| Full name | Bonagee United Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1970 (as Arcade Athletic) | |
| Ground | Dry Arch Park [1] | |
| Capacity | 1,500 | |
| Chairman | Donal Coyle | |
| Manager | Jason Gibson | |
| League | Ulster Senior League | |
| 2021/22 | 2nd | |
| Website | Club website | |
Bonagee United Football Club is a football club from Ireland currently competing in the Ulster Senior League. The club are based in Letterkenny. Bonagee United play their home games at Dry Arch Park. [2] The club hosts a number of teams at different age ranges.
Bonagee United were formed on 2 November 1970 in the Continental Bar, now called Voodoo, on Letterkenny's Main Street. In 1971, the club purchased 1 hectare (2.5 acres) of land behind the Dry Arch for £1000. They were originally known as Arcade Athletic. In 1973, Athletic became Bonagee Celtic and then in 1975 Bonagee United. A development programme was drawn up in 1998 and gave the club an all-weather playing pitch and a spectator stand. A general purpose hall, two AstroTurf pitches with floodlights, extra dressing rooms, a store and office have also been added. Today the facilities amount to €973,000, for which they received a grant of €360,000. Money was raised by generous locals and the then Minister for Sport, Jim McDaid. [3]
The club won their first Ulster Senior League Division One title in 2009. [4] [5]
On 3 October 1993 former Bonagee footballer Dessie Larkin incurred severe burns to his scrotum as he rubbed it over the lime used to mark the football pitch. 13 years later Larkin sued the Football Association of Ireland. Bonagee were participating in the FAI Junior Cup at the time. Larkin recalled how there was no changing or showering facilities available and when he removed his football shorts, he noticed some form of "white stuff" on the interior of his shorts and his skin was also inflamed and falling off. The judge was told that there were no instructions from the FAI as to the amount of lime and water that should have been in the mix. The judge awarded Larkin €9000 and stated that the onus was on the FAI to ensure that players be warned to take precautions to prevent the incident from happening. [6]
Damien Duff was manager for the game in Letterkenny. [7]
Letterkenny, nicknamed 'the Cathedral Town', is the largest and most populous town in County Donegal, a county in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. Letterkenny lies on the River Swilly in East Donegal in the north-west of Ulster, and has a population of 19,274. It is the 36th largest settlement in all of Ireland by population, and is the 15th largest settlement by population in the province of Ulster. Along with the nearby city of Derry, Letterkenny is considered a regional economic gateway for the north-west of Ireland. Letterkenny acts as an urban gateway to the Ulster Gaeltacht, similar to Galway's relationship to the Connemara Gaeltacht.
Lifford is the county town of County Donegal, Ireland, the administrative centre of the county and the seat of Donegal County Council, although the town of Letterkenny is often mistaken as holding this role.
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The Donegal County Board or Donegal GAA is one of 32 county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland, and is responsible for the administration of Gaelic games in County Donegal.
The River Swilly is a river in County Donegal, Ireland, which flows in an eastern direction through Letterkenny. Letterkenny, the largest town in County Donegal, is built on the river and became the first crossing point on the river in the 17th century.
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Letterkenny RFC is a rugby union club based in County Donegal, Ireland. The club has strong ties with Dave Gallaher, the New Zealand rugby union footballer, best known as the captain of "The Originals". Gallaher is mentioned on the team crest, and the team plays its home games at Dave Gallaher Memorial Park in Letterkenny. It has seen success in producing quality players in recent years including Joe Dunleavy and Conor McMenamin who both have represented Ulster and Ireland in their according age groups
Dry Arch Park is the home ground of Bonagee United, an Irish football team. It is located close to central Letterkenny in County Donegal.
The Ulster Senior League is an association football league featuring amateur, intermediate, and League of Ireland reserve teams. Together with the Leinster Senior League Senior Division and the Munster Senior League Senior Premier Division, it forms the third level of the Republic of Ireland football league system. Ulster Senior League teams also compete in the FAI Cup and the FAI Intermediate Cup. The winners of the Ulster Senior League have also been invited to play in the League of Ireland Cup. Despite using the Ulster name in its title, almost all of its clubs are based in County Donegal and the City of Derry. The most successful club in the league has been Fanad United who have won fourteen league titles and ten league cups. Since 2006 the USL has operated as a summer league with the season typically operating from April to October.
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Dessie Larkin was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was a member of Donegal County Council representing the Letterkenny electoral area from 1999 to 2014. He served as the County Council's chair of the Planning & Economic Development Strategic Policy Committee. He was the highest paid councillor in Ulster.
Oldtown is a district of Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland, in the parish of Conwal and Leck to the south of the River Swilly. As its name suggests, it is the oldest part of Letterkenny—being older than Letterkenny itself—and was the starting point of the area's development.
Killygordon is a small village in the Finn Valley in the east of County Donegal in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. As of 2016, the population was 614. It is located on the N15 between Ballybofey and Castlefin. The separate hamlet and townland of Crossroads, usually known as The Cross, lies half a mile from Killygordon. The River Finn passes by the village on its way towards its confluence with the River Mourne and the River Foyle.
The 2013–14 FAI Umbro Intermediate Cup was the 87th season of the FAI Intermediate Cup. Intermediate clubs from the Leinster Senior League, the Munster Senior League and the Ulster Senior League entered the competition. Avondale United finished as winners after they defeated UCD Reserves 3–0 in the final in Turners Cross. As a result Avondale United also became only the second club after Distillery to win the cup four times in a row. They also became the first club to win the FAI Intermediate Cup seven times, making them the competition's most successful club.
Oliver Horgan is an Irish football manager, he was the manager of Finn Harps from November 2013 to November 2022. Horgan has previously managed the Republic of Ireland national schoolboy football team.
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