The Donegal county hurling team represents Donegal in hurling and is governed by Donegal GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the Nicky Rackard Cup and the National Hurling League (currently Division 2B, often also in Division 3A).
Donegal's home ground is MacCumhaill Park, Ballybofey. The team's manager is Mickey McCann.
The team last won the Ulster Senior Championship in 1932, but has never won the All-Ireland Senior Championship or the National League.
Donegal has three senior and four junior Ulster hurling titles, the last senior win coming in 1932.
Donegal has a residue of pre-GAA hurling. The Burt Hibernians brought Donegal the 1906 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship, defeating Antrim by 25 points to one. Burt later played in Derry. In 1923 Donegal fielded a team of three natives augmented with Gardaí and customs officers from hurling counties to win its second Ulster SHC. When they lined out for the semi-final, wearing blue jerseys against Limerick on a cold, miserable day in Croke Park, numbers were worn by the players for the first time to help the spectators to distinguish them. The team trailed 5–4 to nil at half-time and lost 7–4 to 0–1.
Donegal was National Hurling League Division Three champion in 2001. [1]
Led by Eamon Campbell, Donegal reached the final of the 2006 Nicky Rackard Cup, the first time the team had achieved this, [2] only to be defeated by Derry.
The county reached the final of the 2009 Lory Meagher Cup, only to be defeated by Tyrone.
Donegal won the 2011 Lory Meagher Cup. [3]
Ray Durack was manager of the county team from January 2012 until May 2015. [4] [5] He led Donegal to the 2013 Nicky Rackard Cup. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] As Nicky Rackard winners, Donegal would have expected to compete in the 2014 Christy Ring Cup. [11] However, due to restructure of the competitions, Donegal were not promoted to the 2014 Christy Ring Cup. [12] Durack then brought the county to Division 2B of the National Hurling League in 2014 (their highest league ranking in team history). [4] [13] Ardal McDermott succeeded Durack as manager, serving between 2015 and 2017 and leading the county back to Division 2B of the National Hurling League in 2017 (as Division 3A champions), after the team were relegated the previous year. [14] [15]
On 25 October 2017, the county board announced Mickey McCann's appointment as senior manager on a two-year contract, with the possibility of a third year in charge also mentioned. [16] [17] The county board had specifically identified him after all candidates nominated for the position were rejected as unsuitable. [18] McCann led Donegal to first competitive victories over Derry and Down in the 2018 National Hurling League. [19] [20] [21] The 2018 Nicky Rackard Cup followed. [22]
Relegation from 2B to 3A followed in 2019, promotion to 2B followed in 2020.
Donegal defeated Mayo in the 2020 Nicky Rackard Cup Final; in doing so, the county became the first to win the competition on three occasions. [23] However, the 2020 win did not secure passage back to the 2021 Christy Ring Cup, a condition that was not made clear until shortly before the final. [24]
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Recent players include:
2013 captain: Joe Boyle [25] 2014 captain: Joe Boyle [25]
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1989 Eugene Sherry
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Winners (1): 2016 Winners (2): 2023, 2024
Runners-up (1): 2022The Nicky Rackard Cup is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The cup forms the fourth-tier of Hurling for senior county teams. It is contested by the six county teams ranked 24–29 in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Each year, the champions of the Nicky Rackard Cup are promoted to the Christy Ring Cup, and the lowest finishing team is relegated to the Lory Meagher Cup. The winners of the championship receive the Nicky Rackard Cup, named after former Wexford hurler Nicky Rackard regarded as one of the greatest hurlers of all time.
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 Donegal Senior Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition contested by top-tier Donegal GAA clubs. The County Final is usually played at O'Donnell Park in Letterkenny.
The Lory Meagher Cup is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The cup forms the fifth-tier of Hurling for senior county teams. It is contested by the six county teams ranked 30–35 in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Each year, the champions of the Lory Meagher Cup are promoted to the Nicky Rackard Cup. The competition is named in honour of former Kilkenny hurler Lory Meagher who many regard as one of the greatest hurlers of all time.
Seán McVeigh is a dual player. He plays Gaelic football for St Eunan's, as well as, formerly, hurling for the Donegal county team.
The 2013 season was the ninth staging of the Nicky Rackard Cup. Donegal were the 2013 Champions, defeating Roscommon in the final. However, they were not promoted to the 2014 Christy Ring Cup due to a restructuring of the competition.
The 2017 Lory Meagher Cup was the ninth edition of the Lory Meagher Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2009 and is the fourth-tier of Hurling for senior county teams. It is contested by six GAA county teams ranked 30–35 in the 2017 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.
The Armagh county hurling team represents Armagh GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association, in the Gaelic sport of hurling. The team competes in the Nicky Rackard Cup and the National Hurling League.
The Sligo county hurling team represents Sligo in hurling and is governed by Sligo GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the Christy Ring Cup and the National Hurling League. It formerly competed in the abolished Connacht Senior Hurling Championship, finishing as runner-up in 1900 and 1906.
Danny Cullen is a hurler. He plays for Setanta, the Donegal county team and the Ireland national team.
Declan Coulter is a hurler. He plays for Setanta, the Donegal county team and the Ireland national team.
Kevin Campbell is a hurler. He plays for Setanta and the Donegal county team.
Lee Henderson is a hurler. He plays for Seán Mac Cumhaills and also, formerly, for the Donegal county team.
Ardal McDermott is an Irish hurling manager and former player. He formerly played for and later managed the Donegal county team. His club is Burt.
Michael "Mickey" McCann is an Irish hurling manager and former player. He currently manages the Donegal county team and plays as goalkeeper for Burt.
Ray Durack is an Irish hurling manager and former player. He is originally from Portumna, County Galway.
The 2020 Nicky Rackard Cup final was played at Croke Park in Dublin on 22 November 2020. It was contested by Donegal and Mayo.
Jamesie Donnelly is a hurler. He plays for Seán Mac Cumhaills and, formerly, the Donegal county team.
Setanta Hurling Club is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located near Killygordon, County Donegal, Ireland. The club is solely concerned with the game of hurling.
The 2024 Nicky Rackard Cup was the twentieth edition of the Nicky Rackard Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2005 and is the fourth-tier of Hurling for senior county teams. It is contested by six GAA county teams ranked 24–29 in the 2024 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. The competition ran from 13 April to 2 June 2024.
He devoted his life to the GAA and especially to hurling guiding Donegal to their first Nicky Rackard Cup final in 2006. As well as taking command of the county hurling team, Eamon was a huge driving force behind the Setanta club.
According to manager Ray Durack, the squad has put in a huge effort so far this year in a bid to make up for last year's shortcomings.
Sean McVeigh edged Donegal in front with a 29th-minute goal, but Fallon netted a free to give the Rossies a 2-10 to 1-10 interval lead.
Down was one of the big games, we've never beat them before.
The one disappointment for [captain Sean] McVeigh and his Donegal teammates is that they will not progress back up to Christy Ring Cup level despite their Championship win last Sunday. He admits there was still some confusion on the matter even right up until late last week. That ambiguity was finally clarified, albeit late in the day.
Ray Durack hurled in the trenches for Burt in his time. He was appointed as the manager of the Donegal senior hurlers two years ago last month. He hails from Portumna, the hurling country of the Cannings in Galway. Andrew Wallace stepped aside after leading Donegal to the Lory Meagher title in 2011.
McCann is now in his fifth season with Donegal, and his trusted trainer Gabriel O'Kane, who hails from Ballinascreen in Derry, is back on board. Sean MacCumhaill's clubman Jamesie Donnelly was involved in the management team last year but has now decided to step away. Donnelly hasn't been replaced… [McCann]: 'But we have got a good backroom team there with the likes of Martin McGrath and Anthony Coyle helping out'.
The team's player-manager, Darren McDermott, who is also a Burt man, last night described the timing of the county board's decision as 'beyond belief'.
The former Donegal senior hurling manager passed away peacefully on Tuesday the 7th of June, surrounded by his family… Eamon held the role of manager of the senior Donegal hurling team from 2006 until 2009, when he guided them to their first Nicky Rackard Final in 2006.
According to manager Ray Durack, the squad has put in a huge effort so far this year in a bid to make up for last year's shortcomings.
The Burt clubman and former Donegal player, who retired in 2012, took over from Ray Durack in late 2015.
Danny Cullen (Setanta) and Pádraig Doherty (Burt) make up two-thirds of the half-forward line in the 'Champions 15' selection.
