone in the last 12.

McBrearty, taking the bull by the horns, knew Donegal’s improvement was imperative on McGuinness coming back as manager.  

“Some of the players arrived in Creeslough the day after the preliminary quarter-final against Tyrone,” McGuinness would later explain. McBrearty, it is understood, was joined by Hugh McFadden, Ryan McHugh and Eoghan Ban Gallagher doorknocking McGuinness at his home in Creeslough. 

“That did pull at the heartstrings,” McGuinness later said of the visit. “There was a desire to change things and climb the ladder again and make things different. That emotional part was important.”

McBrearty said earlier this year: “We didn't really know what to expect, to be honest. We knew Jim was either going to welcome us with two arms or there was going to be another response …”

That September, McGuinness was ratified as Donegal manager. Again. Since then, Donegal have won both Ulster SFC titles, losing out to Galway in the 2024 All-Ireland SFC semi-final and reaching the final this year.

Over 15 years, McBrearty, now 32, made 167 appearances for Donegal, 82 of those in the championship, placing him in the top five of the overall appearance list behind Neil McGee (195), Murphy (191), Colm McFadden (173) and Frank McGlynn (172).