John Haran (born 1976 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 St Eunan's and the Donegal county team. He definitely has 8 Donegal Senior Football Championships (though the first one is a matter of some dispute). He also has a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

of Donegal Senior, Senior "B" and Senior "C Championships, adding the C" in 2019. He became chairman of his club in late 2019, having served five years as vice-chairman.

Early life

The son of a Garda from

County Sligo County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in the county. Sligo County Council is the local ...

, Haran was born in and grew up in County Donegal. He learned his trade on the St Eunan's College fields, adjacent to the legendary Gaelic stronghold of Hawthorn Heights (Harans, Eamonn and Niall Doherty, Conal Gibbons, Barney McDermott, as well as Seamie Nallen, John Anderson, Karl Campbell and Packie Gibbons) and other members of the very successful Glencar Street League teams who, under the guidance of Seamus Haran and Martin Anderson, brought much success to this more affluent part of town. Glencar often inflicted large defeats on the likes of Termon, Glenswilly, Illistrin and the soccer lads from

Ballyraine Ballyraine ( ga, Baile Raithin) is a district of Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland, located in the parish of Aughaninshin. Ballyraine Linear Park is found here. Ballyraine National School, a co-educational primary school which is under joint ...

. Haran won underage titles at almost all levels with St Eunan's. He attended

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

St Jarlath's College St Jarlath's College () is a Catholic secondary school for young men in Tuam, County Galway. The college was founded in 1800 and in 2009 absorbed St. Patrick's College, Tuam. The College, which operates under patronage of the Archbishop of Tuam, ...

in Tuam,

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

, from 1989 to 1995. In doing so he followed his brother Eamon, as well as family friend

Leslie McGettigan Leslie McGettigan (born 1960?) is a Gaelic football manager and former player for St Eunan's and Donegal. McGettigan was born to footballer James "Gouldie" McGettigan and his wife Cora (''née'' Embleton). He was one of four daughters and sev ...

. While attending St Jarlath's, Haran played with future Galway footballers Michael Donnellan, John ('Scan') Colcannon, Declan and Tomás Meehan, Tommy and

Pádraic Joyce Pádraic Joyce (born 1 April 1977) is a Gaelic football manager and former player who played as a forward. He has been manager of the senior Galway county team since 2019. Joyce won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship twice with Galw ...

, as well as fellow Donegal men Kevin Winston and Alan McFadden. He cites Fr Oliver Hughes and Joe Long as his main influences. He was part of the 1994

Hogan Cup The Hogan Cup ( ga, Corn Uí Ógáin), also known as the All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Senior A Football Championship, is the top level Gaelic football championship for secondary schools (sometimes referred to as colleges) in Ireland. The com ...

-winning team. Having repeated his

Leaving Certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certifica ...

(in an effort to win a

on the field), Haran attended UL for a brief stint.

Playing career

Haran made his debut for St Eunan's in 1995. He won eight Donegal Senior Football Championships, the last of which came in 2014 (including the infamous 1997 championship which was won on the pitch then lost in the boardroom, but which Haran personally counts) before he retired from senior football in 2017. In spite of this "retirement", Haran was man of the match in the final of the

2014 Donegal Senior Football Championship The 2014 Donegal Senior Football Championship was contested by senior Gaelic football clubs under the auspices of Donegal GAA. The defending champions were Glenswilly. They were dethroned in the 2014 final. Format It was announced in 2013 that ...

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 ...

handed him his inter-county league debut in 1998. He made his championship debut against

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...

Breffni Park Breffni Park, known for sponsorship reasons as Kingspan Breffni, is a GAA stadium in Cavan, Ireland. It is the home of Cavan GAA. The ground has an overall capacity of about 25,030 with a 5,030 seated capacity. Breffni is the historic name f ...

on 12 May 2002. He started the first game of

Brian McEniff Brian McEniff (born 1 December 1942) is a former Gaelic football manager, administrator and player. McEniff played as a wing-back for the St Joseph's combination of clubs from Bundoran and Ballyshannon. He won seven Donegal Senior Football C ...

's last spell as Donegal manager, a league defeat to

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 ...

in Tuam in February 2003. He made a late substitute appearance for

John Gildea John Gildea (born 27 March 1971) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for Naomh Conaill and the Donegal county team. He is originally from Glenties. Playing career Gildea made his championship debut for Donegal as a substitute a ...

in the

2003 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The 2003 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 117th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter county, inter-county Gaelic football tournament. The championship began on 4 ...

semi-final against

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 ...

. Haran has been sent off in the past. He also played for St Mary's in the Sigerson Cup. He was one of those who made known his displeasure at

Vincent Hogan Vincent Hogan is an Irish sports journalist who writes for the ''Irish Independent''. As a ghost writer of autobiographies, he has written with sports personalities such as international soccer player Paul McGrath (''Back from the Brink'', the 2 ...

over Hogan's infamous "sheep" jibe against

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 ...

and his team in a national newspaper. He now plays on the reserve team for St Eunan's and in the Autumn of 2018 won his first Donegal Senior Reserve Championship medal, coming off the bench against Naomh Conaill to help steer the youthful Letterkenny side to victory.

Administrative career

Haran served as vice-chairman of his club for five years, before succeeding Cathal Green as chairman in late 2019.

Teaching career

Haran attended St Mary's Teacher Training College in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

in 2004–05. He got to know Michaela McAreavey well, along with her brother

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

, who were both attending at the same time. On 10 February 2020, Haran was appointed principal of St Bernadette's Special School on College Farm Road, Letterkenny.

Honours

Player

: 1994 * Donegal Senior Football Championship: 1999, 2001, 2007, 2008, 2009,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

* Donegal Senior "B" Football Championship: INSERT YEAR(S) HERE PLEASE * Donegal Senior "C" Football Championship: 2019

Individual

*Donegal Senior Football Championship Man of the Match: 2014

References

External links

John Haran
at gaainfo.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Haran, John 1970s births Living people Donegal inter-county Gaelic footballers Gaelic games club administrators Heads of schools in Ireland Irish schoolteachers People educated at St Jarlath's College St Eunan's Gaelic footballers