| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Irish name | Seán Mac Giolla Dé | ||
| Sport | Gaelic football | ||
| Position | Wing-forward/midfield | ||
| Born | 27 March 1971 [1] | ||
| Club(s) | |||
| Years | Club | ||
19??–200? 1997 2001 | Naomh Conaill Donegal New York Donegal Boston | ||
| Club titles | |||
| Donegal titles | 1 | ||
| Inter-county(ies) | |||
| Years | County | ||
199?–2004 | Donegal | ||
John Gildea (born 27 March 1971) [1] is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for Naomh Conaill and the Donegal county team.
Gildea made his championship debut for Donegal as a substitute against Down in 1995. [3] Pat Ward and Michael Gallagher were county footballers when Gildea was "coming through". [4] His early career was troubled; suffering a problem (which turned out to be a Vitamin B12 deficiency) that affected his ability to train, he made no further championship appearances while P. J. McGowan was manager of the county. [2] Gildea then played illegally under an assumed name for Donegal New York in 1997, the illegality due to him officially registering to play in Boston. [2] He was suspended for one year, reduced to six months on appeal. [2] Gildea credited McGowan's successor Declan Bonner for persisting with him through his difficulties. [2] Fourteen hours after the suspension had ended, Bonner started Gildea in the 1997–98 National Football League semi-final at Croke Park; Gildea scored two points but his team lost the game to Offaly. [2]
Gildea featured prominently for his county from 1998 onwards. [3] Having played as a wing-forward against Offaly and against Antrim in the 1998 Ulster Senior Football Championship quarter-final, Bonner moved Gildea into the midfield position where he would make his name when Martin Coll was sent off early on against Cavan in the Ulster semi-final. [2] Donegal won that game, with Gildea outmanoeuvring Dermot McCabe, but the county then lost the Ulster final to a late Joe Brolly goal. [3]
Gildea quit the panel in May 2001, shortly after Bonner's successor as manager, Mickey Moran, controversially substituted him during a championship loss to Fermanagh in Enniskillen; the decision was part of why selector Michael Houston also quit, while Gildea went to the United States to play for Donegal Boston. [5] [6] He vowed to retire after 2002, but carried on. [7] By 2003, Gildea was the most senior player in the county team. [8] He started the first game of Brian McEniff's last spell as Donegal manager, a league defeat to Galway in Tuam in February 2003, during which he scored a point. [9] That year he was an important player during a six-game championship run through the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship qualifiers. [7] He played in the 2003 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final against Armagh. [10] Gildea continued to play for his county until 2004. [3]
Gildea won a Donegal Senior Football Championship in 2005, his club's first, which came after a replay. [11]
Gildea first met Stephen Rochford, who went on to work with Bonner in his second spell as Donegal manager, during two visits to Australia from twenty years previously. [2]
Gildea is married to Sharon (née Rouse); they have two sons. [12] [1] He lives in Letterkenny. [1]
When I was coming through Pat Ward and Michael Gallagher were the men you looked to. For us to have a county footballer back then was a huge deal. Myself and Jim (McGuinness) were then part of it at the same time and it was a big thing.
After commiting[ sic ] himself to retirement last year, he's determined not to make the same mistake twice. 'I'll see how the body is after Christmas', said Gildea, the driving force behind Donegal's six-game qualifier odyssey.
In 2003, under McEniff, Fermanagh beat Donegal in the championship… [Kevin] Cassidy went along with the intention of having the dinner and slipping away… I rang John Gildea, he was the most senior player at the time.