Declan Walsh

For the journalist, see Declan Walsh (journalist).
Declan Walsh
Personal information
Irish name Déaglán Breathnach[1]
Sport Gaelic football
Position Right half back
Born 1989 (age 35–36)
Letterkenny, Ireland
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Club(s)
Years Club
2006–2018
2019–
 Malin
Doohamlet
Inter-county(ies)
Years County
2011–2018
 Donegal
Inter-county titles
Ulster titles 3
All-Irelands 1

Declan Walsh (born 1989) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who played for Malin (the northernmost GAA club in Ireland)[2] and the Donegal county team.

He was part of the Donegal team that won the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. He later transferred to a club in Monaghan.

Early life

Walsh's father was prominent in his local GAA club. He recalls his father coaching underage teams. As a young fella he played traditional music in one or two All Ireland Fleadhs.[3]

Playing career

Walsh won the 2006 Ulster Minor Football Championship with Donegal.[4]

He played for Donegal throughout the Ulster Under-21 Football Championship in 2010, a competition which Donegal won, and in the semi-final of which (against Derry), Walsh scored a point.[5][6] He then played in the final of the 2010 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship, which Donegal (managed by Jim McGuinness) narrowly lost to Dublin (managed by Jim Gavin).[7]

Himself, Antoin McFadden, James Carroll and Eamonn Doherty transferred to Boston for the summer in 2011.[8]

Walsh started for Donegal in their 2012 Ulster Senior Football Championship match against Cavan.[9] When Neil McGee sustained an injury after two minutes against Tyrone in the semi-final, Walsh came on as a substitute to help his team through to the final.[10][11] Walsh also made a substitute appearance against Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final, which Donegal won.[12]

Against Tyrone in the 2013 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship he was concussed.[13][14]

He made a substitute appearance in the 2015 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship qualifier defeat of Galway at Croke Park.[15]

As of 2019, Walsh had transferred to a club in Monaghan.[16]

Honours

References

  1. ^ "Countdown to Croker: Donegal name 'team' for All-Ireland final". Donegal Daily. 20 September 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  2. ^ "Sam's World Tour of Donegal — Proud moment for Declan in Malin". 27 September 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2012. Declan Walsh was the proudest man in Ireland tonight at the country's most northerly GAA club as he carried the Sam Maguire into Malin. A huge crowd of enthusiastic supporters turned out to see the cup arrive in the town.
  3. ^ Bassett, Paul (5 November 2012). "Declan Walsh Reflects on All Ireland Success". Coddle. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Second-half surge sees Donegal end long title wait". Irish Independent. 10 July 2006. Retrieved 10 July 2006.
  5. ^ McNulty, Chris (7 April 2020). "The diary, the dream and Donegal's first steps to 'the other place'". Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Ulster U21FC: Murphy leads Donegal to title". Hogan Stand. 8 April 2010. Retrieved 8 April 2010.
  7. ^ a b O'Toole, Fintan (6 April 2013). "Remember the last time that Jim Gavin managed against Jim McGuinness?: The opposing managers in tomorrow's Division 1 league tie in Ballybofey have come face to face before". The42.ie. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  8. ^ McNulty, Chris (13 September 2013). "SFC: Doherty keeps 'Eamon' high for St Eunan's". Donegal News. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  9. ^ Moran, Seán (21 May 2012). "Donegal show young Cavan how far they've to go". The Irish Times. Retrieved 21 May 2012. Declan Walsh started instead of Martin McElhinney for Donegal in what was a tactical rather than injury-enforced switch.
  10. ^ "Ryan Bradley's delight for Malin's Walsh". Donegal Now. 3 July 2012. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  11. ^ "Tyrone 0–10 Donegal 0–12". RTÉ Sport. 30 June 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  12. ^ "Donegal overcome rebels in Croke Park". RTÉ Sport. 26 August 2012. Archived from the original on 30 August 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  13. ^ Kelly, Niall (3 August 2013). "The hits are bigger than ever… but what is the GAA doing to manage concussion?". The42.ie. Archived from the original on 29 September 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  14. ^ Roche, Frank (29 July 2013). "McGuinness hits out at physical impact". Evening Herald. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  15. ^ Keane, Paul (1 August 2015). "Round 4B: Brilliant Donegal dismantle Galway". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  16. ^ "Breaking Ball: Donegal Club Championships 2019". Donegal News. 6 September 2019. p. 44.