Danny Cullen (born 1987/8) is a hurler. He plays for Setanta, the Donegal county team and the Ireland national team. He has won three

Nicky Rackard Cup The Nicky Rackard Cup (; often referred to as the Rackard Cup) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The cup forms the fourth-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Champi ...

s and represented (and captained)

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in the Shinty-Hurling International Series.

Playing career

Club

Cullen's grandfather, Danny Snr, was a founder of Setanta in 1979. He (the grandson) won a

Donegal Senior Hurling Championship The Donegal Senior Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition contested by top-tier Donegal GAA clubs. The County Final is usually played at O'Donnell Park in Letterkenny. Burt GAA, Burt are the title holders, defeating Setanta Hurli ...

in 2017. Setanta followed this with an Ulster Junior Club Hurling Championship, also in 2017. He won another Donegal SHC in 2019, scoring 0–1 in the final. He played on the Setanta team that won the 2022 Ulster Junior Club Hurling Championship. He played on the Setanta team that won the 2023 Ulster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship, thus becoming the first team from Donegal to win the competition, and scored 0–1 in the final. Cullen has coached under-age teams for his club.

College

He played for

NUI Galway The University of Galway () is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Galway" (UCG) () from 1908 to 1997 and as ...

Inter-county

Cullen made his debut for Donegal at the age of 16. He has also

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

ed his county. He was part of a delegation to

Croke Park Croke Park (, ) 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 headquarters of the Gaelic At ...

who staged a sit-in as part of their effort to free Donegal manager Eamonn Campbell from suspension for the 2009 Lory Meagher Cup final against Tyrone. Cullen won the 2013 Nicky Rackard Cup with Donegal, playing in the final against

Roscommon Roscommon (; ; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60 road (Ireland), N60, N61 road (Ireland), N61 and N63 road (Irelan ...

and scoring three points. He played for Donegal during the

2018 National Hurling League The 2018 National Hurling League was the 87th season of the National Hurling League for county teams. Wexford finished top of Division 1B in 2017 and were promoted to Division 1A for 2018. Galway finished second in Division 1B in 2017 and so mis ...

, when the county recorded their first competitive victories over

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

and Down. He later cited the Down victory as important to him, since Down versus Tipperary in the

1997 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1997 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Guinness Hurling Championship 1997) was the 111th staging of Ireland's premier hurling competition. Clare GAA, Clare won the championship, beating Tipperar ...

semi-final was the first hurling match he attended at Croke Park. Donegal also defeated

Armagh Armagh ( ; , , " Macha's height") is a city and the county town of County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Primates of All ...

in the closing game of that league campaign. They went on to win the

2018 Nicky Rackard Cup The 2018 Nicky Rackard Cup was the 14th staging of the Nicky Rackard Cup hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2005. It was the fourth tier of senior inter-county hurling as of 2018. The competition b ...

. Cullen featured in the 2016 Champions 15. He was also a Champions 15 nominee in 2019. He was named on the 2020 Champions 15 team and also received the Nicky Rackard Hurler of the Year following Donegal's earlier victory in the 2020 Nicky Rackard Cup Final. He scored three points in the final. By the end of 2022, Cullen had made 153 appearances for Donegal (more than any other panel member), with

Seán McVeigh Seán McVeigh (born 1990/91) is a dual player. He plays Gaelic football for St Eunan's, as well as, formerly, hurling for the Donegal county team. McVeigh is from Letterkenny. He made his inter-county debut at the age of 16, away to Longford ...

— who retired that year — in second place, ending on 129 appearances. Cullen was named on the 2023 Champion 15 Team of the Year.

International

Cullen was selected to play for

against

in the

Shinty–Hurling International Series The Shinty/Hurling International is a sports competition played annually between the Ireland national hurling team (selected by the Gaelic Athletic Association) and Scotland national shinty team (selected by the Camanachd Association). The seri ...

played over two games at Croke Park in Dublin and

Bught Park Bught Park (Gaelic: Pàirc nam Bochd ) is the largest park in the city of Inverness, Scotland, and is situated on the western bank of the River Ness. It is home to the Inverness Highland Games and a small scale outdoor music festival. It is l ...

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

in 2013. He was also selected for the Inverness contest at Bught Park in 2018. Ireland lost. He captained the Ireland team for the

Abbotstown Abbotstown () is a townland in the civil parish of Castleknock in Fingal, Ireland. It is also the name of an historical demesne and country estate that is close to Blanchardstown. Historically the estate belonged to a number of aristocratic famil ...

contest in 2019, and was his county's only representative in that year's squad. Though he scored, Ireland lost.

Personal life

Cullen's sister, Ciara, is married to Declan Coulter. He appeared in a short film on hurling made by a

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-owned company based in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and London. He had a

honeymoon A honeymoon is a vacation taken by newlyweds after their wedding to celebrate their marriage. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase in a couple ...

in 2022.

Honours

;Setanta *

Ulster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship The Ulster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Ulster GAA Hurling Intermediate Club Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Ulster GAA, Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Asso ...

: 2023 * Ulster Junior Club Hurling Championship: 2017, 2022 *

: 2017, 2019 ;Donegal *

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...

Division 3A:

;Individual *Donegal Hurler of the Year: 2013 *Champions 15: 2016, 2020, 2023 *Nicky Rackard Hurler of the Year: 2020

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cullen, Danny 1980s births Living people Donegal inter-county hurlers Hurling coaches Ireland international hurlers University of Galway hurlers Setanta hurlers 21st-century Irish sportsmen