‘We want to show young people in Inishowen they can play for Donegal too’

Inishowen has, until now, been largely untapped, but the signs are shifting for the influence of the ‘33rd County’ on Donegal football.

Amid talk of splitting Dublin, Donegal is seeing real shoots in Inishowen, where a Gaelic football pulse beats strong now.

With 32,000 residents - similar to County Leitrim - Inishowen accounts for roughly 20 per cent of Donegal’s population.
In the last 50 years, only 11 Inishowen players have played Championship football for Donegal.

In 1997, Paul Callaghan - who was the sub goalkeeper when Donegal won the All-Ireland in 1992 - made his Championship bow, following Roscommon native Des Newton, who played his club football for Urris, 20 years previously in 1987.

“We always felt as if we were treated differently in Inishowen,” Callaghan says. “That has changed a lot now with the success of development squads and the academy.

“The clubs in Inishowen still need to try to get to a higher standard. They have to try and raise their own standards and get their players playing at senior level against the top players”

In 2021, Caolan McColgan (Naomh Padraig Muff) and Anthony Doherty (Carndonagh) were members of the Donegal under-20 squad while the minor panel included Naomh Padraig Muff duo Cormac McColgan and Oisin McIntryre.

Callaghan’s own call came after he played for an Inishowen select against Brian McEniff’s Donegal in 1990 to mark the opening of Urris GAA club’s Crampsey Park.

He says: “The only opportunity in those days was to play well for the county minors, but even that chance - because of the lack of profile for Inishowen - wasn’t available.

“I had a trial for the minors once, but there were 50 or 60 players there and I just wasn’t able to show anything or do anything. I thought the chance was gone.”

Caolan McGonagle has had to wait for his big chance, but the Buncrana man is now established in the Donegal midfield - manned by Buncrana’s Paul McGonigle in the run to the 2003 All-Ireland semi-final.

In the 2021 League draw with Armagh, Carndonagh youngster Conor O’Donnell - another tipped for a big future - came off the bench to hoist two inspirational points. O’Donnell made his Championship bow off the bench in a preliminary round win over Down, scoring a point at Pairc Esler.

“We want to show young people in Inishowen that they can play football for Donegal too,” McGonagle says. In 2012, he watched from Hill 16 as Buncrana’s Ryan Bradley starred in Donegal’s All-Ireland win.

“We looked up to Ryan,” McGonagle says. “He’s a big influence and he shows you what can happen if you work hard. The aim was that one day I’d do the same, watching the buzz that it brought to the area and the schools.”

In 2010, an amalgamation of the five secondary schools in Inishowen entered Ulster GAA competition - one of the area’s key successes in GAA development. In 2014 McGonagle played as Colaistí Inis Eoghain lost out to St Eunan’s College in the MacLarnon Cup final.

Inishowen is seen as a soccer heartland, but its eight clubs - Buncrana, Burt, Carndonagh, Malin, Moville, Muff, Naomh Colmcille and Urris - carry the GAA torch.

In 1991 and 1992, an Inishowen select played in the Donegal SFC, but exited at the first hurdle both times.

“If they picked an Inishowen selection now, they’d do very well,” Callaghan argues. “They’d certainly give it a good rattle. The set-up is much better now and, the way the development squads are, it doesn’t matter where you’re from. You come in at 13 or 14 to a proper set-up and everyone is treated the same.

“My old joke used to be about Donegal’s nickname, ‘Tir Chonaill’. A lot of people in Donegal haven’t viewed Inishowen as being a part of Donegal. Inishowen isn’t actually a part of what was the area of Tir Chonaill, but we’re definitely a big part of Donegal.”

INISHOWEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP REPRESENTATIVES SINCE 1970

Phil Kelly (Naomh Padraig, Muff)
Kelly made his Championship debut in a 0-15 to 0-13 defeat to Cavan in 1975. Martin Griffin and Brendan Dunleavy were among the other debutants. Kelly lined out in the full-forward line alongside Brian McEniff and Seamie Granaghan. It was Kelly’s only SFC appearance for Donegal.

John Fullerton (Buncrana)
Fullerton played in a 1-12 to 0-12 defeat by Derry in 1977. His only SFC game in Donegal’s colours came on the same afternoon that Sandy Harper, Michael Oliver McIntyre and Anthony Harkin featured for the first time.

Des Newton (Urris)
Newton was an Ulster SFC winner with Donegal in 1983 - his first year playing in the championship. Newton’s debut was in the Ulster semi-final win over Monaghan. He also played in the Ulster final win over Cavan and the All-Ireland semi-final loss to Galway. He played a total of eight SFC games between 1983 and 1987.

Paul Callaghan (Burt)
Callaghan was the substitute goalkeeper when Donegal won the All-Ireland in 1992. Callaghan would have to wait until 1997 for his SFC debut in a win over Antrim. Callaghan played four Championship games for Donegal.

Eamon Reddin (Naomh Padraig and Burt)
Muff native Reddin started the 1999 draw with Armagh, but he was replaced by Shane Car for the replay, which Donegal lost. When he reappeared on a Donegal side for a Championship game, in 2003, he was playing his club football with Burt. Played in a 0-10 to 0-5 loss to Fermanagh in what was his second, and final, SFC game.

Paul McGonigle (Buncrana)
McGonigle first emerged in a 2001 draw with Fermanagh. He played 18 times for Donegal in Championship football, including the 2002 All-Ireland quarter-final against Dublin and the following year’s All-Ireland semi-final against Armagh. Has most recently been assistant manager to both Jim McGuinness and Declan Bonner.

Ryan Bradley (Buncrana)
Bradley scored a point against Mayo in the 2012 All-Ireland final win over Mayo. Bradley was a transformed figure in the Donegal side under Jim McGuinness. His first SFC game was a 2005 loss to Armagh under Brian McEniff. He played successive Championship campaigns with Brian McIver in 2007 and 2008. In all, Bradley played 18 SFC games for Donegal.

Declan Walsh (Malin)
Walsh started the first game of the 2012 Championship, a win over Cavan, and also started in that year’s Ulster final win over Down. Was an unused sub for the All-Ireland final win over Mayo. After three appearances in 2012, he played six more Championship games for Donegal.

Darach O’Connor (Buncrana)
O’Connor was a shock inclusion for the 2014 Ulster opener against Derry in Celtic Park. Played six Championship games in 2014, including starts in the Ulster and All-Ireland finals. His Championship tally includes just two further outings, substitute appearances against Monaghan (2015) and Fermanagh (2018).

Caolan McGonagle (Buncrana)
McGonagle has become a mainstay of Declan Bonner’s Donegal. Had to bide his time after coming on as a substitute against Cavan in 2018. He started all three of Donegal’s SFC games in 2020 and was in from the off of the three SFC outings in 2021.

Conor O’Donnell (Carndonagh)
O’Donnell, a highly-touted prospect from Carndonagh, was given his Championship debut in the 2021 Ulster SFC preliminary round win over Down in Newry. O’Donnell, who was not long returned from a cruciate injury the previous year, announced his arrival by scoring a point.