The 2023 Donegal Senior Football Championship was the 101st official edition of

Donegal GAA The Donegal County Board () 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 Donegal. The County Board is responsible for prepari ...

's premier

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

tournament for senior graded clubs in

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

. 16 teams competed, with the winner representing Donegal in the

Ulster Senior Club Football Championship The Ulster Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament organised by Ulster GAA. It is played between the Senior championship winners from each of the nine counties of Ulster. The competition was first held in 1968 an ...

. Naomh Conaill was defending champion after defeating St Eunan's in the 2022 final. Naomh Conaill again advanced to the 2023 final, where the club defeated

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

to retain the title. Cloich Cheann Fhaola's home defeat of Milford marked the first time in twelve years that the club had won a senior championship game. Two weeks after that, the club defeated Four Masters as well. The competition's top scorer was

Oisín Gallen Oisín Gallen (born 1999/2000) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for Seán Mac Cumhaills and the Donegal county team. He plays as a forward. Playing career Club 2018 was when Gallen first played for his club in the senior championship. ...

, with 1–56.

Team changes

The following teams changed division since the 2022 championship season.

To S.F.C.

Promoted from 2022 Donegal I.F.C. *

An Clochán Liath ''An Clochán Liath'', known in English as Dungloe (sometimes misspelled as Dunglow; ), is a town on the west coast of County Donegal in Ulster, the northern Provinces of Ireland, province in Ireland. It is the main town in The Rosses and the l ...

- (I.F.C. Champions)

From S.F.C.

Relegated to 2023 Donegal I.F.C. * Réalt na Mara

Quarter-finals

Controversially, there was no seeding used for the draw to determine the quarter-final pairings. This resulted in the clubs that had finished in the top four being drawn to play each other. Another issue was that two of the quarter-finals were played simultaneously, while the choice of neutral venues for this stage of the championship was also problematic, with certain clubs alleging that they had to travel further than their opponent to arrive at the venue. St Eunan's defeated Aodh Ruadh by 1–13 to 2–5 in Convoy, while Gaoth Dobhair defeated Ard an Rátha by 5–14 to 3–11 in

Falcarragh ''An Fál Carrach'' (anglicised as Falcarragh), sometimes called ('the Crossroads'), is a small ''Gaeltacht'' town and townland in the north-west of County Donegal, Ireland. The settlement is in the district and old parish of Cloughaneely. Ir ...

. Seán Mac Cumhaills had a surprise 1–17 to 1–14 victory against Glenswilly at

O'Donnell Park O' Donnell Park () is a GAA stadium in County Donegal, Ireland. The home ground of the St Eunan's club, it is situated between the Letterkenny Regional Sports and Leisure Complex and Ballymacool Park on the outskirts of the town. The Donegal c ...

(a game in which

scored 1–9 of his club's total), while Naomh Conaill defeated Cill Chartha by 4–7 to 0–8 at Eamonn Byrne Memorial Park.

Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals was held in

Killybegs Killybegs () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is the largest fishing port in the country and on the island of Ireland. It is located on the south coast of the county, north of Donegal Bay, near Donegal Town. Its Irish name means 'littl ...

on 1 October 2023, following the conclusion of the Naomh Conaill and Cill Chartha quarter-final at Eamonn Byrne Memorial Park. Naomh Conaill and St Eunan's were paired together in one semi-final, in what was a repeat of the 2022 final. The clubs had previously met in the Round 2 fixture held in

Glenties Glenties () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is situated where two glens meet, north-west of the Bluestack Mountains, near the confluence of two rivers. Glenties is the largest centre of population in the parish of Iniskeel. Glenties ha ...

, with that game ending level (0-9 for each). Naomh Conaill used 19 players in their semi-final, with 11 of those due to be at least 30 years old by the end of 2023. Gaoth Dobhair and Seán Mac Cumhaills were paired together in the other semi-final. The clubs had previously met in the Round 1 fixture held at Magheragallon, which Gaoth Dobhair won 1–16 to 0–11.

Final

Road to the final

;Naomh Conaill Round 1: Na Cealla Beaga 1–5 Naomh Conaill 3–12 Round 2: Naomh Conaill 0–9 St Eunan's 0–9 Round 3: Milford 0–8 Naomh Conaill 1–12 Round 4 Naomh Conaill 0–15 Glenswilly 2–5 Quarter-final: Naomh Conaill 4–7 Cill Chartha 0–9 Semi-final: Naomh Conaill 0–11 St Eunan's 0–9 ;Gaoth Dobhair Round 1: Gaoth Dobhair 1–16 Seán Mac Cumhaills 0–10 Round 2: Aodh Ruadh 2–8 Gaoth Dobhair 0–9 Round 3: Gaoth Dobhair 1–10 Cloich Cheann Fhaola 0–8 Round 4:

0–8 Gaoth Dobhair 0–9 Preliminary quarter-final:

1–6 Gaoth Dobhair 0–10 Quarter-final: Ard an Rátha 3–11 Gaoth Dobhair 5–14 Semi-final:

Pre-match

This was the first time the teams had met at this stage of the competition since the 2019 final, when three games were required to determine a winner. While the Naomh Conaill team was much the same, Gaoth Dobhair's team had changed much in that time. Ronan Mac Niallais was in his first year as manager of Gaoth Dobhair. Naomh Conaill entered the game as the favourites. Ahead of the game Marty Boyle, Stephen McGrath, Anthony Thompson,

Leo McLoone Leo McLoone (born 1989) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for Naomh Conaill and also, formerly, the Donegal county team. A versatile player, often employed as a forward, he has been an important source of goals for club and county. McL ...

and Eoin Waide were recognised for each making a 100th club championship appearance. McGrath finished the seven games with four

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

Match details

Naomh Conaill, making a seventh consecutive appearance in the final, won a seventh title. If the two replays required to decide the 2019 title are counted, then the club was playing in its ninth final in seven years. With a half-time lead of seven points, Naomh Conaill had ten different players scoring in the game. It was the club's fourth title in five years, meaning that their only championship defeat since the 2018 final was against St Eunan's in the 2021 final.

Ulster Senior Club Football Championship

Naomh Conaill advanced to the 2023 Ulster Senior Club Football Championship. The club was drawn to play Gowna in the quarter-final. Naomh Conaill entered the match as favourite and duly delivered victory at

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 for ...

, with Gowna conceding a late free which resulted in a goal scored with nearly the last kick of the match.

Relegation

Milford lost the relegation battle after St Naul's won the final.

Gradam Shéamuis Mhic Géidigh

On 13 December 2023,

was named as the recipient of the annual Gradam Shéamuis Mhic Géidigh.

RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta (; "Radio of the Gaeltacht"), abbreviated RnaG, is an Irish language radio station owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). The station is available on FM in Ireland and via satellite and on the inter ...

announced the decision. The award was given to Gallen on the same evening.

References

{{Donegal Senior Football Champions 2023

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 know ...

Donegal SFC Donegal Senior Football Championship