Darragh Canavan (born 2000) is a

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 ...

er who plays for Errigal Ciarán and the Tyrone county team. His father,

Peter Canavan Peter Canavan (born 9 April 1971) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer, manager and pundit. He played inter-county football for Tyrone, and is one of the most decorated players in the game's history, winning two All-Ireland Senior Football C ...

, is a former All-Ireland winning captain with Tyrone, and his brother Ruairí is also an inter-county footballer.

Playing career

University

In his studies at

Ulster University Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...

, Canavan established himself on their senior football team. Ulster faced UCD in the final of the

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. T ...

on 14 February 2024. Canavan was man-of-the-match, scoring five points from play as Ulster won the competition for the first time in sixteen years. Canavan was later named on the Sigerson Cup team of the year.

Club

On 30 September 2018, Canavan made his

Tyrone Senior Football Championship The Tyrone Senior Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the ''Connollys of Moy'' ''Tyrone Senior Football Championship'') is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by top-tier Tyrone GAA clubs. The Tyrone County Boar ...

debut, scoring a point from the bench in a loss to

Coalisland Coalisland () is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, with a population of 5,682 in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census. Four miles from Lough Neagh, it was formerly a centre for coal mining. History Origins In the late 1 ...

. Errigal Ciarán reached the county final in 2019, facing

Trillick Trillick () is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 2,439 people in the 2011 census. Trillick is in the civil parish of Kilskeery and the barony of Omagh East. It is located within both the Roman Catholic ...

on 13 October. Canavan didn't start the game through injury, coming on as a second-half sub. Trillick won the match by 0–12 to 2–4. It would be 2022 before Errigal Ciarán reached another county final, where they came up against

Carrickmore Carrickmore () is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the historic barony of Omagh East, the civil parish of Termonmaguirk and the Roman Catholic Parish of Termonmaguirc between Cookstown, Dungannon and O ...

on 30 October. Canavan scored three points in the 2–11 to 1–12 win. Canavan was named man of the match and also finished as the championship's top scorer. Errigal Ciarán reached the county final again in 2023, facing Trillick once again. Canavan scored two points, but Trillick were three-point winners after extra-time. The two sides met in the county final for the second year in a row in 2024, with Canavan captaining Errigal Ciarán. Canavan scored two points and lifted the cup after a 0–12 to 1–8 win. Errigal went on to reach the final of 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 ...

for the first time since 2002. In the final against Kilcoo, Canavan scored a point as Errigal Ciarán won the match by 1–8 to 0–10, and lifted the cup as captain.

Inter-county

Minor and under-20

On 11 June 2017, Canavan was at centre forward for the Ulster under-17 final against

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road (Ireland), N3 road that links Dublin ( ...

. Canavan scored two points as Tyrone were comfortable winners. On 27 August, Tyrone faced

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 ...

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 ...

in the All-Ireland final. Canavan finished with a personal tally of 1–3, as Tyrone were nine-point winners. On 14 July 2019, Canavan was at centre forward as the Tyrone under-20 team faced

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 ...

in the Ulster final. Tyrone were 4–13 to 1–10 winners, Canavan finishing with two points. On 28 July, Canavan scored 1–1 as Tyrone lost the All-Ireland semi-final by two points to

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

. Canavan was named in the top 20 players in the under-20 championship at the end of the season. Tyrone were back in the Ulster final in 2020, facing Donegal on 7 March. A goal from Canavan secured a 1–11 to 0–9 victory, and a second provincial title in a row. On 19 October, Canavan scored three points in the All-Ireland semi-final loss to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. At the end of the season, Canavan was once again named in the top 20 players of the championship.

Senior

Canavan joined the Tyrone senior squad in late 2018. Canavan made his senior debut on 20 December, scoring a point in a

Dr McKenna Cup The Dr McKenna Cup is an annual Gaelic football competition played between Counties of Ireland, counties and List of universities in Northern Ireland, universities in the province of Ulster GAA, Ulster. It is the secondary Gaelic football compe ...

win over Derry. On 25 October 2020, Canavan made his

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

debut, scoring 1–1 in a win over Mayo. Canavan made his championship debut on 1 November, scoring 1–1 in an Ulster quarter-final loss to Donegal. On 12 June 2021, Canavan suffered a serious ankle injury in a National League match against Kerry. Canavan did not feature for Tyrone until the Ulster final against

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), Monaghan barony. The population of the town as of the 2022 cen ...

on July 31. Canavan came on as a late substitute as Tyrone won their first provincial title in four years. On 28 August, Canavan was again used as a sub in the All-Ireland semi-final win over Kerry. On 11 September, Tyrone faced Mayo in the All-Ireland final. Canavan scored a point from the bench as Tyrone claimed their fourth All-Ireland crown. Canavan was nominated for the Young Footballer of the Year award at the end of the season. In the 2023 championship, Tyrone faced Monaghan in the Ulster quarter-final. Canavan top-scored for Tyrone with 1–5, but Monaghan won the match with a last-minute goal. In the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

of the All-Ireland, Canavan scored ten points against as Tyrone advanced to the preliminary quarter-final. In the preliminary quarter-final against Donegal, Canavan scored five points. Kerry ended Tyrone's season at the quarter-final stage. At the end of the season, Canavan received his first

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

nomination.

Honours

Tyrone *

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) () is the premier inter-county competition in Gaelic football. County (Gaelic games), County teams compete against each other and the winner is declared All-Ireland Champions. Organised by the ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Ulster Senior Football Championship The Ulster Senior Football Championship is an inter-county competition for Gaelic football teams in the Irish province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and begins in April. The final is ...

Ulster Under-20 Football Championship The Ulster GAA Football Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Ulster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest in ...

: 2019, 2020 * All-Ireland Under-17 Football Championship: 2017 * Ulster Under-17 Football Championship: 2017 Errigal Ciarán *

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

( c) *

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

( c) Ulster University *

: 2024 Individual * ''Eirgrid'' 20 Under-20 Award: 2019, 2020 * GAA Higher Education Rising Stars Football Team: 2024

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canavan, Darragh 2000 births Living people Tyrone inter-county Gaelic footballers Errigal Ciarán Gaelic footballers Winners of one All-Ireland medal (Gaelic football)