St Joseph's Gaelic Football Club was a

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 ...

club in

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

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 ...

History

The club was formed in 1963 from the merger of Aodh Ruadh, based in

Ballyshannon Ballyshannon () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is located at the southern end of the county where the N3 from Dublin ends and the N15 crosses the River Erne. Incorporated in 1613, it is one of the oldest towns in Ireland. Location B ...

, and Réalt na Mara, based in

Bundoran Bundoran () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. The town is located near the N15 road near Ballyshannon, and is the most southerly town in Donegal. The town is a tourist seaside resort, and tourism has been at the heart of the local economy s ...

. Brian McEniff explained in 2013 that St Joseph's was formed when the clubs in the two towns "were doing rather poorly. In spite of the great rivalry, they came together. The bonding factor was the De La Salle College in the upper part of our parish. The

De La Salle Brothers french: Frères des Écoles Chrétiennes , image = Signum Fidei.jpg , image_size = 175px , caption = , abbreviation = FSC , nickname = Lasallians , named_after = , formation ...

ran a very good school. There were no more than 200 boys but they could play well above their lot. It was a great GAA school. All of the boys — except myself, I went to a boarding school in Monaghan — were from De La Salle. It was a natural transition". St Joseph's won an unofficial

Ulster Senior Club Football Championship The Ulster Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition played between the top clubs in Ulster GAA. The trophy awarded to the winners is the Seamus McFerran Cup ( ga, Corn Shéamuis Mhic Fearáin). The winners and th ...

against St John's in

Irvinestown Irvinestown is a town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. In 2011 it had a population of 2,267 people. The most notable buildings are Necarne Castle, formerly known as Castle Irvine, and Castle Archdale. Irvinestown is situated within Ferman ...

in 1966, reached the first official final in 1968 and won the official tournament in 1975; they remained the only Donegal club to do so until 2018 when

Gaoth Dobhair Gweedore ( ; officially known by its Irish language name, ) is an Irish-speaking district and parish located on the Atlantic coast of County Donegal in the north-west of Ireland. Gweedore stretches some from Glasserchoo in the north to Crolly ...

won Ulster. The clubs separated in 1977.

Notable players

* Séamus Grenadian * Alan Kane * Brian McEniff — county manager * Danny McHugh * Mickey McLoone *

Pauric McShea Pauric McShea is an Irish Gaelic football pundit and former player for Aodh Ruadh and the Donegal county team. He works as a match analyst for Ocean FM. He also writes a weekly column, "McShea's Say", for the ''Donegal Post''. He played at ...

Honours

: 1975 *

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 ...

: 1965, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 * Donegal Senior Football League: 4 * Gold Flake Cup: 1

References

Former Gaelic Athletic Association clubs in County Donegal Gaelic football clubs in County Donegal {{Ulster-GAA-club-stub