Paul Callaghan (Gaelic footballer)

Paul Callaghan

Personal information
Sport	Gaelic football
Position	Goalkeeper
Born	(1971-08-02) 2 August 1971 (age 51) [1] Burt, Ireland
Height	6 ft 2 [1]  in (1.88 m)
Occupation	Telecom Éireann employee (1992) [2] Full-time Ulster GAA coach [3]
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County
1991–1998	Donegal
Inter-county titles
All-Irelands	1
Association football career Position(s) Goalkeeper Youth career Grianan Celtic Senior career* Years Team Apps (Gls) Finn Harps (0) Derry City (0) Ballymena United (0) -1998 Omagh Town F.C. (0) *Club domestic league appearances and goals

Paul Callaghan (born 2 August 1971) is an Irish Gaelic football coach and former goalkeeper for the Donegal county team. First called into the senior county team in 1991, he was reserve goalkeeper when the team won the Sam Maguire Cup the following year by defeating Dublin in the final.

Callaghan's appearances for his county were limited by the form of Gary Walsh and he did not make his championship debut until after Walsh's retirement in 1996. Callaghan then injured himself during a game two years later and lost his position in the team to Tony Blake.

Biography

Callaghan is a native of Burt. ^[3] He was the youngest of three sons (following Martin and Dessie) born to Seamus and Delia Callaghan on 2 August 1971. ^{[1] [2]} His childhood hero was Packie Bonner. ^[1]

His club, also named Burt, amalgamated with several other Inishowen clubs (Buncrana, Cardonagh, Malin, Naomh Mura and Urris) to compete in the Donegal Senior Football Championship. ^[1] Due to the weakness of the sport in this area, Callaghan would not have been expected to make it as a county player. ^{[1] [2]}

Callaghan was the county under-21 goalkeeper when he was first called into the senior panel at the age of 19 in 1991. ^[2] Tyrone knocked the team out of the Ulster Under-21 Football Championship at the semi-final stage, by one point and two points, on their way to winning two All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championships. ^[2]

Callaghan played for an Inishowen team against a Donegal team to mark the opening of new facilities at Urris in 1991 when county senior manager Brian McEniff noticed him. ^[2] He made his senior county debut against Monaghan, starting the game in the 1992 Dr McKenna Cup. ^[1] He served as the understudy of Gary Walsh during Donegal's successful 1992 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship team. ^[3] One of the youngest members of that panel (along with Mark Crossan and Jim McGuinness, with Noel Hegarty and Tony Boyle being slightly older than the three), ^[2] Callaghan was the only panel member from the large northern neglected Inishowen peninsula. ^[1] He brought the Sam Maguire Cup home to a crowded community hall in Burt on the Friday night after the final. ^[1] He started his second game for his county against Kerry in a challenge match held in London in 1992. ^[1]

Following the retirement of Walsh the previous year, Callaghan made his championship debut against Antrim in 1997. ^[3] His championship career was restricted to three appearances; Tony Blake replaced him when Callaghan sustained a groin injury in his final championship match, a 1–11 to 0–11 win against Antrim in 1998. ^[4] Despite being kept on the bench by Walsh for so many years, as of 2012, Callaghan and Walsh were close and had kept in contact with each other. ^[2]

Callaghan also played association football for Grianan Celtic and advanced as far as the All-Ireland Senior Schools Soccer final with Scoil Mhuire in Buncrana when he was 17 years of age. ^{[1] [2]} Leeds United and Bradford City, which were professional association football clubs in England, expressed interest and invited him for trials but he did not attend them after receiving advice to become a goalkeeper in Ireland's soccer leagues. ^{[1] [2]} He maintained his involvement with association football as a means of improving his Gaelic football standards. ^[2] He became first choice goalkeeper for Finn Harps and reserve goalkeeper for Derry City. ^[1] He also played for Ballymena United and Omagh Town, first choice at the latter club around the time of the 1998 Omagh bombing, which led to him playing in prominent fundraising fixtures against English top-level professional clubs Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United in the year after. ^[2]

After retiring, Callaghan became a full-time coach, co-ordinating Gaelic games for the disabled across the province of Ulster. ^{[3] [5]} In 2015, he won the GAA Disability Coach of the Year Award. ^[5] He has also been goalkeeping coach under county managers Brians McEniff and McIver in the 2000s, training such players as Paul Durcan. ^{[6] [7]} He has coached underage teams at his club and served as club secretary. ^[2]

He is married to Karen ( née McSheffrey), a Carndonagh native, with whom he has two children. ^[2]

References

1. "Paul Callaghan". Hogan Stand . Vol. 2, no. 80. 6 November 1992.
2. "Callaghan was worthy understudy". 27 July 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012. At the opening of the new pitch facilities in Urris in '91, Paul played in goal for an Inishowen select against Donegal. His performance caught the eye of Brian McEniff who was on the look-out at the time for a No. 2 to Gary Walsh… Danny Gallagher of Dungloe and Michael Kelly from Four Masters had been previously squad members. Now McEniff was offering the chance to an Inishowen man.
3. Foley, Alan (8 January 2009). "The heroes of '92 - Where are they now?". Donegal Democrat . Archived from the original on 18 December 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
4. Foley, Alan (9 June 2016). "How many Donegal keepers have played championship since 1956?" . Retrieved 9 June 2016.
5. Maguire, Stephen (14 December 2015). "Former Donegal GAA star wins national award" . Retrieved 14 December 2015.
6. Duggan, Keith (31 May 2008). "Lot riding for two sides tired of deceiving". The Irish Times . Retrieved 31 May 2008. On the sideline tomorrow, standing on the edge of the pitch, will be a blond-haired man who preserves the connection between the All-Ireland winning squad of 1992 and the current group. Paul Callaghan was understudy to goalkeeper Gary Walsh in the shining year and has served as goalkeeping coach under McEniff and McIver.
7. Duggan, Keith (16 September 2014). "Paul Durcan plays key role in Donegal succes: Keeper's restarts and shot stopping have drawn comparison with role revolutionary Stephen Cluxton". The Irish Times . Retrieved 16 September 2014. He has trained under 1992 All-Ireland winner Gary Walsh and his reserve, Paul Callaghan, and Pat Shovelin has been goalkeeping coach since Jim McGuinness took charge.

Sporting positions
Preceded by Gary Walsh	Donegal Number One Goalkeeper 1997–1998	Succeeded by Tony Blake