With two Ulster Senior Football Championships to his name, Mac Niallais was a prominent feature of the Donegal midfield between 2014 and 2018. He is regarded nationally as "one of the most naturally gifted footballers in Ireland".[2]
Mac Niallais won the 2018 Donegal Senior Football Championship, scoring eight points (including six frees) in the final to help Gaoth Dobhair to their first Donegal senior championship since 2006, and being awarded man of the match.[3]
Mac Niallais then starred in Gaoth Dobhair's first ever Ulster Senior Club Football Championship-winning campaign later in 2018. In the Ulster semi-final defeat of Crossmaglen Rangers at Healy Park in Omagh, Mac Niallais scored four points, including one free.[4] In the final against Scotstown, Mac Niallais was again awarded the "Laoch na hImeartha" (man of the match) after scoring four points, including three frees.[5][6][7]
Mac Niallais was first called into the Donegal senior team as an 18-year-old in the winter of 2011 by manager Jim McGuinness. He played in the 2012 Dr McKenna Cup but injuries hampered his progress that year for club and county.[9] He returned to training ahead of the next season and played in the 2013 Dr McKenna Cup.[10][11] During that competition, he scored an early goal against St Mary's in a one-point win at MacCumhaill Park.[12] In the 2013 National Football League he made substitute appearances against Down in the second game and against Dublin in Donegal's final league game of the season, both in Ballybofey.[13][14][15] He also played in the under-21 team that lost to Cavan in the 2013 Ulster final.[16]
Mac Niallais arrived in 2014 having played around a half-an-hour of meaningful senior inter-county football for Donegal.[17] That year would bring his first league start — against Laois at O'Moore Park. He palmed home a goal in the twelfth minute and scored a point later in the same match.[18] The year also brought games in the Senior Championship for Mac Niallais for the first time. Called onto the field when Donegal were forced to make emergency reparations to the midfield following injuries to Rory Kavanagh and Neil Gallagher, Mac Niallais scored four points and collected the man of the match award in the Ulster semi-final against Antrim at Clones.[9][19][20] He then won his first Ulster senior title, helping himself to three points in the final against Monaghan.[21][22]
Following the death of a clubmate in a car accident in January 2019, Mac Niallais opted out of the Donegal panel that year.[33] He thus missed out on the 2019 Ulster Senior Football Championship, which Donegal won.[34] But from September 2019, Mac Niallais met regularly with county manager Bonner.[2] By November, Mac Niallais had decided to return to the team.[2] "At the same time", Mac Niallais later said, "it was still in the back of my mind to go away. I did say that to [Declan] and he was fine with it".[2] In December 2019, Bonner confirmed that Mac Niallais had opted out of the Donegal panel for 2020.[35]
In February 2020, he moved to Crouch End in England, close to Alexandra Palace, with the intention of playing football for North London Shamrocks.[2] He had contemplated going to join friends in Sydney; however, the arrival of a then 18-month-old godson convinced him to remain closer to family.[2] In March 2020, he spoke about the intensity of committing to inter-county football: "Your life's completely taken over by it. It's gone to extreme levels where personally, I don't know. I wasn't built for that kinda stuff. I obviously used to love it but after a few years of doing it, I nearly had enough of it. I wouldn't be a big fan of the travelling. If training was down in Magheragallon every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, I'd be there every time, I'd play for Donegal no bother".[2]
By mid-2020, due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mac Niallais was back with Gaoth Dobhair.[36]
He returned to the county team for the 2021 season but decided to depart again ahead of the 2022 season.[37]
Personal life
He plays golf (reaching a handicap of 14 in early 2020) at his local club, located close to the Gaoth Dobhair GAA club's base.[2] He has also been a regular snooker player in Letterkenny.[2]
^ abDuggan, Keith (24 June 2014). "Odhrán MacNiallais now at the heart of Donegal's championship drive: Gweedore man repaying the faith Jim McGuinness has shown in him". The Irish Times. Retrieved 24 June 2014. Yesterday, he was at the heart of Donegal's drive to a fourth consecutive Ulster final and finished his day in front of the television cameras accepting his first man-of-the-match award in the competition… Both of MacNiallais's championship starts have had a touch of improvisation about them. Just as they did against Derry, the Donegal management was forced to make emergency reparations to its midfield after Rory Kavanagh was unable to recover full fitness and Neil Gallagher broke down after 17 minutes… The Gweedore man was just 18 when McGuinness first called him into the squad and ran the eye over him in McKenna Cup games against Tyrone and Fermanagh in the winter of 2011. Injuries upset his progression that season, curtailing his club career also and it wasn't until last year that he resumed county training.
^"Ulster U21 Final Live: Donegal 1–06 v Cavan 0–13". Donegal Now. 10 April 2013. Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2013. And the second half is underway. Odhran MacNiallais breaks through, but his goal chance goes wide. Donegal are looking a lot livelier already.
^Mooney, Francis (25 June 2016). "Monaghan and Donegal draw in Ulster thriller". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 25 June 2016. Conor McManus came to the Farney County's rescue with three late frees, after their 14-man opponents had pushed ahead with an Odhran MacNiallais goal on 55 minutes.
^Ferry, Ryan (30 July 2020). "Gaoth Dobhair travel to Donegal Town". Donegal News. p. 58. One man who will be donning the famous green and white jersey is Odhran Mac Niallais. Before lockdown he was living in London and was intending on playing his football over there this year. However, he subsequently returned to Donegal… 'He went over to London for work but is back about two months now and he is training away' [Gaoth Dobhair manager Mervyn O'Donnell].
^Craig, Frank (23 December 2021). "MacNiallais blow for Donegal". Donegal News. p. 64. The Donegal News understands that the mercurial Gaoth Dobhair man (pictured) has decided not to return to the set-up after they regrouped for the first time a fortnight ago.
