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06 Sept 2025

Here are Donegal's previous Olympians

There will be a sizeable Donegal interest in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and the county has a proud history of people from Donegal or people who were attached to its sports clubs competing at the Olympics

Click on the arrows to go through Donegal's previous Olympians

 

Emmet McLaughlin and Patsy McGonagle Snr (Football; 1948)

Inishowen duo McLaughlin, from Moville, and McGonagle, who hailed from Ballyliffin, were on the Ireland soccer squad that competed in the 1948 Olympic Games in London.

Ireland played just once in 1948, losing 3-1 to the Netherlands at Fratton Park in Portsmouth with McLaughlin lining out in the forwards and McGonagle – whose son Patsy later managed the Irish athletics team at four Olympic Games – an unused substitute.

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