The following is a summary of

Donegal county football team The Donegal county football team ( ) represents Donegal in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Donegal GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the Al ...

's 2023 season.

Personnel changes

Neil McGee Neil McGee (born 13 November 1985) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for Gaoth Dobhair and, formerly, both the Donegal county team and the Ireland international rules football team. From Gweedore in County Donegal, he won three All St ...

retired from inter-county football at the end of the 2022 season with a record 195 appearances for the team, announcing his decision, shortly before his 37th birthday, in an exclusive interview given to Frank Craig and published in the ''

Donegal News The ''Donegal News'' (also known as ''Derry People/Donegal News'' and formerly ''Derry People'') is a twice-weekly local newspaper in the northwest of the island of Ireland, first published in 1902. Originally covering Derry, Northern Ireland, it ...

'' on 29 September 2022.

Paddy Carr Paddy Carr is a Gaelic football manager and former player. He was most recently manager of the Donegal county team. Early life A secondary school principal, he is originally from Fanad in County Donegal, played for the Donegal county team and ...

was announced as

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

on 24 October, succeeding

Declan Bonner Declan Bonner (born 11 August 1965) is an Irish Gaelic footballer and manager. He played at senior level for the Donegal county team, winning an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in 1992. He later managed the Donegal county team for tw ...

, with Aidan O'Rourke joining as head coach at the same time.

Michael Murphy Michael, Mick, or Mike Murphy may refer to: Artists and entertainers * Michael Murphy (actor) (born 1938), American actor * Mike Murphy (musician) (1946–2006), American drummer for the Bee Gees and Chicago * Michael Bryan Murphy, lead singer ...

, who had

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

ed his county since the 2011 season, announced his retirement from inter-county football on 16 November 2022. He released a statement via the county board. Murphy's retirement, at the age of 33, was unexpected. ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' stated: "For new manager Paddy Carr it is as bad a start as one can imagine, like picking up a

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

only to discover it comes without an engine or a steering wheel". Declan McIntyre succeeded James Gallagher as

goalkeeping coach A sports coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''coach'' is that of a horse-drawn carriage, deriving ultimately from the Hun ...

. In January 2023, it was announced that

Patrick McBrearty Patrick McBrearty (born 5 August 1993) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for Cill Chartha and the Donegal county team. He is usually selected in the full-forward line for his county, often flanking Michael Murphy with Colm McFadden (be ...

would succeed the retired michael Murphy as team Donegal team captain. After not playing until that point in the season due to injury,

Ryan McHugh Ryan McHugh (born 11 April 1994) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for Cill Chartha and the Donegal county team. He is the brother of Mark and the son of Martin. A former county minor, McHugh propelled himself onto the national stage ...

confirmed his departure from the panel in early April (ahead of the championship), due to a combination of injury and an employment offer that involved travelling abroad.

Squad

List of players

Competitions

Dr McKenna Cup

The McKenna Cup group draw took place on Tuesday night, 13 December 2022. Held at the Glenavon Hotel in

Cookstown Cookstown ( ga, An Chorr Chríochach, IPA: �anˠˈxoːɾˠɾˠˈçɾʲiːxəx is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the fourth largest town in the county and had a population of 11,599 in the 2011 census. It, along with Maghe ...

, the draw was seeded to prevent too many fixtures between teams in the same divisions of the National Football League (four of the nine teams were to play in Division 1, while four of the other five teams were to play in Division 3). In the first week of January 2023, Carr revealed his first starting line-up as manager. Kane Barrett, Domhnall Mac Giolla Bhride, Luke McGlynn, Johnny McGroddy, Jack McSharry, John Ross Molloy, Brian O'Donnell, Hugh O'Donnell and Joel Bradley Walsh all made their senior inter-county debuts against Down, while Gavin Mulreany was named as starting goalkeeper for the game against

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), barony. The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7 ...

, which also saw the first inclusions in the panel of such players as Philip Doherty (Naomh Columba), Kealan Dunleavy (Glenswilly) and Kieran Tobin (St Eunan's).

Fixtures

National Football League Division 1

Donegal began with a home fixture against 2022 league and 2022 All-Ireland champions Kerry. Many players were missing, including Peadar Mogan (studying in Liverpool), Ethan O'Donnell (wanting to travel in 2023),

Oisín Gallen Oisín Gallen (born 1999/2000) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for Seán Mac Cumhaills and the Donegal county team. He plays as a forward. Playing career Club 2018 was when Gallen first played for his club in the senior championship. ...

and

Michael Langan Michael Langan (born Providence, RI 1984) is an American film director. He grew up in Montgomery, Alabama, where he began his artistic career as a professional stage actor, and is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design. Langan's films typical ...

(both injured), Ciarán Thompson (who had a new injury), and Shane O'Donnell (unspecified). Despite this, Donegal defeated Kerry, in a game when Caolan McColgan kicked three points on his debut and was named man-of-the-match. Hugh McFadden made his 101st appearance for Donegal against Monaghan in the 2023 National Football League, when he also captained the team; Eoghan Bán Gallagher,

and

started for the first time in 2023, replacing Jamie Grant, Johnny McGroddy and

, while Peadar Mogan and Rory O'Donnell were listed among the substitutes. League appearances by other new players included: Mark Curran and Johnny McGroddy started against Kerry. Luke McGlynn made a substitute appearance against Kerry. Mark Curran and Johnny McGroddy started against Tyrone. Jamie Grant, Joel Bradley Walsh and Brian O'Donnell made substitute appearances. Mark Curran started against Monaghan. Luke McGlynn, Rory O'Donnell and Johnny McGroddy made substitute appearances. Mark Curran started against Galway. Rory O'Donnell and Johnny McGroddy made substitute appearances. Mark Curran and C. O'Dowd started against Armagh. Rory O'Donnell made a substitute appearance. Mark Curran started against Mayo. Rory O'Donnell, Joel Bradley Walsh and Kane Barrett made substitute appearances. Mark Curran, John Ross Molloy and Johnny McGroddy started against Roscommon. Kieran Tobin, Kealan Dunleavy, Joel Bradley Walsh and Brian O'Donnell made substitute appearances.

Table

Fixtures

Ulster Senior Football Championship

The draw for the 2023 Ulster Championship was made on 15 October 2022.

Bracket

Fixtures

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

Jeaic Mac Ceallabhuí missed the 2023 championship games against Down and Clare because he was studying for exams. Goalkeeper Gavin Mulreany made his senior championship debut for Donegal as a substitute against Tyrone in the All-Ireland SFC preliminary quarter-final, as a result of Shaun Patton losing his discipline and being issued with a red card after he kicked a Tyrone player.

Format

16 teams were divided into 4 groups of 4 teams, and played a round robin to qualify for the knockout stages of the All-Ireland SFC. Group games took place between 20 May and 18 June 2023.

Seeding

Numbers in brackets indicate ranking in the 2023 NFL. Pot 1 * Colours of Galway

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in Count ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

Pot 2 *

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town * Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia **Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * Cou ...

Clare *

Sligo Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...

Pot 3 *

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...

Roscommon Roscommon (; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60, N61 and N63 roads. The name Roscommon is derived from Coman mac Faelchon who built ...

Tyrone *

Pot 4 *

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cen ...

Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

Group 4

=Table

=Fixtures

Knockout stage

=Fixtures

=Bracket

Awards

GAA.ie Football Team of the Week

* 31 January: Caolan McColgan (nominated for, and selected as, Footballer of the Week) * 27 February: Caolan McColgan * 22 May: Eoghan Bán Gallagher,

, Ciarán Thompson; Gallen nominated for Footballer of the Week * 4 June:

* 19 June: Shaun Patton, Brendan McCole; McCole nominated for Footballer of the Week

''Donegal News'' Sports Personality of the Month

: June

All Stars

Two nominations, for

and Brendan McCole

References

{{GAA 2023

Donegal county football team seasons