Mayo native Feena McManamon settled and ready for Donegal's rebuild

Feena McManamon isn’t one for making a song and dance about her return to the Donegal ladies' football team. It wasn’t a decision she was going to rush into either.  

It was last winter when the wheels began turning. First, John McNulty reached out, then Karen Guthrie followed up, the former captain taking on a pivotal role in bridging the gap before James Daly’s arrival as manager. The timing for the Letterkenny-based Garda, it seemed, was finally right.  

A year earlier, the Mayo native’s response had been swift and firm – no. The demands of balancing club and county football, alongside her Garda duties, made a return unthinkable. But something shifted this time around.   

Now, at 26, and with her roots firmly in Donegal, McManamon decided to give it another go.  

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“When I joined the Donegal team three years ago, I was in a difficult situation where the rule is that you can play club football in another county and still play for your own county, but it doesn’t work the other way around,” she explains.  

“I was playing club football at home in Mayo with my club Burrishoole, but I still wanted to play at county level but couldn’t commit to travelling home every week from Letterkenny to Mayo.”  

The complexities of GAA regulations and the demands of life in Donegal made things challenging. In 2022, then-manager Maxi Curran approached her to join the panel, but it required a club transfer to St Eunan’s. The move didn’t stick.  

The Garda who also plays international football for the Republic of Ireland Garda side played two national league matches in 2022 against Galway and Donegal's opponents this weekend Westmeath before rejoining her native club in Mayo.  

“Eventually, it came to the scenario that when Maxi wanted me to join the Donegal panel, I had to transfer club. I joined St Eunan’s but I didn’t stay very long,” she says. “I eventually transferred back to my club in Mayo, and that’s why I wasn’t with the Donegal panel for very long because I couldn’t play for them.” 

“It worked out in the end because we won the club senior championship that season with Burrishoole, but it stopped me from playing for Donegal unless I was actually going to play for a club in the county.”  

The tension surrounding her initial transfer lingered, with questions raised about her intentions. “There was an issue raised in Donegal that claimed I was only transferring to play for the county team, so if I wanted to transfer back and play for Donegal again, they wanted to be certain that I was actually going to play club football.”  

Eventually, the demands of travel made her decision for her. A return to St Eunan’s brought her back into Donegal’s sphere, just as the county team was embarking on a period of transition under James Daly.  

“I don’t know who got wind that I was back eligible to play county football but over the winter I received two phone calls, first from John McNulty, then a month later from Karen Guthrie, and that’s what started it,” she says.  

“In 2023, John contacted me and asked if I would join his panel for the 2024 season, but at that stage, I was still playing club football in Mayo, so I turned him down straight away.  

“Then last November, he called me again and this time I was open to rejoining the panel and I told him that I’d think about it. But then John stood down as manager, and it wasn’t too long after that Karen rang me. She was taking charge of everything at that point before James came in and before we got everything in order.”  

McManamon is clear-eyed about her role this time around. “Because I’m more settled now in Donegal and I’m not travelling up and down the road for the club anymore, I can enjoy it a bit more and really give it my full effort,” she admits.  

“I just felt that I was a bit all over the place the last time I was involved, so it’s nice to be focused on the team a bit more this time around.  

“It’s funny because I’m the third oldest on the team and I’m only 26. We have a young team and a lot of fresh faces with a new manager involved too. I think change is good, and I’m really enjoying being involved.”  

Donegal’s escape from relegation in last year’s senior championship was a close-run thing, and they’re now looking to rebuild in Division 2. Their draw against Clare last weekend showed signs of a fight, but McManamon knows this year is about laying foundations.  

“I think with Donegal at the minute, we’re at a rebuilding period because so many older players have stepped away over the last few years, so it’ll be interesting to see how we can handle it and how we can develop,” she says.  

For McManamon, the journey to this point has been winding, but it’s one she seems ready to embrace – on her own terms this time.