Joe 'Dodo' Winston (1944 – 28 June 2021) was 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 played for St Eunan's and the Donegal county team.

Playing career

Winston won his first ever medal with the St Eunan's under-16 team when he was 15 years of age in 1959. He would go on to win 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 ...

s with the club. Winston won the Ulster Minor League with the Donegal minor football team in 1962. A feature on many 1970s Donegal teams, He played in 1972 when Donegal won the

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 ...

for the first time and when they repeated the feat in 1974. He scored five points against Tyrone in the 1972 Ulster final. He won his last ever medal while playing for St Eunan's in 1980, the

Donegal Junior Football Championship The Donegal Junior Football Championship (abbreviated as Donegal JFC) is an annual football competition organised by Donegal GAA. Naomh Pádraig Uisce Chaoin are the title holders (2024) defeating Carndonagh in the Final. History The competitio ...

Post-playing career

Winston was an assistant (with Jimmy White) under the management of

P. J. McGowan P. J. McGowan (born 1951/52) is an Irish Gaelic football manager and administrator. He succeeded Brian McEniff as Donegal county football team, Donegal manager in 1994 and lasted until 1997, thus preceding Declan Bonner's first spell in charge. H ...

when Donegal won the 1987

All-Ireland Under 21 Football Championship The GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the EirGrid GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship) is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association ...

. He also coached and managed with the St Eunan's club. The club inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2005.

Personal life

Winston was originally from

Letterkenny Letterkenny ( , meaning "hillside of the O'Cannons"), nicknamed the Cathedral Town, is a large town in County Donegal, Ireland, on the River Swilly in the north-west of Ulster. Along with the nearby city of Derry, Letterkenny is a regional eco ...

. He worked for the ESB. Married to Mary, they had sons Kevin and Darren and a daughter Elaine, who died in 2012. He lived at 3 Hawthorn Heights. He also played

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

and would bet on

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

. Winston died on 28 June 2021, a Monday evening. He was 77 years of age and died at

Letterkenny University Hospital Letterkenny University Hospital () is a general hospital at Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland. One of Ireland's busiest, the campus is divided by a main road heading on towards the North/West of Donegal on the N56 road (Ireland). A teaching h ...

after a brief illness. He had a wife, two sons, as well as three grandsons and a granddaughter. He had two brothers, Tom (Derry) and Brian (

Ramelton Ramelton (; ), also Rathmelton, is a town and townland in County Donegal, Ireland. As of 2022, its population was 1,288. History Ramelton is situated at the mouth of the River Lennon, 11 km north of Letterkenny and 4 km south of Mi ...

). As well as his daughter, another brother Brendan predeceased him. Winston had socialised weekly during the ongoing pandemic before falling ill. His funeral was held at the

Cathedral of St Eunan and St Columba St Eunan's Cathedral ( ), or the Cathedral of St Eunan and St Columba as it is also known, is a cathedral in the parish of Conwal and Leck, part of the Diocese of Raphoe. Built between the years of 1890 and 1900, the cathedral is found in Lette ...

on 1 July. He was buried with his daughter at Conwal Cemetery.

Honours

;St Eunan's *

(3): 19??, 19??, 19?? *

: 1980 ;Donegal *

: 1972, 1974

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winston, Joe 1944 births 2021 deaths Donegal inter-county Gaelic footballers ESB people Gaelic football coaches Gaelic football managers Sportspeople from Letterkenny St Eunan's Gaelic footballers