Michael Hegarty

This article is about the Gaelic footballer. For the Brian Friel character, see The Freedom of the City.
Michael Hegarty
Personal information
Sport Gaelic football
Club(s)
Years Club
19??–200?
 Cill Chartha
Club titles
Donegal titles 1
Inter-county(ies)
Years County
19??–2011
 Donegal
Inter-county titles
Ulster titles 1
NFL 1

Michael Hegarty is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for Cill Chartha and the Donegal county team.

Alongside Johnny McLoone, Barry Monaghan and Eamon Reddin, he played in a minor team that nearly qualified for the 1996 All-Ireland Minor Football Championship final.[1]

He made 50 championship appearances, a team record when set in 2011 and not exceeded until Colm McFadden made his 51st championship appearance against Derry in the Ulster quarter-final on 25 May 2014.[2] He broke the record at 46 in the Ulster SFC quarter-final against Cavan where, though named to start, he appeared as an early substitute for Martin McElhinney.[3][4]

He started Mickey Moran's first game in charge of Donegal, a league win at home to Offaly in October 2000.[5]

He started the first game of Brian McEniff's last spell as Donegal manager, a league defeat to Galway in Tuam in February 2003.[6]

He played in the 2003 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final against Armagh.[7]

In 2007, Hegarty was part of the Donegal team that won the county's first National Football League title. They defeated Mayo in the final, with Hegarty playing the full game.[8][9]

Hegarty was not part of the 2010 county panel but newly appointed Donegal manager Jim McGuinness called him into the 2011 Dr McKenna Cup panel.[10] He played in the 2011 Ulster Senior Football Championship final against Derry, scoring 0–2 as Donegal won the competition for the first time in 19 years.[11] He retired at the end of the season, with 127 senior appearances for Donegal.[1]

He won the 2017 Donegal Senior Football Championship, scoring a point in the final. It was the first time his club had won the title in 24 years, having been defeated by Glenswilly at the same stage the previous year.[12] He played in the SFC for the hundredth time for his club in October 2021.[13][14]

References

  1. ^ a b Foley, Alan; Campbell, Peter (30 July 2021). "When Donegal minors lit up the summer of 1996. Their story and 'where are they now?'". Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Home fires still burn bright for McFadden". Irish Independent. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  3. ^ McNulty, Chris (9 June 2011). "Three changes to Donegal team for Cavan". Donegal News. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  4. ^ Foley, Cliona (13 June 2011). "Donegal contest Murphy red card". Irish Independent. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  5. ^ "Donegal make light of conditions to give Moran the ideal start". The Irish Times. 30 October 2000.
  6. ^ Duggan, Keith (3 February 2003). "Meehan adds spark to Galway attack". The Irish Times.
  7. ^ "Armagh's double still alive". Irish Independent. 1 September 2003.
  8. ^ "Donegal win National League title". BBC Sport. 22 April 2007. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  9. ^ "Donegal achieve historic win — First national league title comes to county after victory over Mayo". Donegal Times. 25 April 2007. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2007.
  10. ^ "Cassidy and Hegarty in McGuinness' Donegal panel". BBC Sport. 17 December 2010. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
  11. ^ "Donegal 1–11 Derry 0-08". RTÉ Sport. 17 July 2011. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  12. ^ McNulty, Chris (15 October 2017). "End result all that matters for Kilcar after final win over Naomh Conaill". Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  13. ^ Craig, Frank (7 October 2021). "Heavyweight collision but nothing on the line". Donegal News. p. 66. The other significant aspect of last Friday's facile victory over Ardara was that it marked the legendary Michael Hegarty's 100th SFC appearance for his club.
  14. ^ Campbell, Peter (1 October 2021). "Ardara no match for Kilcar who are into quarter-final after third win on the trot". Retrieved 1 October 2021. The biggest cheer of the night came 20 minutes into the second half with the introduction of Michael Hegarty for his 100th championship game for Kilcar.