The Donegal Intermediate Football Championship (abbreviated as Donegal IFC) is an annual

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

competition organised by

Donegal GAA The Donegal County Board ( ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Coiste Dhún na nGall) or Donegal GAA is one of 32 county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland, and is responsible for the administration of Gaelic games in County Don ...

An Clochán Liath ''An Clochán Liath'', known in English as Dungloe or Dunglow ( ), is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is the main town in The Rosses and the largest in the Donegal ''Gaeltacht''. Dungloe developed as a town in the middle of the 18th century ...

are the title holders (2022) defeating Naomh Columba in the Final.

History

The competition has been won by 27 clubs, 13 of which have won it more than once. Glenfin, Na Dúnaibh, Naomh Muire, Réalt na Mara, Cloich Cheann Fhaola and Termon are the most successful clubs, each winning three titles.

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 ...

was

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

of the 1989 winning team. He won 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 ...

with his county in 1990, followed by another in 1992 and the

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...

of 1992 as well. The most successful team to have emerged from the Donegal IFC in the 21st-century is Glenswilly. They went on to claim several SFC honours for the first time in club history (2011, 2013, 2016). Neil Gallagher, the future

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 ...

-winning captain and All Star of the 2012 and 2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, won the Donegal IFC in 2005. The 2006 final required two replays before Cloich Cheann Fhaola defeated Gaeil Fhánada. Initially a straight knock-out competition, a round-robin group stage was introduced in 2013. Men to have won this competition and to have played at senior level for their county include Paddy McConigley (2009), Michael Boyle (2012),

Kevin Mulhern Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicized from , an ...

(2014),

Jamie Jamie is a unisex name. It is a diminutive form of James or, more rarely, other names. It is also given as a name in its own right. People Female * Jamie Anne Allman (born 1977), American actress * Jamie Babbit (born 1970), American film and te ...

and Paul Brennan (2015), Frank McGlynn (2018), Stephen Griffin (2019) and

Peter Boyle Peter Lawrence Boyle (October 18, 1935 – December 12, 2006) was an American actor. Known as a character actor, he played Frank Barone on the CBS sitcom ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' and the comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof ''Young Fra ...

(2020). Others to have played in this competition and played at senior level for their county include Michael Lynch,

Niall McCready Niall McCready is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for Aodh Ruadh and the Donegal county team. He won an Ulster Under-21 Football Championship medal with Donegal in 1995. He started the first game of Brian McEniff's last spell a ...

and Brian Roper.

Honours

The winning club receives the Cathal McLaughlin Memorial Cup. The winning club is promoted to the

Donegal Senior Football Championship The Donegal Senior Football Championship (abbreviated as Donegal SFC) is an annual football competition organised by Donegal GAA and contested by the highest-level clubs, to determine the best team in County Donegal. Since 2016, it has been known ...

for the following season. The Donegal IFC winner qualifies for the Ulster Intermediate Club Football Championship. It is the only team from County Donegal to qualify for this competition. The Donegal IFC winner may enter the Ulster Intermediate Club Football Championship at either the preliminary round or the quarter-final stage. The Donegal IFC winner — by winning the Ulster Intermediate Club Football Championship — may qualify for the All-Ireland Intermediate Club Football Championship, at which it would enter at the semi-final stage, providing it hasn't been drawn to face the British champions in the quarter-finals. The last team from County Donegal to do this was St Michael's in 2004 who went on to reach the final, losing out to Ilen Rovers of Cork.

Winners and finalists

Results by team

Finals listed by year

References

Explanatory notes

External links

Official website
of

{{Donegal GAA, state=expanded Donegal GAA club championships Intermediate Gaelic football county championships