Eamon McGee (born 26 April 1984) is an Irish

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

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 ...

and also, formerly, for the Donegal county team (between 2004 and 2016). He is the older brother of Neil McGee. From

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

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 ...

, he won one

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 ...

title, three

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 ...

titles and one

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

title 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 CLG Chill Chartha, Cill Chartha and the Donegal county football team, Donegal county team, which he has captained since 2023. He is usually selected in the full ...

, Neil McGee,

Paddy McGrath Paddy McGrath (born 2 February 1989) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for CLG Ard an Rátha, Ard an Rátha and also, formerly, for the Donegal county football team, Donegal county team. Though not from a footballing family, McGrath woul ...

, Leo McLoone, Frank McGlynn, Michael Murphy and Anthony Thompson surpassed it in

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 ...

, McGee's haul of Ulster SFC titles was a joint county team record (alongside such past players as Anthony Molloy, Martin McHugh, Joyce McMullan and

Donal Reid Donal Reid ( ; born 1961 or 1962) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for Bundoran, Red Hughs and the Donegal county team. He played more than 100 times competitively for Donegal, appearing at all age levels and positions from midf ...

Playing career

Club

McGee made his championship debut for his club against Seán Mac Cumhaills on 8 July 2001. By 2023 he had won three

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 ...

(SFC) titles with his club: in 2002, 2006 and 2018; and he had played for his club in 23 consecutive championship campaigns, including in 35 consecutive championship games between 2001 and 2009.Statistics for McGee's club championship games as far as the 2023 Donegal Senior Football Championship final compiled by Fr Seán Ó Gallchóir and published as follows: Ahead of the 2023 Donegal Senior Football Championship final, he had made 97 appearances in the club championship (92 in the Donegal SFC and 5 in the Ulster and All-Ireland Club SFC). The final of the 2002 Donegal SFC, featuring McGee and his club, was not played until 2003 due to a disagreement between two other clubs over

Eddie Brennan Edward Joseph Brennan (born 2 October 1978) is an Irish hurling manager and former player. His league and championship career with the Kilkenny senior team lasted twelve seasons from 2000 until 2011. Brennan was the manager of the Laois senio ...

. McGee has described the medal he received as "tainted". In 2006, his club returned to the Donegal SFC final. McGee played as his team won a 14th title, in one of the worst Donegal county finals ever. McGee 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 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 ...

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 player, manager and administrator. 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 Shane Carr is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played as a defender for Four Masters GAA, Four Masters and the Donegal county football team, Donegal county team. His inter-county debut came in a game against Antrim county football team, An ...

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 Sund ...

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

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

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 Kevin Cassidy (born 1981) is an Irish-Scottish Gaelic footballer, businessperson, columnist and commentator. Though born in Glasgow, Scotland, he has been living in Gaoth Dobhair, County Donegal from a young age. Cassidy plays his club football ...

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 (, ) 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 ...

, 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. 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 Championship 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 considere ...

against Mayo. 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 wo ...

with a

hamstring A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

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 (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

in the Inter-Provincial Series.

Post-playing career

In November 2017, he became part of Gary McDaid'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's under-20 management team. In November 2022, he was part of the management team announced for Duffy's successor, Leo McLoone. On the night of 25 November 2023, McGee was announced as a coach under the senior football management team of Gary Duffy at the Buncrana club.

Personal life

McGee has a profound

fear of flying Fear of flying is the fear of being on an aircraft, such as an airplane or helicopter, while it is in flight. It is also referred to as flying anxiety, flying phobia, flight phobia, aviophobia, aerophobia, or pteromerhanophobia (although aero ...

, 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 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

* National Football League Division 1:

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

* National Football League Division 2:

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 ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

;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. T ...

: 2004, 2005 ;Individual *

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 ...

: 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)