3 days ago
Magic in 'the hills' as Donegal prepares for the All-Ireland football final
Donegal might be the one most expansive counties on the island - the fourth largest based on total land area - but it has a close-knit GAA community.
However, there is something about reaching an All-Ireland football final that brings the people in a county such as Donegal even closer.
There is a magic in 'the hills' this week and everybody wants to be part of it.
Take the Community Inclusion Hub in Letterkenny for example.
Those taking part in the music module there wanted to show their support for manager Jim McGuinness and the Donegal team by writing a song for them.
A music video was also subsequently recorded and produced by the CI Hub's multi-media team.
The programme co-ordinator is Cara Funston and she has said there has been huge excitement ahead of Sunday's final.
"The guys all follow the GAA and they follow their county. We have one of the players, Jason McGee, who is staff and works at one of our centres in Gweedore so there is always great excitement whenever Jason is around and we will all be cheering him on."
Down the road at St Eunan's GAA Club, their 800 or so members are also gearing up for the final.
There is a nervous excitement in the air at O'Donnell Park as five of their homegrown heroes will be part of the panel on Sunday. They are: Ciaran Moore; Caolan Ward; goalkeeper Shaun Patton; and brothers Niall and Shane O'Donnell.
Gathered with a bunch of club representatives just before the tunnel beneath the Dr. James McDaid Stand, Shaun Patton's father, Peter said not to ask him about how proud he is of his son or else, "there will be tears".
He said: "I just cannot put it into words. We are over the moon, the same way everyone behind me is. We just can't wait for Sunday evening to get it out of the way. Please God, we will then be coming down the road with the big cup with us.
His comments are met by a loud cheer and a shout of "Sam for the hills" from the crowd.
Also present is Caolan Ward's mother, Colette, his sister, Aoibhinn and his nephew, Reilly McHugh.
Ms Ward said she is very proud of her son who has been on the panel for the past ten years, and she cannot express the dedication and training that all of the players on the team have put in.
At St Michael's Creeslough/ Dunfanaghy, the next generation of those county players are honing their skills, hoping to one day follow in the footsteps of their own clubman, Michael Langan, who is expected to tog out in midfield on Sunday.
Mr Langan's nephew, Luke said that his uncle often trains so hard that he can "barely walk" afterwards. He hopes his uncle will bag another goal in the final, similar to the one which he scored in their last-eight win over Monaghan at the end of June.
Meanwhile, Chloe McNulty and Grainne Stewart, who are both from Creeslough and also taking part in the training session, say that they are delighted to see Donegal in the final as they were "only babies" when the county was last in such a decider.
One St Michael's clubman to have played that day and who has experienced the taste of both the elation and heartbreak that can come with the occasion is Martin McElhinney.
He too is looking forward to watching it this year.
"I was fortunate enough to be involved in 2012 and 2014 - the county's last two All-Ireland finals - but I didn't really get to enjoy the build-up because you are kind of shying away from it. You didn't really want to be out in the public.
"Whereas now this time, with my family and my kids, I'm able to enjoy the build-up. All the kids have Donegal jerseys everywhere. There is bunting and flags. I've seen a couple of cars painted.
"It's just great that it might inspire a couple of younger generations to stick at it and who knows, we could be seeing the next Michael Langan down here who will be playing at Croke Park in ten years".
Of course, the benefits of even just reaching the All-Ireland final for those living in the county can be both wide-ranging and far-reaching, and Mr McElhinney adds that being in the decider will be good for the local community who have faced an extraordinarily tough couple of years.
"I think this year gives a lot of people who might not even be into football and that were affected by that tragedy something to latch onto and it gives them some pride."
"Particularly with Michael being from Creeslough, it gives them high hopes again and gets people's spirits up, and it's great timing in one way".
In Jim's Café, ahead of the tea-time rush in Glenties, all the talk is aimed on Sunday.
The town is the birthplace of Jim McGuinness - an All-Ireland winner with Donegal, both as a player and as a manager.
While there may be no such thing as a "bainisteoir burger" on the menu, that could change come Sunday evening.
The business is owned by the McGuinness family and was once run by the Donegal manager's late father, 'Big Jim' and his mother, Maureen.
Ms McGuinness says she always knew her son had what it takes to excel in sport.
"He had a great passion always for the Gaelic and then he went to soccer for a while as well but I always knew he had a great drive on him to do better".
However, when asked about how her son is likely to be spending the final days ahead of the final, Ms McGuinness says the Donegal manager will be "keeping his head down" and "telling her nothing".
The magic of reaching the All-Ireland final has also descended on the Inishowen Peninsula, where musician David Craig has specially reworked his song 'Come Back Sam Maguire' for the occasion.
When the call went out during the week, supporters packed The Cyclist Rest in Fahan to hear the new rendition.
Mr Craig said that it is great to see such excitement back in the county for an All-Ireland final, and he outlined how the new version of his catchy tune came about.
"The buzz was building in Donegal at the time and people were asking me about writing songs and I said no bother as it was hard to try and get lively music to celebrate the occasion."
"However, the words kind of came to me fairly quick because the song was self-written with the players at that time. That was 2012 and obviously, we won it back then," Mr Craig said.
"Now, in 2025, I just had to rejig the words slightly and include some of the new players' names. I kept the same chorus as everybody seems to know that chorus. It's great to have that buzz going again," the musician added.
Donegal will be hoping that come the final whistle on Sunday evening, the hills will come alive with the sound of music and celebration once more.
