By Matthew Wilson
St Eunan’s GAA Club are getting O’Donnell Park ready for a huge occasion for the parish this Sunday when Donegal take to the field to face Down in the Ulster Senior Football Championship Quarter-Final.
It’s a historic moment for the club as they prepare to host their first championship game in 75 years, with the last time being a meeting with Antrim back in 1951.
Donegal were two points adrift of their opponents at the short whistle on that day but they battled back after the restart to earn themselves a draw and force a replay.
One man that was at the Letterkenny venue for that encounter was Convoy native Eamonn Harkin, standing on the halfway line as a young 10-year-old and he recalled his memories of the day for the Donegal News this week.
“It was a draw that day. I went over to the game with my brother, Danny, and my father. My father took us over from Convoy to the game here in Letterkenny in 1951.
“We all arrived here and I was showing Brian (McDaid) where I stood that day. To my knowledge the day was fine, it was a good day for football. There wouldn’t have been as big of a crowd then as there would be now. I think there were around 2,500 people at the game.
Since that first round Ulster encounter against the Saffrons in 1951, St Eunan’s GAA have undergone huge work at the ground, assembling a state of the art clubhouse and the James McDaid Stand.
The retired chiropodist says huge credit has to be given to the members of the Letterkenny club for their vision and hard work to get their facilities to the high level it’s at today.
“This park here at St Eunan’s has had massive changes to the pitch. A huge effort went in by a lot of people earlier, even the building of the new extension at that time.
“I think there’s been great changes and fair credit to the club who put in so much effort over all of the years to get it up to this standard.
“I feel that they should be getting a lot more county games, It’s not all about large crowds and all that. St Eunan’s has a fine pitch here now and a stand to go with it.”
Harkin carried this love for Donegal football he had through the last 75 years right through to the present day.
A match that he remembers not long after that trip to O’Donnell Park in 1951 was a visit to Newry in 1958 for a meeting with this Sunday’s opponents, Down.
One thing stood out to him from that game against the Mourne men was the amount of St Eunan’s players in the Donegal defensive unit, occupying the goalkeeper position as well as five out of the six places in the backline, which left the home supporters startled.
“We supported Donegal all the way from 1951 onwards. The next game they played against Down was in Ballyshannon in 1957 and they travelled to Newry in 1958.
“To my knowledge out of the seven defenders, six were from St Eunan’s. Seamus Hoare would’ve been in goal, Sean Hannigan and Michael Ronaghan were in the full-back line, with a half-back line of Noel O’Donnell, Joe Carroll and Peadar McGeehan.
“Some of the people in Down were thinking, what sort of club is this? That was the part of the great Down team, I’d have called them the great aristocrats of Ulster after Cavan in those days.”
Sunday will be a proud day for everybody associated with St Eunan’s GAA Club as Jim McGuinness’s side begin their defence of the Anglo Celt Cup.
Donegal will be aiming to do what no other team from the county had done before in winning three Ulster Senior Football Championships in-a-row.
However, Conor Laverty’s men are coming with real momentum, with an unbeaten league campaign and a Division 3 title under their belt.
Having seen many Down outfits through the years, Harkin feels that they’re a county not to be underestimated and feels that they’ll be up for the battle that lies ahead this weekend.
“I could never write Down off and I’ve seen Down playing the whole way through. Down always get better by each game, they’re that sort of a team.
“You never take it for granted. Yes, we’ll beat Down but it’s how you set out your team, how it translates into action and how you go about carrying out your function on the field.
“It all depends and I’d say Down will be well-tuned for the game on Sunday, they’ll be up to a good pitch. It will be a different situation from way back from a couple of thousand people, it’ll be a full house here in O’Donnell Park.”
Donegal team that played Antrim in 1951: M. Mellett, J. McMullen, P. Watters, Hugh Boyle, S. O’Kane, J. Gallagher (capt.), McGeehan, J. Carroll, M. J. Gallagher, F. Brennan, P. Brogan, C. McCauley, B. McGettrick, T. Wickham, W. Gallagher.