The Donegal players who bridged the gap years

Frank White, 1946-57 - 11 years
A native of Castlebaldwin in Sligo, White - a commanding and high-fielding defender - initially played his club football for Knockalassa and then for his native county. That same year he joined An Garda Siochana and ended up stationed in Doochary, where he met and married Kathleen Duggan, whose family were proprietors of Duggan’s Bar on Dungloe’s Main Street.

White joined Dungloe and played for Donegal in the Ulster SFC in 1944, 1945 - when he was appointed captain - and 1946. After a match against Sligo in Ballybofey to celebrate civic week, White made the decision to go back playing for Sligo, reaching the 1947 Connacht SFC final and the National Football League quarter-final, which was played in the Showgrounds - the home of Sligo Rovers.

Neil Glackin, a former Rosses Community School student, wrote this excellent tribute in 2014.

He explained White played for Sligo in the Connacht finals in 1954 and 1956 and won three Railway Cup winners medals. In his final year playing football, he lined out for Donegal following an 11-year absence in 1957 and helped Dungloe to the Donegal SFC to add to their league title from a year beforehand. He didn’t play part in the Rosses club’s retention of the trophy in 1958, but co-managed the side in 1960 with Charlie Campbell.


White was CLG An Clochán Liath’s county board representative and even refereed. He would later be stationed in Milford and Dublin, working with Garda Retired Members Association, serving as the association’s general secretary until he was 80. In 2003 he was named on Dungloe’s Hall of Fame team.