It’s back to Ballybofey for Donegal this weekend, accompanied by the hope and expectation it is only a pit stop on the way to Croke Park.
Yet for Shane O’Donnell, getting back to Donegal has been the making of him as an intercounty footballer.
The St Eunan’s man studied physical education and maths in DCU, during which time he tried to combine living in the capital and playing for Donegal.
He made his senior debut in 2022 but, given the travel and associated time demands, he stepped back from the Donegal squad the following season. The return of Jim McGuinness to the helm in 2024 prompted O’Donnell to recommit and now, having completed his studies, the 24-year-old is back living and working in Donegal, teaching at Deele College in Raphoe.
One of his teaching colleagues in the school is his Donegal team-mate Peadar Mogan.
Those home comforts have helped him produce some of his strongest showing so far for Donegal, while he was also named as the club player of the year following last season’s county championship.
“I suppose the big thing for me there was getting home, I was in Dublin there for four years so it was very taxing on the body,” he recalls.
“Which kind of led to me taking the break as well. It is definitely a lot easier now being at home, it takes away the travelling.
“I was kind of nearly living out of the car at one stage. It is nice to be able to recover and rest, especially with the quick turnaround for games. I feel good at the minute and I am looking after the body really well.”
O’Donnell has started all seven of Donegal’s championship games this summer and chipped in with 0-6, including a point against Mayo. Having emptied himself for the cause last Sunday, O’Donnell was brought ashore with just three minutes remaining.
So he was watching on from outside the white lines as Ciarán Moore jinked inside the Mayo defence and popped over a winning point with the last kick of the game. A draw would have been enough for Donegal to finish second as Tyrone were well in control against Cavan in the other group game.
But while O’Donnell was aware of the permutations, he’s not quite sure the players on the field had all the info.
“I suppose when you are caught up in those type of games and those type of moments you are not thinking about other things,” he says. “It was hard to get messages on with the noise from the supporters, I think we were shouting a few things as well but they didn’t hear us.
“There were a few boys probably shouting at [Ciarán] to kick it out and all that. And there were probably a few boys shouting at Shaun [Patton] then as well to drain the clock and wait for the hooter to go. But we’re happy with how it turned out.”
McGuinness expressed his unhappiness about the venue choice after the victory, the Donegal manager feeling the game should have been set for an alternative neutral venue rather than Dr Hyde Park.
However, O’Donnell says the players tend to stay away from such matters and not get caught up worrying over where they play.
“There wouldn’t be really much chat about it. I suppose with the big games you are kind of used to being on the road at this stage and you get your preparation done the night before with travelling down to hotels and so on.
“It’s probably more of the logistics team that are dreading the thought of it. We are just happy to be playing in the big games and being at this stage of the All-Ireland series.”
Their prize for finishing second in the group is a home preliminary quarter-final against Louth at MacCumhaill Park on Sunday at 4pm. It is a straight knockout clash between the Ulster and Leinster provincial champions.
“It’s kind of mad that all four of [the provincial winners failed] to make it to the quarter-finals, that we’re all in the preliminary round.
“That’s how much competition there is between all the teams. We took our eye off the ball I think against Tyrone so we’re probably in the place that we deserve to be, second place in the group.
“It’s all to play for now and I suppose one of us is going to go out between ourselves and Louth this weekend, which is again surreal that one of the provincial champions isn’t even going to make it to the quarter-finals.”
If Moore was the game-winning hero for Donegal last Sunday, the imperious Michael Murphy was once again their player of the match. It is impossible to measure the exact impact of Murphy’s return to the fold this season but it’s fair to say the 2012 All-Ireland-winning captain has been immense for his county.
“He’s a bit of an icon for a lot of us because there’s a lot of young boys there that wouldn’t have played with him beforehand,” says O’Donnell.
“Thankfully I was there for his last year under Declan Boner and Stephen Rochford so I was able to work with him for a year, but there are a lot of new faces there at the minute that wouldn’t have seen him before.
“I think a lot of us now just kind of idolise him and look up to him.”
Getting Donegal and Murphy back to Croke Park is now the next target.
