Heavy is the head that wears the crown - the difficulty retaining Dr Maguire

The plates shift so often in Donegal football, but the enduring difficulty to retain the Dr Maguire Cup has remained.

In the last 50 years, there have been few examples.

On Saturday, Naomh Conaill - who did a back-to-back in the finals of 2019 and 2020 - prised St Eunan’s hands from Donegal football’s top prize.

The consistency of Naomh Conaill, now six time winners since 2005 and with four titles under Martin Regan’s remarkable tenure, seems all the more impressive when one delves into the history books.

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PJ Buggy took Aodh Ruadh to back-to-back tiles in 1986 and 1987. St Eunan’s won three-in-a-row from 2007-09 with Brendan Kilcoyne at the helm for the first with Eamon O’Boyle having the reins for the next two. O’Boyle would return, alongside Brendan Devenney and Michael McGeehin as part of a three-way management team, in 2012.

St Joseph’s, a merger of Aodh Ruadh and Bundoran that operated in the 1960s and 1970s, won four-in-a-row from 1973-76. Jim ‘The Natch’ Gallagher was the manager of that amalgamation.

Pauric McShea, who played for St Joseph’s, was manager of Killybegs for their triumph in 1996. This week, McShea hailed Regan after ‘he won the tactical battle hands down’ in the final.

Jimmy White was player-manager for the 1991, 1992 and 1995 successes of the Fishermen before work commitments saw him vacate the managerial role in ’96.

“I knew I could still play because I was 36 and was a regular on the team,” White says, “It wasn’t easy. We had a small panel, maybe 18-20 players, over that period. We had a certain amount of luck in that we kept the panel together. We did lose Declan Boyle to Celtic for a period, but we got a few games out of him.”

It was Boyle who came off the bench to kick the winning score against Naomh Columba in 1995.

Killybegs were riding high at the time. Winners in 1988, they landed the silverware against in ’91 and, in Donegal’s year of years, 1992, they retained the prize.

“After winning in ’91, I was always afraid of complacency,” White says. “The other teams were really out to knock you off the perch.

“We had a great base of household names: John Cunningham, Barry Cunningham, Barry McGowan, John Ban Gallagher, Manus Boyle, Denis Carberry.”

A thriving fishing industry in south west Donegal presented its own challengers, but Killybegs rode the waves. Peter McGinley and the Boyle brothers, Declan and Mark, emerged as budding stars of the future.

“We had 10-12 outstanding quality players who stood the test of time,” White says. “They were the backbone. They were there the we won and there when we didn’t.”

Gary McDaid masterminded Glenswilly’s first SFC triumph in 2011. Two years later, he was joint manager with John McGinley when a second crown was captured.

“You’re on a pedestal when you win it,” the St Eunan’s College teacher said. “Teams up the game when they play you. You become a scalp. That in itself brings a certain pressure. You always have to go with your best foot forward and it can be difficult to sustain.

“The hardest thing is to know where and when you want to be peaking.”

Last winter, Regan announced that he was stepping down before a u-turn saw him return with former Donegal player Barry Dunnion coming on board as a coach. Regan is comfortably the longest serving manager in Donegal.

Persistent back problems prematurely ended his own playing career. Regan had dipped his toes in management when he was on the backroom for four under-21 and two minor championship successes.

In 2015, his first year at the helm, Regan took Naomh Conaill to the senior crown. Another six finals and a further three titles have followed.

“Martin Regan deserves unbelievable credit,” McDaid says.

“He has been in seven of the last eight finals. To have that energy - you’ll always have the hunger - is amazing. It overtakes your life. Everything else takes a back seat. Family and their lives even revolves around the football too.

“Martin deserves massive credit for having that energy. The admiration I would have for him is second to none.”

Naomh Conaill have lost Ulster finals in 2010 to Crossmaglen and 2019 against Kilcoo. They’ll go down the provincial road again next month. Glenswilly reached the provincial decider in 2013, but went down by four points at the hands of Ballinderry.

“Getting into Ulster with the club, they’re the best days of your life,” McDaid says. “I think when you get the taste of that, it almost becomes the thing. You have massive hunger if you don’t get over the line in Ulster.

“You want to get back and the only way to do it is by winning a county title. Anything after that really is a bonus. It’s different for Donegal. You look at Kilcoo, who have won 10 of the last 11 finals in Down.

“That familiarity brings a calmness, a focus, an organisation with a very set purpose. “He football career is so short and you have to make the most of it. It’s over in a whim, really, and you’ll be retired for the rest of your life.”

White remembers a time when Killybegs would have played Naomh Conaill ‘for fun’ in the 80s and 90s.

“Now, look: They’re 20 years or so with major success. There might have been question marks over them, but they have stayed at it and had massive success. You can’t take it away from them how they have come back with people writing them off.”