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John Gildea
Personal information
Irish name	Seán Mac Giolla Dé
Sport	Gaelic football
Position	Wing-forward/midfield
Born	27 March 1971 (age 53)
Club(s)
Years	Club
19??–200?; 1997; 2001	Naomh Conaill; Donegal New York; Donegal Boston
Club titles
Donegal titles	1
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County
199?–2004	Donegal

John Gildea (born 27 March 1971)^[1] is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for Naomh Conaill and the Donegal county team.

He is originally from Glenties.^[2]

Playing career

Gildea made his championship debut for Donegal as a substitute against Down in 1995.^[3] Pat Ward and Michael Gallagher were county footballers when Gildea was "coming through".^[4] His early career was troubled; suffering a problem (which turned out to be a Vitamin B12 deficiency) that affected his ability to train, he made no further championship appearances while P. J. McGowan was manager of the county.^[2] Gildea then played illegally under an assumed name for Donegal New York in 1997, the illegality due to him officially registering to play in Boston.^[2] He was suspended for one year, reduced to six months on appeal.^[2] Gildea credited McGowan's successor Declan Bonner for persisting with him through his difficulties.^[2] Fourteen hours after the suspension had ended, Bonner started Gildea in the 1997–98 National Football League semi-final at Croke Park; Gildea scored two points but his team lost the game to Offaly.^[2]

Gildea featured prominently for his county from 1998 onwards.^[3] Having played as a wing-forward against Offaly and against Antrim in the 1998 Ulster Senior Football Championship quarter-final, Bonner moved Gildea into the midfield position where he would make his name when Martin Coll was sent off early on against Cavan in the Ulster semi-final.^[2] Donegal won that game, with Gildea outmanoeuvring Dermot McCabe, but the county then lost the Ulster final to a late Joe Brolly goal.^[3]

Gildea quit the panel in May 2001, shortly after Bonner's successor as manager, Mickey Moran, controversially substituted him during a championship loss to Fermanagh in Enniskillen; the decision was part of why selector Michael Houston also quit, while Gildea went to the United States to play for Donegal Boston.^[5]^[6] He vowed to retire after 2002, but carried on.^[7] By 2003, Gildea was the most senior player in the county team.^[8] He started the first game of Brian McEniff's last spell as Donegal manager, a league defeat to Galway in Tuam in February 2003, during which he scored a point.^[9] That year he was an important player during a six-game championship run through the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship qualifiers.^[7] He played in the 2003 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final against Armagh.^[10] Gildea continued to play for his county until 2004.^[3]

Gildea won a Donegal Senior Football Championship in 2005, his club's first, which came after a replay.^[11]

Gildea first met Stephen Rochford, who went on to work with Bonner in his second spell as Donegal manager, during two visits to Australia from twenty years previously.^[2]

Gildea is married to Sharon (née Rouse); they have two sons.^[12]^[1] He lives in Letterkenny.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Maguire, Stephen (27 March 2021). "From midfield to midlife as former Donegal player hits 50". Donegal Daily. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h McNulty, Chris (21 November 2020). "John Gildea — Why Declan Bonner has perfect management to succeed with Donegal". Retrieved 21 November 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d McNulty, Chris (22 July 2011). "1992–2011: The best XV not to win Ulster…". Donegal News. Archived from the original on 23 July 2020.
^ Craig, Frank (1 February 2020). "Gildea pays tribute to departing McLoone". Donegal News. Retrieved 1 February 2020. When I was coming through Pat Ward and Michael Gallagher were the men you looked to. For us to have a county footballer back then was a huge deal. Myself and Jim (McGuinness) were then part of it at the same time and it was a big thing.
^ "Houston's big problem". BBC Sport. 30 May 2001. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2001.
^ "Donegal Boston come of age". Hogan Stand. 16 July 2009. Retrieved 16 July 2009.
^ ^a ^b Keys, Colm (5 November 2003). "Royals' seal of approval puts pressure on Boylan". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. After commiting [sic] himself to retirement last year, he's determined not to make the same mistake twice. 'I'll see how the body is after Christmas', said Gildea, the driving force behind Donegal's six-game qualifier odyssey.
^ Crowe, Dermot (25 February 2007). "Former wild child wants football's natural high". Sunday Independent. Retrieved 11 September 2024. In 2003, under McEniff, Fermanagh beat Donegal in the championship… [Kevin] Cassidy went along with the intention of having the dinner and slipping away… I rang John Gildea, he was the most senior player at the time.
^ Duggan, Keith (3 February 2003). "Meehan adds spark to Galway attack". The Irish Times.
^ "Armagh's double still alive". Irish Independent. 1 September 2003.
^ "Historic first title for Naomh Conaill". Irish Independent. 10 October 2005.
^ "Glenties Notes". Glenties.ie. 5 January 2009.