Michael Hegarty is an Irish former

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 Cill Chartha and the Donegal county team. Alongside Johnny McLoone, Barry Monaghan and Eamon Reddin, he played in a minor team that nearly qualified for the 1996

All-Ireland Minor Football Championship The Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Championship is the premier under-17 "knockout" competition in Gaelic football played in Ireland. 2017 was the final year of the minor under 18 football championship as it was replaced by an under ...

final. He made 50 championship appearances, a team record when set in 2011 and not exceeded until Colm McFadden made his 51st championship appearance against

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 quarter-final on 25 May 2014. He broke the record at 46 in the Ulster SFC quarter-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 ( ...

where, though named to start, he appeared as an early substitute for

Martin McElhinney Martin McElhinney (born 10 August 1988) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for St Michael's and also, formerly, for the Donegal county team (between 2007 and 2019). Among other accolades, he has one All-Ireland Senior Football Championsh ...

. He started

Mickey Moran Mickey Moran is a former Gaelic footballer and manager-coach, who has been manager of Kilcoo since 2019, with a background as an inter-county manager who most recently managed the Leitrim county team. He played at senior level for the Derry ...

's first game in charge of Donegal, a league win at home to

Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in honour of Philip II of Spain ...

in October 2000. He started the first game of

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 ...

's last spell as Donegal manager, a league defeat to

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

Tuam Tuam (; , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midland Region, Ireland, midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. The town is in a civil parishe ...

in February 2003. He played in the 2003 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final against

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 2007, Hegarty was part of the Donegal team that won the county's first

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. They defeated Mayo in the final, with Hegarty playing the full game. Hegarty was not part of the 2010 county panel but newly appointed Donegal manager

Jim McGuinness Jim McGuinness (born 16 November 1972) is a Gaelic football coach, and former player, who won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship as a player with, and later manager of, the Donegal county team. Since 2023, he has been manager, for ...

called him into the 2011 Dr McKenna Cup panel. He played in the 2011 Ulster Senior Football Championship final against Derry, scoring 0–2 as Donegal won the competition for the first time in 19 years. He retired at the end of the season, with 127 senior appearances for Donegal. He won the 2017 Donegal Senior Football Championship, scoring a point in the final. It was the first time his club had won the title in 24 years, having been defeated by Glenswilly at the same stage the previous year. He played in the SFC for the hundredth time for his club in October 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hegarty, Michael Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Donegal inter-county Gaelic footballers Kilcar Gaelic footballers