St Eunan’s aim to improve Donegal’s record in Ulster

St Eunan’s first-ever appearance in the province came with a win over Teemore Shamrocks from Fermanagh, 0-11 to 0-4, before a 2-8 to1-6 loss to eventual champions Bryansford from Down, in 1969.

Then, by 1972, it was an encouraging opener, with St Eunan’s drawing 0-10 to 0-10 with reigning All-Ireland SFC winners Wolfe Tones Bellaghy in 1972 in Letterkenny, with Joe Winston scoring six points for the home side.

The Donegal champions were again indebted to Winston in the replay, but his 10 points weren’t enough as Bellaghy ran out winners 3-10 to 1-13 at Rossa Park.

St Joseph’s, the former Ballyshannon and Bundoran amalgamation, won Donegal’s first official title in 1975, beating Castleblayney Faughs 3-6 to 1-8 in Omagh. Some 43 years would pass before another triumph from the county.

Eleven years after 1972, passed before St Eunan’s were back in Ulster, losing to Laragh United from Cavan 1-9 to 0-8 in 1983. Only Killybegs from Donegal reached the showpiece in the intervening years, when they lost out to Castleblayney Faughs in 1991.

After the Letterkenny club’s remergence as a powerhouse in 1999, they’ve competed in the provincial competition nine times.

In those same nine seasons, they’ve progressed past the first hurdle on just two occasions, 2008 and 2014, with respective wins over Clonoe from Tyrone and Roslea Shamrocks of Fermanagh. However, narrow losses would follow against Crossmaglen Rangers, and then, Omagh St Enda’s.

The likes of Naomh Conaill, in 2010 and 2019, and Glenswilly in 2013 have made it to finals but come up short on all three occasions.

Gaoth Dobhair, in 2018, punched through that glass ceiling but it remains a lonely enough looking triumph.

St Eunan’s last two appearances in the competition saw them lose out to Watty Grahams Glen in 2021 and then Tyrone’s Errigal Ciaran in 2024.

Here’s how the Donegal SFC winners fared in recent times:

1999 – St Eunan’s: Derry champions Bellaghy beat St Eunan's in the Ulster quarter-final, 2-14 to 1-8.

St Eunan’s: Tony Blake; Brian McDermott, Maurice McGeehin, Terence Gallagher; Jonathan Scanlon, Brendan Kilcoyne (0-2, 2f), Adrian McClafferty; Paul O’Dowd, John Haran; Shane O’Donnell (0-1), Charlie Mulgrew (0-1), Damian Daly; Mark Crossan (0-1), Brendan Devenney (1-2, 2f), Kevin Winston.

Subs: Brian McGeehin for S O’Donnell (45 mins), Shane Sullivan for (0-1) for Winston (58 mins).

2000 – Ardara: Ardara exited the provincial championship in their opening match, going down to Cavan’s An Gowna 2-13 to 1-7.

2001 – St Eunan’s: Donegal suffer another early exit as St Eunan’s go down to champions Cavan Gaels 0-9 to 0-8.

St Eunan’s: Tony Blake; Jonathan Scanlon, Mark Crossan, Damian McClafferty; Damian Daly, Adrian McClafferty, Brendan Roache; David McGinley (0-1), Paul Crampsie; Shane O’Donnell, Kevin Rafferty, Rory Kavanagh (0-1); Brendan Kilcoyne (0-1,1f), Brendan Devenney (0-5, 3f), Kevin Winston.

Subs: John Harn for Crampsie (19 mins, inj), Conall Dunne for Winston (24 mins), Brian McBrearty for Blake (34 mins).

2002 – Gaoth Dobhair: A number of boardroom rows resulted in the delay of the Donegal SFC and cost the county their participation in the Ulster Club SFC.

2003 – Four Masters: Four Masters lifted spirits, seeing off Monaghan’s Catleblaney 1-8 to 0-10 in Clones in the preliminary round. They drew with Cavan Gaels in Breffni Park, 0-9 to 0-9 before taking the reply in Donegal Town 0-13 to 0-11. Their great run came to an end in the semi-finals against St Gall’s 1-11 to 0-9 in Clones.

2004 – Ardara: Ardara drew 1-11 apiece with Down champions Mayobridge in the quarter-final at MacCumhaill Park. But a Benny Coulter-inspired Mourne side comfortably won the replay 2-17 to 0-08 in Newry.

2005 – Naomh Conaill: Naomh Conaill lifted an historic first-ever Club SFC but just like Ardara the season before, fell to Mayobridge, 0-10 to 1-5 in Pairc Esler.

2006 – Gaoth Dobhair: Gaoth Dobhair faced Crossmaglen Rangers in the preliminary round but lost 0-12 to 1-04.

2007 – St Eunan’s: St Eunan’s exited in the first round after a tight encounter with Cavan Gaels, going down 0-8 to 0-7.

St Eunan’s: Damien Martin; Eamon Doherty (0-1), Damien McClafferty, Adrian McClafferty; Eddie Brennan, Kieran Ryan, Mark McGowan (0-1); John Haran, Rory Kavanagh; Kieran Sharkey, David McGinley (0-1), Kevin Rafferty; Paddy McGowan (0-3, 2 frees), Conall Dunne (0-1, 1 free), Ross Wherity.

Subs: Brendan Roache for K Rafferty (41 mins); Brian McDermott for David McGinley (56 mins)

2008 – St Eunan’s: St Eunan’s won their opening match against Tyrone’s Clonoe, 2-10 to 1-8 but were beaten by Armagh and Ulster kingpins Crossmaglen in the last four 0-11 to 0-8.

St Eunan's: Damian Martin; Eddie Brennan, Kieran Ryan, Damien McClafferty; Mark McGowan, Eamon Doherty, Adrian McClafferty; John Haran, Kevin Rafferty; Kieran Sharkey, Conall Dunne (0-3, 2f), Ross Wherrity (0-3, 1f); David McGinley, Rory Kavanagh (0-1), Paddy McGowan (0-1).

Subs: Dualtach Molloy for P McGowan (43); Ciaran Greene for E Doherty (48).

2009 – St Eunan’s: St Eunan’s fell at the first hurdle when Down’s Kilcoo got the better of them in the last eight, 0-13 to 0-9.

St Eunan's: Damien Martin; Eamon Doherty, Michael Martin, Damien McClafferty; Adrian McClafferty, Kieran Ryan, Ciaran Greene; John Haran, Kevin Rafferty (0-1); Mark McGowan (0-1), Conal Dunne (0-5,4f), Ross Wherrity; David McGinley, Brendan Devenney (0-1), Cillian Morrisson.

Subs: Eddie Brennan for Michael Martin (39mins), Rory Kavanagh for Cillian Morrisson (43 mins), Ciaran Sharkey (0-1) for David McGinley (48mins), Brian McDermott for Brennan (injured 58mins)

2010 – Naomh Conaill: Naomh Conaill went on a brilliant run, seeing off Kingscourt, 1-12 to 0-11, in the preliminary round before earning subsequent provincial victories over Clontibret (2-12 to 0-9); Coalisland in the last four, 1-10 to 1-9 at a fog-filled Brewster Park. In the final, they came agonisingly close to upsetting Crossmaglen but eventually went down 2-9 to 0-10 on a chilly afternoon at Breffni Park.

2011 – Glenswilly: Glenswilly, making their first ever appearance in Ulster, got the better of Cavan Gaels away from home first day out but fell to Latton O’Rahilly’s of Monaghan in the quarter-finals, 0-10 to 0-9.

2012 – St Eunan’s: St Eunan’s again found Crossmaglen too difficult a nut to crack as they made an immediate exit on a scoreline of 3-11 to 1-7.

St Eunan’s: John Paul Clarke; Eddie Brennan, Micheál Martin, Conor Parke; Peter Devine, Eamon Doherty, Mark McGowan (0-1, 1f); Rory Kavanagh, John Haran (1-0); Lee McMonagle (0-1), Conall Dunne (0-1), Kevin Rafferty; Caolan Ward, Ross Wherity (0-3), Sean McVeigh.

Subs: Conor Gibbons (0-1, 1f) for McMonagle (44 mins); Ciaran Greene for Ward (45 mins); Kieran Sharkey for McVeigh (57 mins); Adrian McClafferty for Parke (59 mins)

2013 – Glenswilly: Led by Michael Murphy, Glenswilly reached the Ulster final after defeating St Gall’s in their opener 1-10 to 0-10. They’d see off Roslea in the last four 3-9 to 2-8. But in the decider, Derry champions Ballinderry were deserving winners 1-13 to 2-6.

2014 – St Eunan’s: St Eunan’s defeated Fermanagh's Roslea in the quarter-finals 1-9 to 0-6 but lost 1-08 to 0-08 to Omagh St Enda's in the semi-finals.

St Eunan’s: Shaun Patton; Conor Parke, Sean Hensey, Conor Morrison (0-1); Caolan Ward, Eamonn Doherty, Darragh Mulgrew; Kevin Rafferty, Rory Kavanagh (0-1); Conor Gibbons (0-1), Conall Dunne (0-1, 1f), Sean McVeigh (0-1); Rory Carr (01, 1f), John Haran, Cillian Morrison (0-2).

Subs: Mark McGowan for Hensey (halftime) , Michael Miller for McGowan (52 mins).

2015 – Naomh Conaill: Naomh Conaill went into the provincial campaign with high hopes but those came undone instantly at the hands of Trillick in Ballybofey, 2-9 to 1-11.

2016 – Glenswilly: Glenswilly exited at the quarter-final stage following a 1-12 to 1-06 defeat to Down champions Kilcoo.

2017 – Kilcar: Kilcar recorded a high-scoring victory over Monaghan's Scotstown, 1-16 to 1-6, before being eliminated by Derry’s Slaughtneil by 2-17 to 1-17 in a closely contested semi-final.

2018 – Gaoth Dobhair: Finally, a dart sticks for Donegal as Gaoth Dobhair sealed a memorable Ulster run with an extra-time victory over Scotstown. On the way, Antrim’s Cargin were seen off while a memorable semi-final pummelling of Crossmaglen, 4-11 to 0-16, booked a spot in the decider. They’d see off their Monaghan rivals in Omagh 0-13 to 0-12.

2019 – Naomh Conaill: Naomh Conaill reached another Ulster final after victories over Cavan's Castlerahan, 1-11 to 0-11, and Monaghan's Clontibret at 0-12 to 0-9.. They narrowly missed out on the title against Kilcoo, losing 2-11 to 2-09.

2020 – No Competition: The competition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021 – St Eunan’s: St Eunan’s were eliminated in the preliminary round after losing 0-8 to 1-4 to Glen Watty Grahams.

St Eunan’s: Shaun Patton; Conor Parke, Caolan Ward, Aaron Deeney; Kieran Tobin (0-1), Conor O'Donnell Snr, Peter Devine; Darragh Mulgrew (0-1), Kevin Kealy; Eoin Dowling, Shane O'Donnell (0-1), Sean McVeigh; Padraig McGettigan (1-1), Niall O'Donnell, Peter McEniff.

Subs: Sean McGettigan for Kealy (52), Eoin McGeehin for P McGettigan (59), Conor O’Donnell Jnr for Dowling (60).

2022 – Naomh Conaill: Naomh Conaill go away to Antrim's Cargin in the quarter-finals but after allowing the game to go to extra-time and penalties, the Saffrons outfit progress 4-1.

2023 – Naomh Conaill: Naomh Conaill progress past Cavan’s Gowna 2-8 to 1-10 but are just squeezed out by Derry’s Glen 0-10 to 1-6 in the semi-finals.

2024 – St Eunan’s: St Eunan's are Donegal champions once more but an opening defeat to Errigal Ciaran, 0-12 to 0-10 after extra-time, a game they should have won, sees their misery compounded down the line as the Tyrone side lift the Ulster SFC club title.

St Eunan’s: Shaun Patton; Aaron Deeney, Conor Morrison, Caolan Ward; Darragh Mulgrew, Conor O’Donnell Snr, Kieran Tobin; Eoin Dowling; Ciaran Moore; James Kelly, Shane O’Donnell, Oran Winston; Conor O’Donnell Jnr, Eoin McGeehin, Kevin Kealy.

Subs: Niall O’Donnell for Winston (half-time); Pauric Boyle for McGeehin (47); Lee Monagle for O’Donnell Jnr (60).

2025 – Naomh Conaill: Naomh Conaill come up against Monaghan’s Scotstown and after a 2-16 to 0-16 loss, see the Farney men progress to win it.

Overall Record

Donegal clubs have improved to a degree in Ulster following years of the wilderness but it's still eight years now since Gaoth Dobhair’s success added to the sole triumph beforehand from St Joseph's in 1975.