Michael Hegarty leads Cill Chartha to seventh Gaeltacht senior title

Cill Chartha lifted their seventh senior Gaeltacht title on Monday when defeating Naomh Eanna, Leitir Mór from Galway in the decider in Cill na Martra in Cork.

They are now just one behind Gaoth Dobhair in the role of honour and will have that in their sights over the next few years, especially as they are All-Ireland hosts in 2026. Next year’s finals will be hosted in Galway.

While they were comfortable winners of the final on Monday, their semi-final battle with Cill na Martra was the highlight of the weekend. Cill Chartha were three points down with two minutes left but points from Matthew McClean, Stephen McBrearty and McClean again from a free after captain Eoin McHugh was fouled, sent the game to extra-time. An Eoin McHugh goal in extra-time sent them on their way to a 2-15 to 0-18 win.

“Anyone I was chatting to said it was a great game to watch and very exciting. I suppose the weather and the surroundings and the organisation was fabulous,” said manager, Michael Hegarty.

“We were slow on Saturday but gradually as the weekend went on we played better. We knew Cill na Martra were strong and with them being hosts, we knew that was going to be a big battle. It turned out to be a great game. 

“Our leaders stood up. We were two down and we had a chance of a goal but their goalie saved it and I thought that was it. You only get one or two chances going into those last couple of minutes. It was a great game and they played very well too.

“When the weather was so good and on a big open, fast pitch, you are never kinda gone in a situation like that. It is nearly like a county match, if there’s a bad pass, the whole thing opens up. That’s the beauty of playing this in the summertime when the ground is good and the weather is good.”

Cill na Martra almost pulled it out of the fire at the end but a combination of ‘keeper Eoin O’Donnell and Ciaran McGinley denied them and Hegarty had great praise for veteran McGinley who he said “put in a big weekend. He got better as the weekend went on.”

The Cill Chartha boss said it was a great weekend for bonding for the team

Hegarty says he has enjoyed the All-Ireland Gaeltacht competition both as a player and manager. "My first Gaeltacht final was in 2000 in Kiltane and (Declan) Bonner was county manager and he wouldn’t allow me to play until half-time. Myself and (Martin) McHugh came on,” said Hegarty, who added they lost by a point. Hegarty won titles in Glen (2008) and Moycullen (2014), while he was involved in losing finals against An Gaeltacht and Naomh Conaill.

The All-Ireland win came a week after a poor league performance against Naomh Conaill in Towney and Hegarty said it gave them a wake-up call.

“It was a good reset button for the team because they won a few league games fairly comfortably.

“It was a great weekend especially to have the whole panel together and enjoying each other’s company. The boys came back on the bus and the craic was good. It is a great competition to win and it’s a hard competition to win because it’s all knockout matches.

“We got great momentum from the whole thing and there was a good atmosphere, especially at the Cill na Martra game. A lot of Cill Chartha people came down again on Monday.

“Sometimes they’re training all year and they don’t enjoy it so from that point of view this was a great break away from the league. It was as good as a bonding weekend,” said Hegarty.