Michael Donnellan (born 28 February 1977) 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 at senior level for the
Galway county team. He is the son of former politician and footballer,
John Donnellan
John F. Donnellan (born 27 March 1937) is an Irish former politician and sportsman. He served as a Fine Gael Teachta Dála (TD) for twenty-five years and as a Minister of State from 1982 to 1987. He played Gaelic football for his local club Du ...
and grandson of politician and footballer
Michael Donnellan. All of them
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 the Galway football team in their careers.
Playing career
Donnellan first came to prominence as a member of the talented
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
Tuam ( ; ga, Tuaim , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. Humans have lived in the area since the Bron ...
team of the early nineties. He played a crucial role in their
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 season of 1994, alongside future Galway team-mates
Declan Meehan, Tomás Meehan,
John Divilly, Tommy Joyce 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 ...
. They reached the Connacht final the following year but lost out to their biggest rivals,
St. Patrick's College, Tuam. He would later once more star alongside Joyce with the
Tralee IT team that won the 1998
Sigerson Cup
The Sigerson Cup is the trophy for the premier Gaelic football championship among Higher Education institutions (Universities, Colleges and Institutes of Technology) in Ireland. It traditionally begins in mid January and ends in late February. ...
.
In 1998, Donnellan won his first All-Ireland medal, as part of the
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 ...
side that won 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 ...
in 1998. During the first half of the final against
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 ...
, Donnellan picked up the ball inside the heart of his own defence and proceeded to go on an amazing run, soloing the length of the field while exchanging a one-two with Kevin Walsh in the midfield. As he approached the Kildare goal, he laid the ball off to Derek Savage who passed to Sean Óg De Paor. De Paor slotted the ball over the bar. The score re-invigorated the Galway team, who were losing at the time. Donnellan's overall performance inspired Galway to their first football title in 32 years and completed a unique hat-trick of senior All-Ireland medals for his family, as he followed in the footsteps of his father John (1966) and his grandfather Mick (1925). The final score was 1–14 to 1–10. That solo run was later voted No.1 in the ''
Top 20 GAA Moments'', in 2003. He was named
Texaco Footballer of the Year
The Texaco Footballer of the Year was a Gaelic football award, created in 1958, that honoured the achievements of a footballer of outstanding excellence. The award was part of the Texaco Sportstars Awards, in which Irish sportspeople from all f ...
that year.
After reaching another final in 2000, losing out to Kerry after a replay, Donnellan & Galway returned to win 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 ...
. After losing to
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 ...
in the Connacht semi-final, Galway entered the newly introduced back-door qualifiers and defeated
Wicklow
Wicklow ( ; ga, Cill Mhantáin , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; non, Víkingaló) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. It is located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island. According to the 2016 census, it has ...
,
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 ...
and
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 ...
to reach the quarter-finals. They gained revenge over Roscommon with 0–14 to 1–05 victory to reach the semi-finals, where they defeated
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 ...
by 3 points. In
the final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
, they outclassed a
Meath team by 0–17 to 0–08.
Donnellan went on to win an
All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship
The All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament which began in season 1970–71. It is the top-tier competition for the senior football clubs of Ireland and London.
The current champions are Kilcoo of ...
with his adopted club
Salthill-Knocknacarra
Salthill-Knocknacarra () is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in the Salthill and Knocknacarra areas in Galway City, Ireland. The club is a member of the Galway GAA. Salthill-Knocknacarra GAA Club caters for huge numbers of young boys a ...
in 2005. He gave a man of the match performance in the final where Salthill narrowly edged out
Antrim club St Gall's.
After being hampered by injury in recent years, Donnellan pulled the curtain down on a career at the end of the 2006 season, a career during which he won nearly ever honour in the game.
In May 2020, the ''
Irish Independent
The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis.
The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines.
Traditionally a broadsheet new ...
'' named Donnellan as one of the "dozens of brilliant players" who narrowly missed selection for its "Top 20 footballers in Ireland over the past 50 years".
League of Ireland
In December 1999, Donnellan signed for
Don O'Riordan
Donald Joseph O'Riordan (born 14 May 1957) is an Irish football coach and former professional player, who is the manager of Women's National League club Treaty United. O'Riordan notably played for Middlesbrough, Grimsby Town and Notts County ...
at
Galway United
Galway United Football Club (Irish language, Irish: ''Cumann Peile Ghaillimh Aontaithe'') is an List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Galway. They play in the League of Ireland Fi ...
for the rest of the
1999-2000 League of Ireland season.
References
External links
Donnellan Retires
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donnellan, Michael
1977 births
Living people
All Stars Awards winners (football)
All Stars Young Footballers of the Year
Association footballers not categorized by position
Michael
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name "Michael"
* Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...
Dunmore McHales Gaelic footballers
Gaelic footballers who switched code
Galway inter-county Gaelic footballers
Galway United F.C. (1937–2011) players
Irish international rules football players
League of Ireland players
People educated at St Jarlath's College
Salthill-Knocknacarra Gaelic footballers
Texaco Footballers of the Year
Winners of two All-Ireland medals (Gaelic football)
Association football players not categorized by nationality