Eamon McGee (born 26 April 1984) 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 ki ...

er who plays for Gaoth Dobhair and also, formerly, for the Donegal county team (between 2004 and 2016). He is the older brother of

Neil McGee Neil McGee (born 13 November 1985) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for Gaoth Dobhair and, formerly, both the Donegal county team and the Ireland international rules football team. From Gweedore in County Donegal, he won three All Sta ...

. From

Gweedore 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 ...

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 Tyrconn ...

, he won one

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...

, three

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

s and one

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

with his county and an Ulster title with his club. For a small time until

Patrick McBrearty Patrick McBrearty (born 5 August 1993) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for Cill Chartha and the Donegal county team. He is usually selected in the full-forward line for his county, often flanking Michael Murphy with Colm McFadden (be ...

, Neil McGee, Paddy McGrath, Leo McLoone, Frank McGlynn, Michael Murphy and Anthony Thompson surpassed it in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, McGee's haul of Ulster Senior Football Championships was a joint county team record (alongside such past players as Anthony Molloy, Martin McHugh, Joyce McMullan and Donal Reid).

Playing career

Club

The final of the 2002

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 ...

, featuring McGee and his club, was not played until 2003 due to a disagreement between two other clubs over Eddie Brennan. McGee has described the medal he received as "tainted". In 2006, his club were back in the final of the

. He played as his team won their 14th County Championship in one of the worst Donegal county finals ever. He was sent off in the final of the 2018

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 ...

Inter-county

McGee was first called up to the senior team by

Brian McEniff Brian McEniff (born 1 December 1942) is a former Gaelic football manager, administrator and player. McEniff played as a wing-back for the St Joseph's combination of clubs from Bundoran and Ballyshannon. He won seven Donegal Senior Football ...

for winter training in 2003. His early years in a Donegal shirt were marked by lapses of discipline—at one point Shane Carr left the panel when McGee moved ahead of him on the substitutes bench despite his lack of dedication. During the

2004 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The 2004 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2004 Bank of Ireland All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the premier Gaelic football competition in 2005. It consisted of 33 teams and began on Sunday ...

, he and Brian McLaughlin were suspended from the Donegal panel for a breach of discipline. The

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

reported that the pair had arrived for a "training session in an unfit condition" on two consecutive nights, one month after failing to turn up for one session at all. In 2006, he and Kevin Cassidy were suspended from the Donegal football panel over a breach of discipline. McGee later returned and played in the 2006 Ulster Senior Football Championship 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 h ...

, scoring one point. McGee was a member of the Donegal team that won the

in 2007, playing from the start to the end in the final against

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an A ...

. He spent some time in London and trained with their county team before returning to Donegal in 2010. He and his brother played 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 ...

against

. He had missed the start of 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 ...

with a

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrup ...

injury. He departed the inter-county scene in 2016. He thinks that the All Stars "mean very little" but admits his own total affects this thinking. Himself and Paddy Andrews agree on this.

Inter-provincial

McGee represented

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label=Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

in the Inter-Provincial Series.

Post-playing career

In November 2017, he became part of

Gary McDaid Gary McDaid is a Gaelic football manager, referee and former player. He has three DSFCs: twice as manager (2011, 2013) and once as coach to Michael Canning (2016). Club While overseeing Glenswilly, he has led that team to two Donegal Senior Fo ...

's backroom team when McDaid became the first manager of the new Donegal under-20 football team. In March 2021, Donegal announced him as part of

Gary Duffy Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name *Gary, Indiana, the largest city named Gary Places ;Iran * Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;Uni ...

's under-20 management team. In November 2022, he was part of the management team announced for Duffy's successor, Leo McLoone.

Personal life

McGee has a profound

fear of flying Fear of flying is a fear of being on an airplane, or other flying vehicle, such as a helicopter, while in flight. It is also referred to as flying anxiety, flying phobia, flight phobia, aviophobia, aerophobia, or pteromechanophobia (although ae ...

, a condition which has affected his ability to cope with flights to games. McGee supports marriage equality and has campaigned to Repeal the 8th Amendment of the Irish Constitution.

Honours

;Donegal *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

: 2011,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

* National Football League Division 1:

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

* National Football League Division 2: 2011 *

Dr McKenna Cup The Dr McKenna Cup is an annual Gaelic football competition played between counties and universities in the province of Ulster. It is the secondary Gaelic football competition based in Ulster behind the Ulster Senior Football Championship, an ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

;Gaoth Dobhair *

: 2002, 2006, 2018 ;Colleges *

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. ...

: 2004, 2005 ;Individual * All Star: 0 **Nominated in 2012, 2014 * Player of the Week: February 2013

References

External links

Official profile
*
Eamon McGee
at gaainfo.com
Eamon McGee reflects on most memorable crisis meeting of his career
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcgee, Eamon 1984 births Living people Donegal inter-county Gaelic footballers Gaelic football backs Gaoth Dobhair Gaelic footballers Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Ulster inter-provincial Gaelic footballers Winners of one All-Ireland medal (Gaelic football)