Danny Cullen (born 1987/8) is a hurler. He plays for Setanta, the Donegal county team and the Ireland national team. He has won three

Nicky Rackard Cup The Nicky Rackard Cup (; often referred to as the Rackard Cup) is the fourth tier of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Each year, the champion team in the Nicky Rackard Cup is promoted to the Christy Ring Cup, and the lowest finishin ...

s and represented

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in the Shinty-Hurling International Series.

Playing career

Club and college

Cullen's grandfather, Danny Snr, was a founder of Setanta in 1979. He (the grandson) won a

Donegal Senior Hurling Championship 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. Setanta are the title holders (2022) defeating Burt in the ...

in 2017. Setanta followed this with an

Ulster Junior Club Hurling Championship The Ulster Junior Club Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition played between the best junior hurling clubs in the province of Ulster in Ireland. The series of games are organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and are played dur ...

, also in 2017. He won another Donegal SHC in 2019, scoring 0–1 in the final. Cullen has coached under-age teams for his club. He played for

NUI Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

Inter-county

Cullen made his debut for Donegal at the age of 16. He has also

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. He was part of a delegation to

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 ...

who staged a sit-in as part of their effort to free Donegal manager Eamonn Campbell from suspension for the 2009 Lory Meagher Cup final against Tyrone. Cullen won the 2013 Nicky Rackard Cup with Donegal, playing in the final against

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 ...

and scoring three points. He played for Donegal during the

2018 National Hurling League The 2018 National Hurling League was the 87th season of the National Hurling League for county teams. Wexford finished top of Division 1B in 2017 and were promoted to Division 1A for 2018. Galway finished second in Division 1B in 2017 and so mi ...

, when the county recorded their first competitive victories over

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 ...

and Down. He later cited the Down victory as important to him, since Down versus

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

in the

1997 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1997 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Guinness Hurling Championship 1997) was the 111th staging of Ireland's premier hurling competition. Clare won the championship, beating Tipperary 0-20 to ...

semi-final was the first hurling match he attended at Croke Park. Donegal also defeated

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 ...

in the closing game of that league campaign. They went on to win the 2018 Nicky Rackard Cup. Cullen featured in the 2016 Champions 15. He was also a Champions 15 nominee in 2019. He was named on the 2020 Champions 15 team and also received the Nicky Rackard Hurler of the Year following Donegal's earlier victory in the 2020 Nicky Rackard Cup Final. He scored three points in the final. By the end of 2022, Cullen had made 153 appearances for Donegal (more than any other panel member), with Seán McVeigh — who retired that year — in second place, ending on 129 appearances.

International

Cullen was selected to play for

against

in the

Shinty–Hurling International Series The Shinty–Hurling International Series is a sports competition played annually between the Ireland national hurling team (selected by the Gaelic Athletic Association) and Scotland national shinty team (selected by the Camanachd Association). T ...

played over two games at Croke Park in Dublin and

Bught Park Bught Park ( Gaelic: Pàirc nam Bochd ) is the largest park in the city of Inverness, Scotland, and is situated on the western bank of the River Ness. It is home to the Inverness Highland Games and a small scale outdoor music festival. It is ...

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

in 2013. He was also selected for the Inverness contest at Bught Park in 2018. Ireland lost. He captained the Ireland team for the

Abbotstown Abbotstown is a townland in the civil parish of Castleknock in Fingal, Ireland.Placenames Database of Ireland
- ...

contest in 2019, and was his county's only representative in that year's squad. Though he scored, Ireland lost.

Personal life

Cullen's sister, Ciara, is married to

Declan Coulter Declan Coulter (born 1987/8) is a hurler. He plays for Setanta, the Donegal county team and the Ireland national team. Coulter previously played for Cuchulainn's and the Armagh county team. Playing career Coulter made his inter-county deb ...

. He appeared in a short film on hurling made by a

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-owned company based in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and London. He had a

honeymoon A honeymoon is a vacation taken by newlyweds immediately after their wedding, to celebrate their marriage. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase ...

in 2022.

Honours

;Setanta *

: 2017 *

: 2017, 2019 ;Donegal *

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2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...

Division 3A:

;Individual * Donegal Hurler of the Year: 2013 * Champions 15: 2016, 2020 * Nicky Rackard Hurler of the Year: 2020

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cullen, Danny 1980s births Living people Donegal inter-county hurlers Hurling coaches Ireland international hurlers University of Galway hurlers Setanta hurlers