Ciaran Bonner is an Irish former

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

er who played for Glenswilly and the Donegal county team.

Playing career

Club

Bonner was part of the Glenswilly team that won its first Donegal Senior Football Championship in

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, with a 1–8 to 0–9 victory over St Michael's. He played in the 2007 final which Glenswilly lost. He later moved to the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

club

Tír Chonaill Gaels Tír Chonaill Gaels Gaelic Football Club are a Gaelic football club based in Greenford, London. The club was formed in London in 1962, making it one of the oldest clubs outside Ireland. The club is one of the most successful in the London GAA, ...

. He also played for

Donegal Boston Donegal Boston GFC is a Gaelic football club which was founded in 1988 in Boston, Massachusetts. Boston is the second largest division of the GAA on the North American continent, after New York. They train on Malibu Beach, Dorchester. Among ...

. He scored a goal in the final of the

2013 Donegal Senior Football Championship The 2013 Donegal Senior Football Championship was contested by senior Gaelic football clubs under the auspices of Donegal GAA. Brian McEniff managed Réalt na Mara in the competition, taking over from Joe Keeney after his resignation and fillin ...

following a deft flick of the heel from

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 o ...

. That was Bonner's second Donegal Senior Football Championship. Bonner's team progressed to the final of the Ulster Senior Club Football Championship, which they lost to Ballinderry. He won a third Donegal SFC in 2016, making a substitute appearance in the final. He had retired by 2020.

Inter-county

Bonner's Donegal debut came against St Mary's in the Dr McKenna Cup. He played in the 2006 Ulster Senior Football Championship Final at

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

. He played many more games in the

Ulster Senior Football Championship The Ulster Senior Football Championship is an inter-county competition for Gaelic football teams in the province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and begins in early May. The final is usu ...

as well, and made an appearance at the semi-final stage in 2007. That same year he was part of the Donegal team that won the

2007 Dr McKenna Cup The 2007 Dr McKenna Cup was a Gaelic football competition played under the auspices of Ulster GAA. Summary Tyrone were eventually declared the winning team at official level, though the victory was tarnished by their choice of tactics. The team ...

, as well as the 2007 National Football League, scoring 0–2 in the final at

. He was stretchered off the pitch in that game. Bonner voluntarily left Donegal "for good" following the team's penultimate match of the 2008 National Football League, against

Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

, a game in which he was substituted. However, he was then dropped by manager

John Joe Doherty John Joe Doherty (born 1968) is a former Irish Gaelic footballer and manager who played for Naomh Columba and the Donegal county team, later managing Donegal. Biography He won the 1987 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship with Donegal. ...

over a breach of discipline ahead of the

2009 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The 2009 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the inter-county Gaelic football tournament played between 31 counties of Ireland, London and New York. The draw for the 2009 championship took place on 9 October 2008. The tournament began on ...

qualifier game against

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...

, having been expected to start that game and having played in the previous game, an Ulster Senior Football Championship defeat to Antrim. Bonner played in the Connacht Senior Football Championship, making his debut for

against Leitrim in June 2012. According to Keith Duggan — writing in ''

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 ...

'' in 2013 — Bonner "was among the most conspicuously talented of the county set-up in the uncertain years before

Jim McGuinness Jim McGuinness (born 16 November 1972) is an association football coach and former Gaelic footballer, coach and Manager (Gaelic games), manager, who won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship as both player and manager with the Donegal ...

took over but was absent for the revolution".

Honours

;Donegal *

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

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* Dr McKenna Cup:

;Glenswilly * Donegal Senior Football Championship:

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2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

References

External links

Ciaran Bonner profile at gaainfo.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonner, Ciaran Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Donegal Boston Gaelic footballers Donegal inter-county Gaelic footballers Glenswilly Gaelic footballers Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United States London inter-county Gaelic footballers Tír Chonaill Gaels Gaelic footballers