Niall O'Donnell

Niall O'Donnell (born 1998) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for St Eunan's and the Donegal county team.

This article is about the Gaelic footballer. For the lexicographer, see Niall Ó Dónaill.
Niall O'Donnell
Personal information
Irish name Néill Ó Domhnaill
Sport Gaelic football
Born 1998 (age 23–24)
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Occupation Permanent TSB employee
Club(s)
Years Club
2015–
 St Eunan's
Club titles
Donegal titles 1
Inter-county(ies)
Years County
2018–
 Donegal
Ulster titles 1

The Irish Independent's Colm Keys named O'Donnell among his "18 for [20]18: The brightest young talents" in Gaelic football, describing him as "both elusive and skilful".[1]

Education

O'Donnell attended St Eunan's College, where he played for the school team.[2][3] In 2016, following his Ulster minor title with Donegal, he became the eighth student from the school to win an Ulster Colleges All Star, succeeding — among others — Michael Murphy and Shaun Patton; O'Donnell played alongside Patton in the school team.[2][4]

Playing career

Club

O'Donnell captained his club at under-21 level.[5] He played in county finals at under-12, under-14, under-16, minor, under-21 and senior levels.[6]

He made his senior debut for his club as a replacement for John Haran in the remaining two minutes of the final of the 2015 Donegal Senior Football Championship, which his club lost by one point against Naomh Conaill.[3][7] He later said: "I got one touch. I just laid it off. I was a bit young to be taking a big shot on then".[6]

O'Donnell's brother Conor also plays alongside him for the club.[8] As does his brother Shane.[6]

O'Donnell, a dual player, has also played hurling for his club.[9]

He captained his club to the 2021 Donegal Senior Football Championship, aged 23, scoring three points in the final.[6][10]

Inter-county

O'Donnell was joint-captain of the Donegal minor team with Jason McGee.[11]

O'Donnell first featured for his county at senior level under the management of Declan Bonner. He played against Kerry as a half-time substitute in the opening fixture of the 2018 National Football League at Fitzgerald Stadium.[12]

He did not feature on the pitch when Donegal won the 2018 Ulster Senior Football Championship,[13][14][15][16] as, alongside Jason McGee, he had decided to drop down to play with the under-20 team instead.[11]

Donegal qualified for the 2019 National Football League Division 2 final and O'Donnell started the game and scored two points as Donegal defeated Meath to win the title.[17]

O'Donnell played for the first 42 minutes in the final of the 2019 Ulster Senior Football Championship against Cavan, scoring one point and claiming his first Ulster senior title.[18] He had made a substitute appearance against Fermanagh in the quarter-final and started in the semi-final win over Tyrone.[19][20]

Personal life

As of 2021, Permanent TSB in Letterkenny employed O'Donnell.[6]

Honours
Donegal
St Eunan's
Individual
  • Ulster Colleges All Star: 2016[4]
  • Donegal News Sports Personality Award: December 2015[3]
  • Player of the Tournament - St Paul's Ulster Minor Football Tournament: 2015[3]

References
  1. Keys, Colm (31 January 2018). "18 for 18: The brightest young talents in gaelic football you need to keep an eye on this year". Irish Independent. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  2. Walsh, Harry (22 March 2014). "St. Eunan's College power into All-Ireland semi final". Donegal News. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  3. "Niall picks up Sports Personality Award for December". Donegal News. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  4. "Colleges All Stars for Mogan and O'Donnell". Donegal News. 16 December 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  5. McNulty, Chris (17 November 2018). "'This is a bit of life for the senior team' says Niall O'Donnell as Eunan's win U21 title". Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  6. Ferry, Ryan (4 November 2021). "St Eunan's O'Donnell hoping for third time lucky". Donegal News. p. 75. While he is still only 23, O'Donnell is no longer the young pretender and is an integral leader and captain of the St Eunan's side… O'Donnell — who works for Permanent TSB in Letterkenny — has had the distinction of playing in Under 12, Under 14, Under 16, Minor and Uner 21 county finals and he has an abundance of medals. However, he still missing a senior one… 'It would be great to [lift the Dr Maguire Cup] with my two brothers (Conor and Shane), and the team that I have grown up with'.
  7. Foley, Alan (19 October 2015). "Gutsy Naomh Conaill edge to glory". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  8. "GAA: Full-time - St Eunan's v Milford in the Donegal Senior Football Championship". 28 September 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019. RTE man of the match Darragh Mulgrew got the opener while the most impressive Eoin McGeehin added two more before the break. It was ironic that this was the one game where the pundits thought might yield a shock result, but Eunan's quickly dispelled that notion with a calm clever and composed display where full-forward Niall O'Donnell reigned supreme. He was well supported by his brother Conor O'Donnell, McGeehin, James Kelly, Conor Parke and Conor Morrison in a game where they never needed to get out of second gear.
  9. McNulty, Chris (20 August 2019). "Niall O'Donnell 'excited' for future at club and county levels". Retrieved 20 August 2019. It is a busy spell for O'Donnell, who'll line out for the black and amber against Setanta in the Donegal senior hurling championship final in two weeks' time before spearheading St Eunan's bid for Dr Maguire a week later…
  10. Campbell, Peter (7 November 2021). "St Eunan's overpower Naomh Conaill in Donegal SFC final". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  11. Cannon, Chris (27 May 2018). "Niall O'Donnell joins Donegal U-20s panel". Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  12. O'Toole, Fintan (28 January 2018). "Casey hits winning point, O'Shea fires 0-7 and 3 red cards shown in Kerry Donegal clash: The sides met in Killarney today". The42.ie. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  13. McNulty, Chris (13 May 2018). "Ulster SFC: Donegal too good for Cavan". Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  14. Mooney, Francis (27 May 2018). "McBrearty excels to fire Donegal past Derry". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  15. Mooney, Francis (10 June 2018). "14-man Donegal cruise past Down into Ulster decider". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  16. Mooney, Francis (24 June 2018). "Energetic Donegal end Fermanagh's Ulster title dream". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  17. O'Brien, Kevin (30 March 2019). "Murphy masterclass helps Donegal to Division 2 glory after comeback win over Meath". The42.ie. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  18. Sweeney, Peter (23 June 2019). "Donegal power past Cavan to claim Ulster title". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  19. Mooney, Francis (26 May 2019). "Donegal overcome Fermanagh in Ulster arm-wrestle". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  20. Mooney, Francis (8 June 2019). "Donegal power past Tyrone to make Ulster decider". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  21. "Donegal hold off Derry to secure Ulster minor title: Goals from Nathan and JD Boyle enough to clinch second provincial title in three seasons". The Irish Times. 17 July 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.

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