Rory Kavanagh ( ga, Ruairí Ó Caomhánach; born 23 August 1982) is an Irish

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 ...

manager and former player with St Eunan's and the Donegal county team. He currently manages the St Eunan's club. Alongside Colm McFadden and Christy Toye, he would have been considered one of the experienced members of the Donegal senior football panel in his final days. Kavanagh's haul of Ulster Senior Football Championships was a joint county team record (alongside such past players as Anthony Molloy, Martin McHugh,

Joyce McMullan Joyce McMullan is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for Four Masters and the Donegal county team. He was a member of the team that won Donegal's first All-Ireland title in 1992, and was selected as an All Star in 1990. Born in Co ...

and

Donal Reid Donal Reid ( ; born 1961 or 1962) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for Bundoran, Red Hughs and the Donegal county team. He played more than 100 times competitively for Donegal, appearing at all age levels and positions from midf ...

) for four years until Patrick McBrearty, Neil McGee, Paddy McGrath, Leo McLoone, Frank McGlynn, Michael Murphy and Anthony Thompson surpassed it in

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Early life

Kavanagh is from Letterkenny. His father Charlie also played Gaelic football. Kavanagh attended Scoil Colmcille and St Eunan's College in Letterkenny. He played in the St Eunan's College team that won the

McLarnon Cup McLarnon is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Gerard McLarnon (1915–1997), Irish playwright and actor *Julie McLarnon (born 1971), British recording engineer and record producer *Mike McLarnon Mike McLarnon is a Canadian fo ...

for a third time in 2000, their first win since 1979.

Playing career

Club

Kavanagh won six Donegal Senior Football Championships with the St Eunan's club. He made his senior debut in 2000 when he was 18 years of age. He made a substitute appearance for the club in the 2020 Donegal Senior Football Championship semi-final loss to Naomh Conaill and was substituted himself before the end. He also played for Donegal Boston.

Inter-county

Mickey Moran first called up Kavanagh for the Donegal senior panel in 2001. 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 ...

in the 2004 Ulster 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 came on as a substitute for the injured Christy Toye. Against the same opponents at the same venue he played in the 2006 Ulster final, scoring 0–1. Having spent much of the campaign on the bench, he came on as a substitute in the 2007 NFL Final against Mayo, scoring 0–1. On 19 December 2008, he was named

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 ...

for the 2009 season. Kavanagh went travelling abroad and only returned over Easter in 2010 but was sprung from the bench directly into the 2010 National Football League game against

at O'Donnell Park shortly afterwards, having been sent off in his first game back for St Eunan's. He made his 100th appearance for his county in the

2012 Ulster Senior Football Championship The 2012 Ulster Senior Football Championship was the 124th installment of the annual Ulster Senior Football Championship held under the auspices of the Ulster GAA. It was won by Donegal who defeated Down in the final to retain the title they won ...

preliminary round match 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 ...

and captained the team in the absence of the injured Michael Murphy. Again against Mayo, this time under the management of Jim McGuinness, Kavanagh started at midfield in the

2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final The 2012 All-Ireland Football Final, the 125th event of its kind and the culmination of the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, was played at Croke Park, Dublin, on 23 September 2012. Donegal and Mayo, widely considered "one of the mos ...

. Speaking to

BBC Radio Foyle BBC Radio Foyle ( ga, BBC Raidió Feabhail) is a BBC Northern Ireland local radio station, serving County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. It is named after the River Foyle which flows through Derry, the city where the station is based. T ...

from his team hotel in Dublin the following morning, he was still hoarse himself and described the win as "surreal". He was nominated to be an All Star in 2012, but missed out due to bad luck, according to many experts. He won consecutive Ulster Senior Football Championships in

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and

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. Against

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 ...

in the 2011 Ulster SFC final, he was injured late in the first half and was replaced by

Martin McElhinney Martin McElhinney (born 10 August 1988) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for St Michael's and also, formerly, for the Donegal county team (between 2007 and 2019). Among other accolades, he has one All-Ireland Senior Football Championsh ...

. He won his third and final Ulster SFC in 2014, appearing as a substitute for Christy Toye in the final against Monaghan. Kavanagh decided to retire from the county set up at the end of 2014. In 2016, he unretired himself and returned to the Donegal panel. In January 2017, Kavanagh finally retired from the inter-county game. It later emerged that much of this apparent indecisiveness was influenced by Rory Gallagher (McGuinness's assistant and, later, Donegal manager), who would lay in wait at Kavanagh's house and approach him as he returned home from school in efforts to attract him (both Rorys also bear a passing resemblance to each other).

Training regime

Until Jim McGuinness took over as team manager, Kavanagh was a frail and delicate sort of figure. McGuinness requested that he eat eight meals each day. McGuinness requested his consumption be in the form of an early breakfast, followed by lunch at 10.30, more food at 12:30, followed by more food at 3.00, more food at 6.00 and more food at 9.00. McGuinness also expected Kavanagh to eat half a tub of ice-cream if the player was not in satisfactory condition.

Media career

Kavanagh is a pundit on eir Sport. He has also appeared on '' The Sunday Game'' on RTÉ.

Management career

Kavanagh managed Donegal to the 2018 Buncrana Cup. In December 2019, Kavanagh was unveiled as manager of the Donegal Under-15 Academy Squad. In November 2020, Kavanagh was appointed manager of the St Eunan's senior team. He led the club to a first Donegal SFC in seven years in his first season as manager, defeating favourites Naomh Conaill in the final.

Personal life

Kavanagh is a married man. He mentioned his wife on BBC Radio after winning the Sam Maguire Cup, explaining that the noise in the background was the sound of her snoring. He teaches at his old primary school in Letterkenny.

Honours

Player

;Donegal * All-Ireland Senior Football Championship:

* Ulster Senior Football Championship:

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* National Football League:

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National Football League, Division 2 National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

* Dr McKenna Cup:

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;St Eunan's * Donegal Senior Football Championship: 2001, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014 ;Donegal Boston * North-East Men's Senior Football Championship: 2015 ;Ulster *

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship ( ga, An Corn Idir-Chúigeach) or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster ...

: 2012 ;Individual * All Star nomination: 2012

Manager

;St Eunan's * Donegal Senior Football Championship:

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References

External links

Official profile

Rory Kavanagh
at gaainfo.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Kavanagh, Rory 1982 births Living people Donegal Boston Gaelic footballers Donegal inter-county Gaelic footballers Gaelic football managers Gaelic games writers and broadcasters Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Irish schoolteachers People educated at St Eunan's College People from Letterkenny St Eunan's Gaelic footballers Winners of one All-Ireland medal (Gaelic football)