CLG Na Cealla Beaga

CLG na Cealla Beaga[2] is a GAA club based in Killybegs, County Donegal, Ireland.

CLG na Cealla Beaga
Na Cealla Beaga
Founded:1924
County:Donegal
Nickname:The Fishermen[1]
Colours:   Red and White
Grounds:Eamonn Byrne Memorial Park
Coordinates:54°38′17.62″N 8°29′05.29″W
Playing kits
Standard colours
Senior Club Championships
All Ireland Ulster
champions		 Donegal
champions
Football: - - 6

They have won the Donegal Senior Football Championship on six occasions, most recently in 1996.[3]

They have an intense rivalry with Cill Chartha.[4]

History

Founded in 1924,[5] the club have had teams break up several times in their history.[5] They play football only, though — in the past — played hurling too.

From 1967, the team played at the coastal venue Fintra Park, subsequently renamed McDevitt Park; that year Donegal and Mayo played a game to mark its opening.[6]

They contested the Donegal SFC decider seven times between 1988 and 1996, winning five of them.[1] The first of the five was the defeat of local rivals Cill Chartha in the 1988 decider.[1] It ended a 36-year wait for the Donegal SFC and was only the second time the club had won the competition.[1] Of that team Manus Boyle, Barry Cunningham, John Cunningham, John Bán Gallagher, Barry McGowan and Conor White had won the 1987 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship the previous year, while Mark Boyle, Stephen Burke, Barry Cunningham Jnr and David Meehan had played for Donegal in the Ulster Minor Football Championship and also the Donegal under-21 football team.[1] Boyle, Barry Cunningham, John Cunningham and McGowan would go on to win the 1992 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.[1] John Joe O'Shea, a Kerry native teaching at Killybegs Vocational School, was manager of the senior team in 1988 after a fruitful spell as underage manager.[7] The second final of the seven was a loss to Naomh Columba in 1990, the third a 2–11 to 2–9 victory over Red Hughs in 1991.[7] The fourth of the seven finals occurred in 1992 and involved Naomh Columba again, though this time Naomh Columba lost.[7] The fifth final was in 1993; Cill Chartha defeated them.[7] They then won consecutive Donegal SFCs for a second time in 1995 and 1996.[7] Jimmy White took over as player-manager from O'Shea at the beginning of 1991; he had no selectors and Michael Gallagher trained the team.[7] The 1996 Donegal SFC has been described as "probably the greatest ever championship in Donegal", with the club playing nine games to lift the trophy that year.[8]

In the midst of this successful run, the club reached the final of the 1991 Ulster Senior Club Football Championship.[1] Denis Carberry was team captain that year.[1] However, one third of the team were absent for the Ulster campaign due to employment in fishing in the North Atlantic: these were Carberry, Conor White, David Meehan, Rory McNelis and Mickey Campbell.[1] They were the away side in both the quarter-final and semi-final, defeating Derry champions Dungiven (featuring Joe Brolly) in the former and Down champions Downpatrick in the latter.[1] Ahead of the final in Omagh, John Bán Gallagher got injured.[1] Carberry, Meehan and White were flown back to the mainland to compete in the game.[1] However, the team lost to Castleblayney Faughs by a scoreline of 0–8 to 0–6.[1] Tony Hegarty had a late goal chance that would have won the game but it went inches wide.[7] Declan Boyle and Peter McGinley, who would later play under-21 and senior football for the county, also emerged aged 17 in 1991; Boyle played in all the club's games during the 1991 Donegal and Ulster Club SFC campaign, while McGinley only played in the three Ulster Club SFC matches.[7] Boyle drifted away from the game and ended up involved in association football, eventually making it as far as a reserve team in Scotland and was last heard of overseeing an under-17 team in that sport, but back in Ireland.[9][10]

Forward Paul "Feet" Murrin was part of the team that won consecutive Donegal SFCs in 1995 and 1996, becoming one of the county's most recognisable sportsmen.[11][12]

By 2002 the club had no senior representatives on the county team.[13] The club were thrown out of the 2002 Donegal Senior Football Championship at the semi-final stage after breaking the rules.[14]

They came from nowhere to reach the final of the 2010 Donegal Senior Football Championship, with Manus Boyle even coming out of retirement at the age of 44.[15] But Naomh Conaill defeated them, following a series of injuries in advance that made competing in that game all the more difficult for the Peter McGinley-managed team.[16][17] A further final appearance came in the 2013 Donegal Senior Football Championship; this time they lost to Glenswilly.[18] Benny Boyle captained the club in that game.[19]

Notable players

Managers
Years Manager
1924–1980s?—
c. 1988–1991John Joe O'Shea[7]
Early 1991–199?Jimmy White[7]
c. 1996Pauric McShea (coach?)[21]
c. 1996–200?—
?–2008Manus Boyle and Barry McGowan[22]
2008/09–?—
c. 2010–?Peter McGinley[17]
201?–c. 2013Joe McBrearty[23]
c. 2013Martin "Slua" Boyle[23]
201?–201?—
201?–presentJohn Cunningham[24][25]

Honours

References
  1. Craig, Frank (30 April 2020). "A Grand Old Team To Play For: When the boys from Killybegs battled to the Ulster decider". Donegal News. pp. 52–3. Also published in Gaelic Life.
  2. "killybegsgaa". Retrieved 9 May 2009.
  3. "Roll of honour". Archived from the original on 12 July 2010. Retrieved 9 May 2009.
  4. Craig, Frank (16 July 2020). "Kilcar host fierce rivals Killybegs". Donegal News. p. 85.
  5. "Club history". Retrieved 9 May 2009.
  6. "Incredible photo of old GAA pitch with the most beautiful backdrop". Hogan Stand. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  7. "Killybegs 1991, one of the greatest Donegal teams". 14 October 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  8. Campbell, Peter (5 November 2021). "Killybegs winners of greatest ever Donegal senior championship in 1996". Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  9. Doherty, Conan (2016). "Seamus Coleman: The making of the best right back in the world". JOE.ie. Declan Boyle came along and made it as far as Celtic. He had a stint with their reserves and he retired seven years ago…
  10. "Declan Boyle appointed Finn Harps Under-17 manager". Donegal News. 15 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  11. McNulty, Chris (16 February 2020). "Death mourned of former sporting ace Paul 'Feet' Murrin". Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  12. "Regretted and untimely death of one of Donegal's best known sportsmen". 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  13. Foley, Cliona; Harrington, John (16 May 2002). "County call: Donegal". Irish Independent. Retrieved 16 May 2002.
  14. Foley, Cliona (19 September 2002). "Furious Killybegs thrown out of championship". Irish Independent. Retrieved 19 September 2002.
  15. Boyle, Donnchadh (2 October 2010). "Boyle looks to defy logic and inspire injury-hit Killybegs to shock title success". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 October 2010. The 44-year-old started training for a marathon, but the hard road was unforgiving and reignited a few old injuries. The sod of the club's field was more forgiving… Incredibly, he has featured off the bench in recent matches and he's likely to do the same tomorrow.
  16. "McLoone proves too hot". Irish Independent. 4 October 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  17. McNulty, Chris (5 October 2013). "SFC: Jason Noctor and Killybegs aiming to make up for 'wasted chance'". Donegal News. Retrieved 5 October 2013. …Peter McGinley's injury-ravaged side were well beaten by Naomh Conaill… Matthew Smyth is just after a year training with the county squad… Noctor dabbles in soccer and has been on the books of both Finn Harps and Sligo Rovers in recent seasons… He was on the Donegal panel in 2011 himself, but pulled the pin after a season of little gametime.
  18. "Donegal SFC final: Murphy delivers man-of-the-match display". Hogan Stand. 21 October 2013. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  19. McNulty, Chris (18 October 2013). "Home is where the heart is for Killybegs captain Benny Boyle". Donegal News. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  20. McNulty, Chris (18 July 2015). "Donegal's 1990 Ulster winners will be honoured tomorrow — here is their story". Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  21. Moran, Sean (9 July 1997). "[P. J.] McGowan calls it a day with Donegal". The Irish Times. Speculation as to [McGowan's] successor has already begun… Selectors from '92, Seamus Bonner and Micahel[sic] Lafferty have also been mentioned, as has Padraig[sic] McShea, a close associate and former playing colleague of McEniff's, who impressed when coaching Killybegs to a county title last year.
  22. Foley, Alan (8 January 2009). "The heroes of '92 - Where are they now?". Donegal Democrat. Archived from the original on 18 December 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2009. Along with Manus Boyle, McGowan co-managed Killybegs until last year.
  23. McNulty, Chris (19 October 2013). "Manager's view: Martin 'Slua' Boyle and Killybegs took fuel from League hammering by Malin". Donegal News. Retrieved 19 October 2013. Fintra on the evening of May 11, the alarm bells chimed in the head of the manager, Martin 'Slua' Boyle… Boyle was a late call-up to take the managerial reigns at Eamon Byrne Memorial Park. Promoted from Division 2 under Joe McBrearty's watch, the tap kept dripping on Killybegs' playing pool as several players answered emigration's beckon. Boyle says: 'There was a bit of a lull at the AGM and there didn't look to be any sign of a manager stepping forward. I had been there before and had been speaking to Sean Connor, who was free from his time in the League of Ireland, and Shea Murrin, so I decided to put my name forward. Joe done[sic] well to get them promoted, but they got promoted under a low ebb because we knew that we were losing players'… Boyle was a mentor to Peter McGinley that year [2010].
  24. "Breaking Ball: Donegal Club Championships 2019". Donegal News. 6 September 2019. p. 40.
  25. Craig, Frank (20 August 2020). "Pressure on both sides at Rosses Park". Donegal News. p. 58. For the visiting Fishermen, it's about attempting to pick up the pieces and fast. John Cunningham's team had been looking forward to a return to Division 1 in 2020. But the Covid pandemic put the breaks[sic] on that.
  26. "Donegal SFC final: Murphy delivers man-of-the-match display". Hogan Stand. 21 October 2013. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
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