| CLG Chill Chartha | |||||||||
| Founded: | 1924 | ||||||||
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| County: | Donegal | ||||||||
| Colours: | Blue and Gold | ||||||||
| Grounds: | Towney Park | ||||||||
| Coordinates: | 54°37′32.97″N 8°36′06.64″W / 54.6258250°N 8.6018444°W | ||||||||
| Playing kits | |||||||||
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| Senior Club Championships | |||||||||
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CLG Chill Chartha is a GAA club based in Kilcar, County Donegal, in Ulster, Ireland. They have won the Donegal Senior Football Championship on six occasions, the last in 2017, they won the Division One title on 14 occasions and are current All Ireland Comórtas Peile champions.
The first recorded game was played on the beach in 1921, which was an inter-townland match between “Up the Glen” and Muckross.
The first official match played in Towney was between Ard na Ratha and “South of the County”. The first club match was played on November 9, 1924 against Ballyshannon in Towney, with the visitors winning 1-03 to 0-02. Over the following decades the club achieved success at all age levels and took part in the senior championships until 1967-69 when the club had to join forces with neighbouring parishes in order to field senior teams. The revival started when the club dropped to junior football in 1968 and three years later they won that championship and were back in the senior football championship in 1972. They have remained in the senior football championship ever since winning it five times, and with the under 21s winning three in a row in the early 1970s this was an indication of things that were to come, the success of the 1980s where they had three strong senior sides competing in all competitions. They were actually the first club in the county to have a third team.
In ten years after winning the junior championship their second team reached the junior championship final in 1981 and three years later they reached the intermediate final where they were narrowly defeated such was the strength of football in the parish.
In 1993 a team for the ladies was formed and in 2023 they picked up the Junior B championship and the Division Three league title.
They have provided players to the county teams over the course of their history with 20 different players making county Ulster championship appearances. That is not counting players who represented the county at league and underage level, a remarkable achievement when considering the size of the parish.
John McNulty, a former candidate for the Seanad, managed the club to Junior "B", Minor and Under-21 Championships and the 2014 Division 1 league title, though he did not win the Senior Football Championship.
The club celebrated their centenary in 2024.
They will host the Comortas Peile na Gaeltacht in 2026 (delayed two years due to COVID), which will be the second time in the club's history, with the last one held in 2004.
The club has an intense rivalry with Na Cealla Beaga. The club also maintains a strong rivalry with their neighbours, Naomh Columba.
The club won the Senior Championship for the first time in 1925 and the most recent was in 2017, following a 0–07 to 0–04 win over Naomh Conaill, the club's first win since 1993 (and sixth overall). In 2016, the club made its first final appearance since 1993 but lost to Glenswilly by a point. The club faced Naomh Conaill in the 2020 final, which was put on hold due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games.
CLG Chill Chartha play in Division 1 of the Donegal All County league and are a record 14 times league champions (1933, 1935, 1959, 1975, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2022). The club was relegated in 2009; despite finishing a point off a league semi place, the club went down after a number of play-offs. The club made its return to the top flight after winning the Division 2 title in 2011.
In 2014, the club won the senior Division One League title for the first time since 1987, following a 5–17 to 0–10 win away to Gaoth Dobhair.
The club won the Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta on seven occasions, the most recent being in 2024, and won the county Gaeltacht on ten occasions, the last being in 2024. The club also won the Junior Gaeltacht on two occasions, most famously in 1989, when it won both national titles at Naomh Columba.
At underage level, the club has won the County Under 21 Championship on six occasions (1972, 1973, 1974, 2011, 2013 and 2015). The club won the Minor title on four occasions (1964, 1998, 2010 and 2012), along with a lot of underage honours.
| Years | Manager |
|---|---|
| 1924–19?? | N/a |
| c. 1999 | Michael Molloy |
| c. 1999–20?? | N/a |
| 2007-2009 | John McNulty |
| 2010-2012 | Seamus Cunningham |
| 2013–2014 | Rory Gallagher |
| 2015 | Michael Molloy |
| 2016 | Martin McHugh |
| 2017–19 | Barry Doherty |
| 2019–2021 | John McNulty |
| 2022–2023 | Conor Cunningham |
| 2024 | Michael Hegarty |
| 2025– | Paul Devlin & Mark Sweeney |
The following men have been chairman of the club.
| Years | Chairman |
|---|---|
| 1976-77 | Donnie Doherty |
| 1978 | Packie Haughey |
| 1979-80 | Seamus Doogan |
| 1981 | John Hegarty |
| 1982 | Seamus Doogan |
| 1983-87 | Charlie McDevitt |
| 1988-89 | Sean McGinley |
| 1990 | Michael Gillespie |
| 1991 | Seamus Gallagher |
| 1992-94 | Sean McGinley |
| 1995-00 | Charlie Ó Dónaill |
| 2001-02 | Charlie McDevitt |
| 2003 | Sean McGinley |
| 2004 | Paddy Sweeney |
| 2005 | Kevin Doogan |
| 2006 | Michael Doherty |
| 2007 | Kevin Doogan |
| 2008-10 | John Carr |
| 2012-13 | Kevin Doogan |
| 2014-15 | Michael McShane |
| 2016 | Declan Gallagher |
| 2017-21 | John Carr[additional citation(s) needed] |
| 2022 | James Hegarty |
| 2023- | Michael McShane |
The Chíll Chartha club man has been named in Rory Gallagher's first panel as county manager
Mr McNulty comes from Kilcar, and is a popular businessman who has managed the town's GAA clubs teams for many years. He brought the U-21 team to victory in the Championship last year and has managed the senior Kilcar GAA team for a number of years. He also manages a thriving Mace shop in Stranorlar about an hour from his hometown.
McNulty has been at the helm for Kilcar as they have won Junior 'B', Minor and Under 21 Championships, while he has also enjoyed success in the Gaeltacht competitions as well as winning a Division 1 league title in 2014
There is a change of manager this term 'in through' with John McNulty taking over the reins from 2017 SFC winning boss Barry Doherty.
Without Mulgrew, Padraig Carr got the chance with Martin McHugh, wearing 13, but filling the centre-forward role in Mulgrew's absence. The Kilcar man put in a storming display, notching 0–7 in the 1–14 to 1–11 victory, but just like the Donegal club final of 1980, his clubmate Michael Carr won the man of the match award.
Aaron Deeney, Conor O'Donnell, Brian O'Donnell, Andrew McClean, Ciaran Diver, Jeaic MacCeallbhui, Enda McCormick and Ethan O'Donnell are some of the new boys who will be hoping for some game-time.
Donegal finally claimed their first win of the season by 1–14 to 2–10 against St Mary's in Ballybofey tonight. Manager Jim McGuinness continued to experiment with Eoin McHugh, son of former All-Ireland winner James, amongst those handed a debut.
Meanwhile, Michael Molloy has been confirmed as Kilcar's new manager, 16 years after his last stint in charge at Towney. With Rory Gallagher leaving the post to become the new Donegal manager, Kilcar man Molloy will fill the void.
McNulty returned for another stint when he succeeded Barry Doherty in December 2019.
'Mum and dad will come up to the All Stars with me and dad will be driving back down home on Saturday morning as he's the manager of the Kilcar senior team', he said.
McNulty takes over from Barry Ward who had three years at the helm. McNulty managed his native Kilcar for the last two seasons. He also had a stint as bainisteoir of St Naul's and the Donegal Masters team… Aran McGowan will work with the senior team as a coach. Matthew Neeson has been appointed as their senior development team [sic]
New Kilcar boss Conor Cunningham says he's keen to wipe the slate clean after the controversy surrounding the delayed 2020 Donegal Senior Championship final… Their new manager is Kilcar through and through — he played for the team before managing the reserves and Under 21s in recent years — but he says there's no point moping around feeling sorry for themselves… Still only 37 years old, Cunningham developed an interest in coaching whilst still a player and admits that he aspired to managing the Kilcar senior team… Appointed to the position in early February, Cunningham says he won't ask too much from his players in the early part of the season.
After the game Kilcar boss Conor Cunningham told Ryan Ferry there are still some improvements that his side can make…
Kilcar chairman John Carr says that while the right decision to postpone the Donegal SFC final was eventually reached on Tuesday, he insists that the situation should never have reached the point it did…
