Kevin Rafferty (Gaelic footballer)

Kevin Rafferty (born 1981) is a Gaelic footballer who plays for St Eunan's and, also formerly, for the Donegal county team (between 2001 and 2012).

Kevin Rafferty
Personal information
Sport Gaelic football
Position Midfield
Born 1981 (age 41–42)
Height 6 ft 5[1] in (1.96 m)
Occupation Legal executive [1]
Club(s)
Years Club
199?–?
 St Eunan's
Inter-county(ies)
Years County
2001–2012
 Donegal
Inter-county titles
Ulster titles 2
All-Irelands 1

He played in midfield for his county team.[2]

He has also played Saturday League association football for Glencar Celtic since around about 2017.[3][4] He plays golf too and is a member of Letterkenny Golf Club.[5][6]

Early life

Rafferty was educated at Scoil Colmcille and St Eunan's College in Letterkenny.[6][7][8]

Rafferty is one of five sons of Martin and Marie.[2] His four brothers are Patrick ("Pajo"), Dwyer, Fergal and Declan.[2][9] Kevin and Pajo Rafferty have played together for Glencar Celtic, Pajo though did not have the same abilities in Gaelic football as his brother.[2][9] The Rafferty brothers also have a sister.[2]

Playing career

Rafferty featured under five different Donegal managers—Mickey Moran, Brian McEniff, Brian McIver, John Joe Doherty and Jim McGuinness.[10] He was often paired with Rory Kavanagh in midfield, though was often injured too.[11]

Rafferty was present in Jim McGuinness's teams of the 2010s, including in the 2011 Ulster semi-final defeat of Tyrone when he scored.[12][13] A squad member during Donegal's 2012 All-Ireland winning campaign, he accompanied the team on their end-of-year holiday to Dubai.[14] However, he stepped away from the panel as its most senior member at the end of the 2012 season, having been dogged by injury over the previous twelve months.[15]

Honours
Donegal
St Eunan's
Glencar Celtic
  • Voodoo Venue Cup: 2019,[16] 2020[9]

References
  1. "Player profiles: Kevin Rafferty". Donegal GAA. Archived from the original on 27 May 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  2. Walsh, Harry (1 January 2018). "Pajo striking the right notes with the Rovers". Donegal News. Retrieved 1 January 2018. The son of the late Martin Rafferty, he has four brothers Dwyer, Kevin – a former Donegal GAA midfielder, Fergal and Declan and one sister Aine, who is also a former underage Donegal GAA footballer. His mum Marie still lives in Glencar. 'I played a bit of Gaelic too but as I said earlier I enjoyed the craic too much', he smiled. 'I didn't really care that much and playing Saturday League football meant that things weren't that serious', he said.
  3. Doherty, Diarmaid (17 March 2017). "Junior and Glencar Celtic all set to celebrate title success: Saturday League title likely to be decided this weekend". Retrieved 17 March 2017. Glencar have a strong squad as well with former county star Kevin Rafferty an important addition. 'Kevin has been brilliant', [joint manager, Junior] Russell [who looks after Glencar along with player-manager Garbhan Grieve] said. 'He's a real calming influence on everyone and when he speaks in the dressing room, the players listen'.
  4. "Glencar Celtic bag points on visit to Fintown Harps: Saturday League special - Glencar Inn League". 7 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017. With Kevin Rafferty, who was having his first game of the season, and Garvan Grieves pulling the strings in the middle of the field, the goal on 36 minutes had been coming for some time.
  5. McNulty, Chris (17 October 2017). "Letterkenny Golf Club — Rafferty keeps up good form with Members Competition win". Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  6. "Kevin Rafferty wins St Eunan's College Alumni Trophy". 7 June 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  7. "Picture special: Rory Kavanagh returns to Scoil Cholmcille with Sam". 26 September 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2012. Pupils at Scoil Cholmcille – the boys school – formed a guard of honour for Rory and his teammates Colm McFadden, Frank McGlynn and Kevin Rafferty. Both Kevin and Rory are also past pupils of the school.
  8. "Twitter feed". St Eunan's College. EunansFootball Best of luck 2our past pupils who r in Donegal panel v Cork in All Ire Semi-Final on Sun @neilgerardgalla @murphm95 @AntoinMcFadden @Tommyk_91 @BrickMolloy @123kav @kevin_raff @gmacfadden14 @mdboyler24 +Mr McFadden #TheCollege
  9. Collins, Charlie (12 September 2020). "Glencar Celtic retain Voodoo Venue Cup with win over Keadue Rovers". Retrieved 12 September 2020. Team includes both Kevin and Patrick Rafferty.
  10. "McGuinness adds four to his panel". Donegal Democrat. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  11. "Kavanagh and Rafferty facing 'race against time'". eircom Sports. 14 July 2011. Archived from the original on 21 February 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
  12. "Super Donegal knock Tyrone off their perch to win in Clones". 26 June 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2011. With Donegal five points adrift, it was looking bad for the Donegal lads. But with three minutes left to the break Donegal began something of a fightback. McBrearty won the ball, passed to Kevin Rafferty who hit a superb point from all of 35 yards.
  13. Nolan, Sean (26 June 2011). "Donegal leave it late in Clones". Setanta Sports. Archived from the original on 2 February 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2011. Kevin Rafferty ended 17-scoreless Donegal minutes with a point and Colm McFadden followed up smartly to narrow the gap and right on the stroke of half-time Kevin Cassidy tacked on another to leave the gap at just two.
  14. "Donegal players sing in the new year with rita ora at beach party". 31 December 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2012. Donegal stars Kevin Rafferty and Daniel McLaughlin joked that they were going to a Barn Dance! 'Off to the Barndance here…happy NY everybody…typical that we come from Donegal and land in Dubai and that's where we are heading', said Rafferty. He added: 'Party on the beach tonight….just like Kinneger back in the day, no dufflecoat needed tonite though!'
  15. McNulty, Chris (December 2012). "Donegal's big guns to target NFL return". Donegal News. Retrieved 2 February 2013. Kevin Rafferty, however, will not be included with the St Eunan's man confirming to management that he had stepped away. Rafferty has been dogged by injury over the last twelve months and was the most senior member of the panel. "Kevin's had a bad run and he's stepped away for the time being," said [assistant manager Rory] Gallagher.
  16. Connolly, Stuart (11 May 2019). "Glencar Celtic come from behind to win Voodoo Venue Cup". Retrieved 11 May 2019.
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