'It’s great for the community ... and great for the family as well'

Back in 2007, the then St Eunan’s manager Brendan Kilcoyne had asked Ciaran O’Donnell to come on board with the club’s seniors.

St Eunan’s had lost the previous two finals - in 2005, when Naomh Conaill announced themselves on the scene for the first time, and then a year later, as Stephen Cassidy’s blistering late goal sealed the 2007 crown for Gaoth Dobhair.

Having won just four official Donegal SFC crowns since 1970, St Eunan’s were in a bit of a piggle in 2007, hammered 5-6 to 1-8 at Naomh Conaill in the first round, first leg, with a 16-year-old Leo McLoone bagging four goals and a point.

After much reflection with their backs against the wall, St Eunan’s came out swinging and won the return 1-14 to 0-5 in Letterkenny before battling their way through the play-off into the last eight.

Ciaran O’Donnell was known in Letterkenny as a committed athlete with the local club and known as a man consumed by sport, not afraid to say it how it was.

That summer, as the season began to take shape, his two youngers, David and Conor, would scamper around the O’Donnell Park pitch to lay out the cones and check the water bottles before the seniors would train. They were consumed right away.

“I loved Brendan Devenney,” David says, looking back. “Awesome. A superstar”. Conor, who was two years younger, turning seven that summer, was a fan of Ciaran Greene and Patrick McGowan.

When St Eunan’s defeated Glenswilly in the final 0-12 to 1-3 that September, the two boys were snapped in front of the press box with the victorious panel, “007”, as they call it, on the framed photograph in Blake’s Bar, with the All-County Football League Division 1 title soon to follow.

That was also the first year of St Eunan’s three-in-a-row, and even now, they look back at their reaction to the defeat in Glenties as one of the pivotal turning points in the club’s history.

When her dad returned to the setup some years later under Maxi Curran, Ciara, three years younger than Conor and five behind David, would scamper alongside the players as they finished off their sprints at the track sessions at the Aura Centre.

Like David, Ciara was a fan of Brendan Devenney and, now 23, was part of the St Eunan’s senior ladies panel this season.

The LGFA Senior Championship was introduced in 1992 in Donegal, with St Eunan’s winning all but one of its 14 stagings, up until 2005. However, the run abruptly ended there and St Eunan’s, in the years that followed, weren’t even the bridesmaids; they didn’t get an invitation to the wedding.

After Four Masters’ back-to-back in 2006 and 2007, the only winners thereafter were Moville, with three titles, Glenfin, with six, and Termon, with nine.

“From dad’s time with the men, I always remember how hard they worked,” says Ciara, a Coventry University graduate who completed a BSc in Dietetics and is currently doing a Masters in Sports and Exercise Nutrition at ATU Galway. “And we needed to do the same.”

The lack of success in recent years didn’t weigh down St Eunan’s, although a thumping from Termon earlier in the season did illustrate the size of the task ahead in the LGFA Senior Championship.

Brendan Devenney came out to training one evening before the championship quarter-final and lifted their spirits, and Ciara, who had been involved with the seniors since the age of 15, appreciated the progress.

She says: “We were always good enough coming up the age ranks and there were always good players, like Shauna Higgins, Sinead MacIntyre, Alisha Tobin, Laoise Ryan and then we got in with the likes of Shauna McFadden, Sophie McFeely, Kaniesha McKinney, Feena McManamon, Aisling Nee and Clodagh Brennan.

“Last December, we met and spoke about our goals for the year and ended up losing to Steelstown in a challenge, then Termon and Downings. We lost to Termon again, were annihilated by Glenfin - but everyone kept working hard.”

Perhaps the swing in the season came when St Eunan’s went to Carrick Field in Moville in the Senior Championship quarter-final and won 1-10 to 1-8 in September. There was more to come.

Come the semi-final, a decorated and experienced Glenfin side, who were the reigning Donegal LGFA senior champions, were defeated 3-6 to 1-10 when Caitlin Fletcher scored a vital late goal in Lifford.

“Moville set us going and then against Glenfin, it was definitely the one that made us really believe,” Ciara adds. “It was neck and neck the whole game and then to get through against the side with Katy Herron, Yvonne Bonner and Karen Guthrie, who are unbelievable players, was huge.”

In the final at O’Donnell Park, St Eunan’s were one up at the break, although as their duels down the years had shown, Termon would never be too far away.

“At half-time, there was belief,” Ciara adds. “Looking around, you knew everyone was there for one another. We might’ve gone in as the underdogs, but from underage we knew we had had plenty of battles with Termon.”

Aisling Nee punched a second St Eunan’s goal, adding to Claire Doherty’s in the first half and St Eunan’s, like their hurlers had in their last-gasp SHC final win over Setanta, had produced a famous win. The scoreboard read St Eunan’s 2-10 to Termon’s 1-8 and the 21-year gap was finally closed.

“It was brilliant,” Conor, 26, who worked as a Special Needs Assistant and is preparing for a Masters with the aim to work as a PE teacher, says of the ladies’ success. “Great to see for the club and having Ciara involved was special.”

“We got around the schools afterwards and the delight of the children in my old school, Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal, was brilliant,” Ciara adds of the legacy that might be starting to accelerate already. “Hopefully this is something that we at St Eunan’s can build upon.”

David is now 28 and works as a network planner for the KN Group. He enjoyed underage success and is also a handy footballer, over the road for Letterkenny Rovers at Leckview, coming up through the Donegal League, winning Division 2, Division 1 and then three Premier Division crowns and three Brian McCormick Sports Cups, with an Ulster Cup thrown in as well.

This year he was in with St Eunan’s Senior B panel, and while they were still finding who was going where, there might have only been 10 or 12 initially at training for the second string. But when things levelled off, St Eunan’s were capably contesting on both fronts.

With players like Darragh Mulgrew, Eamonn Doherty and Conor Parke having a mountain of appearances for the seniors down the years, they gave the Senior B panel, managed by Dualtach Molloy, some edge - pardon the cliché, a more than useful mix of youth and experience.

“It was hard at the start to get everyone together and we struggled a bit,” David says. “I had been juggling soccer and Gaelic but I was happy to see how it went with St Eunan’s. Dualtach was fair to the lads who had been with him and the players coming in really helped.

Come the Senior B final against Four Masters, David lined out at half-forward as seven points combined from Evan Daly and Lee McMonagle, as well as one for Pauric Boyle, who would go on to play in the Senior A final, sealed a 0-12 to 0-6 win. It was David’s first Senior B title.

“It was cagey enough, and we limited Four Masters to potshots from outside the arc,” he adds. “We didn’t make any mistakes and held on to win.”

As the match was being played, Conor caught an early glimpse of the action before joining up with the seniors and Ciara was in action in Ulster, racing over from Letterkenny following a 3-12 to 2-13 victory over Fermanagh champions Kinawley. An earlier defeat to St Ergnat's, Moneyglass, of Antrim, meant their round-robin ended there.

“It was so special for the family with David and Ciaran being involved,” she says. “We were playing during David’s game - and my boyfriend Cian McMonagle was actually the captain for the Senior B team - so I missed that as we were playing ourselves but got there for Conor’s. Our game finished about 2:15pm in Letterkenny and me and Alisha Tobin were in the car within 10 minutes. Straight over the road!”

Conor made his senior debut as far back as 2018 in the black and amber; while his Letterkenny Rovers cameos, whether on Saturdays or Sundays, were more in the GAA’s winter off-season, alongside St Eunan’s teammates Kieran Tobin, Oran Winston and Dillon Doogan.

A substitute in the 2021 final when St Eunan’s defeated Naomh Conaill 1-11 to 0-4 in the Donegal SFC, his patience was rewarded with a goal and man-of-the-match performance in the 2024 win against Dungloe.

Last year, St Eunan’s went down to Termon in the Donegal SFC preliminary quarter-final and Conor’s name hadn’t made the teamsheet. In the week leading up to the game in Convoy, a collision right at the end of a training session saw him rupture his ankle ligaments.

He didn’t know it at the time, not only was his season was over, but he would spend many of the opening months of 2026 trying to get back to full pelt, following an operation and then another.

“I came back in mid-June and the boys had already put in a serious shift all year and I was blowing trying to keep up with them,” he says. “Kieran Donnelly was now in charge and I managed to play the last league game.”

Conor began to gather momentum come championship, scoring seven points with St Eunan’s showing both sides of themselves - having been 14 points to the good again Dungloe at half-time, they ended up happy to win the quarter-final 1-18 to 0-18.

Then, in the semis, despite leading Gaoth Dobhair by 1-9 to 0-0 at an early stage, they got out the gate on a 2-18 to 1-19 scoreline. Naomh Conaill, last year’s winners, lay in wait in the final.

“We always knew that, when playing Naomh Conaill, it would more than likely go down to the wire,” Conor adds. “We spoke about it time and again.”

St Eunan’s were two up at the break, although not one person inside MacCumhaill Park under the blue skies of autumn thought it was a big lead, with the Glenties-based side famed for their comebacks in recent years - the most recent being from five down in the closing stages of the semi-final against Glenswilly.

With both teams in the final perhaps showing one another too much respect in the opening half, the second half was one where they stood toe-to-toe.

A goal from Ethan O’Donnell and a two-pointer from Shea Malone swung the balance towards the blue and white, although St Eunan’s were standing up to the challenge, having introduced Niall O’Donnell, who had been skipping over and back from Chicago.

From a loose ball, Conor O’Donnell saw a glimpse of goal but went down. It was the same ankle again and as he made his way off, he said to physio Joe O’Donnell, “I’m finished again”, to which he was told to wait until the assessment. His concerned mother Anne called Ciara, who was by now on the terrace with David, on the mobile phone.

“Joe, Dr Eamonn Coyle and Neil Barrett, who is Strength and Conditioning coach, had done so much for me in the last year,” Conor says.

“When I was coming off, we were 1-12 to 1-10 behind and I thought ‘here we go again.’ Naomh Conaill are never beat.”

“I looked at David and we couldn’t really speak,” Ciara says. “You were thinking about Conor and looking at the scoreboard. It wasn’t looking good. Dad was watching the game from the top of the press box, and he had made his way down to pitchside. You always know what he thinks about a game without him actually saying it.”

“We thought that was Conor’s day done,” David adds. “As for Eunan’s, I did think they might still have a chance as they were still clinging on, but time was running out.”

St Eunan’s, when Naomh Conaill’s John O’Malley pierced over a majestic score for two from outside of the arc, were in bother. Naomh Conaill were 1-15 to 1-13 in front well into the four minutes signalled for injury-time.

However, a brilliant Niall O’Donnell two-pointer - one that will be replayed for years and years to come - got St Eunan’s back on terms, and with seconds left, Shaun Patton gathered a ball. Talk of a replay the following Saturday shuffled through Ballybofey.

“Kieran Tobin made a dart and picked up a pass from Niall, and Ciaran Moore was coming through,” Conor says.

Moore, whose piercing runs from deep had been a feature of the second half, took possession in his stride and, on the run, split the posts - St Eunan’s were 1-16 to 1-15 in front. Referee Cathal Boland blew for time just as Naomh Conaill goalkeeper Stephen McGrath cleared from the tee. Just like that. It was over in a flash. Crowds surged onto the pitch.

“There was a bottle of water and I kind of accidentally knocked it in Ciara’s face as the whistle went, trying to hug her,” David laughs.

“Final whistle, and doosh,” Ciara replies. “Right on the lip!”.

“It was so all-of-a-sudden,” Conor adds. “I was sitting there thinking, we’re getting out of jail; wait, we’re getting momentum, and then we’re in front - all within seconds. The excitement immediately afterwards got me through the sore ankle! Mum and Dad don’t miss too many games, and we were delighted for them too when we all met up on the pitch afterwards - they have done so much for us.”

The three siblings were joined in the celebrations on the pitch for the celebrations. It was a proud moment for all - from watching on in awe at St Eunan’s training sessions where they laid out cones and took part in the sprints, to now, where they are the ones writing chapters in the club’s history.

“The boys had shown mental toughness, which had been questioned, to get over the line. It was constantly being queried, us not putting teams away,” Conor adds. Thankfully we had the answer when it really mattered.”

“It was a brilliant finish,” David says. “Everything worked out in the end.”

“It’s great to see success, with the ladies, the men and the hurlers,” Ciara adds. “It brings everyone at the club that bit closer together - it’s great for the community, and great for the family as well.”