Donegal Intermediate Football Championship

Donegal Intermediate Football Championship
Irish	Craobh Peil Idirmheánach Dhún na nGall
Founded	1977
Title holders	Na Dúnaibh (4th title)
Most titles	Na Dúnaibh (4 titles)

The Donegal Intermediate Football Championship (abbreviated as Donegal IFC) is an annual football competition organised by Donegal GAA.

Na Dúnaibh are the title holders (2023) defeating Malin in the Final.

History

The competition has been won by 27 clubs, 13 of which have won it more than once. Na Dúnaibh are the most successful club with four titles.

Declan Bonner was player-manager of the 1989 winning team. ^[1] He won the Ulster Senior Football Championship with his county in 1990, followed by another in 1992 and the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship of 1992 as well.

The most successful team to have emerged from the Donegal IFC in the 21st-century is Glenswilly. They went on to claim several SFC honours for the first time in club history (2011, 2013, 2016). Neil Gallagher, the future National Football League-winning captain and All Star of the 2012 and 2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, won the Donegal IFC in 2005.^{[ citation needed ]}

The 2006 final required two replays before Cloich Cheann Fhaola defeated Gaeil Fhánada. ^[2]

Initially a straight knock-out competition, a round-robin group stage was introduced in 2013.

With its 2023 title win, Na Dúnaibh became the first club to win the compeiition on four occasions, having previously done so in 1981, 1988 and 1993. ^[3]

Men to have won this competition and to have played at senior level for their county include Paddy McConigley (2009), ^[4] Michael Boyle (2012), ^[5] Kevin Mulhern (2014), ^[6] Jamie and Paul Brennan (2015), ^[7] Frank McGlynn (2018), ^[8] Stephen Griffin (2019) ^{[9] [10]} and Peter Boyle (2020). ^[11]

Others to have played in this competition and played at senior level for their county include Michael Lynch, ^[7] Niall McCready ^[5] and Brian Roper. ^[5]

Honours

The winning club receives the Cathal McLaughlin Memorial Cup. The winning club is promoted to the Donegal Senior Football Championship for the following season.

The Donegal IFC winner qualifies for the Ulster Intermediate Club Football Championship. It is the only team from County Donegal to qualify for this competition. The Donegal IFC winner may enter the Ulster Intermediate Club Football Championship at either the preliminary round or the quarter-final stage.

The Donegal IFC winner — by winning the Ulster Intermediate Club Football Championship — may qualify for the All-Ireland Intermediate Club Football Championship, at which it would enter at the semi-final stage, providing it hasn't been drawn to face the British champions in the quarter-finals. The last team from County Donegal to do this was St Michael's in 2004 who went on to reach the final, losing out to Ilen Rovers of Cork. ^[12]

Winners and finalists

Results by team

Results by team

#	Team	Wins	Years won	Last final lost
1	Na Dúnaibh	4	1981, 1988, 1993, 2023	1978
2	Réalt na Mara	3	1977, 2010, 2015	2009
	Glenfin		1983, 2001, 2018	1997
	Termon		1991, 2000, 2012	—
	Naomh Muire		1994, 1998, 2013	—
	Cloich Cheann Fhaola		2006, 2014, 2021	2019
2	Naomh Ultan	2	1984, 2002	1998
	An Clochán Liath		1986, 2022	2021
	Na Rossa		1989, 1999	2008
	Milford		1992, 2017	2016
	Buncrana		1995, 2004	2014
	Gaeil Fhánada		2007, 2009	2006
	St Naul's		2011, 2019	2017
3	Rosses Rovers	1	1978	—
	Na Cealla Beaga		1979	—
	Roger Casements [lower-alpha 1]		1980	—
	Urris		1982	—
	Gaoth Dobhair		1985	—
	Naomh Bríd		1987	—
	Naomh Conaill		1990	1986
	Four Masters		1996	—
	Carndonagh		1997	2003
	St Michael's		2003	2000
	Glenswilly		2005	—
	Seán MacCumhaill's		2008	—
	Burt		2016	—
	Aodh Ruadh		2020	2018

Finals listed by year

Year	Winner	Score	Opponent	Score	Winning captain	Man of the match	Winning manager
1977	Réalt na Mara	2-11	Convoy	0-11
1978	Rosses Rovers	0-9	Na Dúnaibh	0-7
1979	Na Cealla Beaga	1-8	Glenfin	0-8
1980	Roger Casements	3-5	Cloich Cheann Fhaola	1-10
1981	Na Dúnaibh [3]	0-13	Glenfin	0-8
1982	Urris	1-5	Red Hughs	0-7
1983	Glenfin	2-10	Na Rossa	2-8
1984	Naomh Ultan	1-5	Cill Chartha	0-5
1985	Gaoth Dobhair	2-8	St Naul's	0-5
1986	An Clochán Liath	0-8	Naomh Conaill	0-6
1987	Naomh Bríd	0-6	St Naul's	0-5
1988	Na Dúnaibh [3]	0-6	St Naul's	0-5
1989 [1]	Na Rossa	3-8	Naomh Ultan	2-8
1990	Naomh Conaill	2-12	Réalt na Mara	2-10
1991	Termon	1-15	Réalt na Mara	1-7
1992	Milford	1-12	Naomh Ultan	2-8
1993	Na Dúnaibh [3]	1-13	Na Rossa	0-9
1994	Naomh Muire	0-8	St Naul's	0-3
1995	Buncrana	1-8	St Naul's	1-5
1996	Four Masters	2-15	Carndonagh	1-5
1997	Carndonagh	1-12	Glenfin	1-11
1998	Naomh Muire	1-10	Naomh Ultan	2-6
1999	Na Rossa	1-13	Malin	1-11
2000	Termon	0-16	St Michael's	0-4
2001	Glenfin	1-13	Malin	0-7
2002	Naomh Ultan	2-4	Buncrana	0-8
2003	St Michael's	0-18	Carndonagh	0-5
2004	Buncrana	1-7	St Naul's	0-4
2005	Glenswilly	1-12	Cloich Cheann Fhaola	1-7
2006	Cloich Cheann Fhaola	1-11	Gaeil Fhánada	0-8
2007	Gaeil Fhánada	0-10	Réalt na Mara	1-6
2008 [13]	Seán MacCumhaills	0-10	Na Rossa	0-7
2009	Gaeil Fhánada	2-9	Réalt na Mara	1-7
2010	Réalt na Mara	1-8	Cloich Cheann Fhaola	0-9
2011 [14]	St Naul's	1-5	Naomh Columba	0-3
2012 [5]	Termon	0-11	Aodh Ruadh	1-7
2013 [15]	Naomh Muire	1-13	St Naul's	1-7	Paul "Yank" Boyle [10]		Danny O'Donnell [10]
2014 [6]	Cloich Cheann Fhaola	0-15	Buncrana	0-8			Joe McGarvey [16]
2015 [7]	Réalt na Mara	4-17	Naomh Colmcille	0-4	Tommy Hourihan	Shane McGowan Team of the Year	Brian Gavigan
2016 [17]	Burt	2-11	Milford	1-12	Martin Donaghey	Paul McHugh	Ronan McLaughlin
2017 [18]	Milford	2-11	St Naul's	0-12	Paddy Peoples	Gary Merritt	Danny O'Donnell
2018 [8]	Glenfin	1-10	Aodh Ruadh	0-7	Gerard Ward	Gerard Ward	Liam Breen [19]
2019 [9]	St Naul's	1-10	Cloich Cheann Fhaola	0-10	Stephen Griffin	Kevin Mulhern	Barry Meehan
2020 [11]	Aodh Ruadh	2-14	Cloich Cheann Fhaola	1-12	Johnny Gethins & Nathan Boyle	Nathan Boyle	Barry Ward
2021 [20]	Cloich Cheann Fhaola	3-4 / 1-11	An Clochán Liath	0-13 / 0-5	Mark Harley	Jason McGee	Michael Lynch
2022 [21]	An Clochán Liath	1-8	Naomh Columba	0-4	Conor O'Donnell	Darren Curran	Dessie Gallagher
2023 [3]	Na Dúnaibh	1-11	Malin	0-9	Ben McNutt	Johnny McGroddy	Kevin 'Cookie' Gallagher

References

1. Bonner, Declan (23 April 2020). "You need that glimmer of hope". Donegal News . p. 55.
2. Ferry, Ryan (23 April 2020). "McConigley reflects on 2007 National League success". Donegal News . pp. 52–3.
3. McNulty, Chris (15 October 2023). "Downings prevail against Malin to win Intermediate Championship crown". After wins in 1981, 1988 and '93, Downings go now to the top of the IFC roll of honour.
4. Forker, Mark (29 June 2015). "Former Donegal GAA star helps Kilkenny footballers win British junior title" . Retrieved 27 October 2020.
5. Hughes, John (7 November 2012). "Final heartache for Aodh Ruadh" . Retrieved 7 November 2012.
6. Foley, Alan (11 November 2014). "Cloughaneely defeat Buncrana to seal Donegal Intermediate title" . Retrieved 11 November 2014.
7. McNulty, Chris (25 October 2015). "Bundoran show no mercy to crush Naomh Colmcille's dreams" . Retrieved 25 October 2015.
8. Keenan, Shaun (14 October 2018). "Glenfin comfortably beat Aodh Ruadh to win IFC A Final" . Retrieved 14 October 2018.
9. Foley, Alan (13 October 2019). "St Naul's hold firm to overcome Cloughaneely and lift IFC crown" . Retrieved 13 October 2019.
10. McNulty, Chris (13 October 2013). "Report: Excellent Naomh Muire win Intermediate Championship". Donegal News . Retrieved 13 October 2013. While Griffin tapped over a free for their first score on 12 minutes, the former Donegal panelist and the St Naul's captain was forced to leave the action in the 17th minute.
11. Foley, Alan (26 September 2020). "Aodh Ruadh come good in final quarter against Cloughaneely to win IFC" . Retrieved 26 September 2020.
12. "Easy in the end for Ilen". Irish Independent . 26 April 2004.
13. Ferry, Ryan (3 October 2019). "Gaels target historic final berth". Donegal News . p. 73. It's 11 years since Na Rossa last contested a county final, but they are hoping to qualify for the Junior 'A' Championship decider this Saturday when they take on Letterkenny Gaels. In 2008, Na Rossa reached the Intermediate final but lost by three points in the final against MacCumhaills.
14. "Finals can go any way — [St Naul's manager Barry] Meehan". Donegal News . 10 October 2019. p. 69. St Naul's are no strangers to the Intermediate final and this will be their 10th final at this level since 1985. Their record isn't the best as they were only victorious in one of those back in 2011. Since then they have lost to Naomh Muire in 2013, and most of the current side were playing in 2017 when Milford got the better of them after a close game.
15. "A day for Yanks in O'Donnell Park". 23 October 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
16. McNulty, Chris (23 January 2015). "John Paul Gallagher takes over at Cloughaneely as clubs gear up for new season". Donegal News . Retrieved 23 January 2015. The Falcarragh club have been on the look-out for a new boss following confirmation that Joe McGarvey wasn't seeking another term at the helm. McGarvey guided Cloughaneely to IFC glory when they defeated Buncrana in the final.
17. McNulty, Chris (15 October 2016). "History made as Burt go to the well to pip Milford to Intermediate title" . Retrieved 15 October 2016.
18. McNulty, Chris (8 October 2017). "Late McGettigan goal wipes the pain as Milford win title" . Retrieved 8 October 2017.
19. McNulty, Chris (9 December 2019). "Mark McGinty reappointed as Glenfin manager" . Retrieved 9 December 2019. McGinty took over from Liam Breen, who had guided the club to the Intermediate Championship in 2018.
20. McNulty, Chris (13 November 2021). "Cloughaneely end their IFC hoodoo with replay win over Dungloe" . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
21. McNulty, Chris (1 October 2022). "Darren Curran goal exorcises Dungloe's ghosts to beat Naomh Columba in IFC final". Archived from the original on 2 October 2022.

Explanatory notes

1. Roger Casements were a Milford-based side which disbanded after losing to Convoy in the 1982 IFC semi-final — https://sites.google.com/a/gaa.ie/naomh-ultan-dunkineely-donegal/history.

Further reading

• Ó Gallchóir, An tAth. Seán (2007). The Book of Donegal GAA Facts. Letterkenny: Browne Printers Ltd. ISBN   978-0-9542806-3-5.

External links

• Official website of Donegal GAA