O'Donnell Park

History

The ground has hosted Gaelic games since the 1930s when the St Eunan's club bought the land for £300. The ground opened on Sunday 2 May 1937, with the Bishop of Raphoe's blessing of the park, a hurling match between Donegal and Antrim, an address from GAA President Bob O'Keeffe and a football match between Donegal and Armagh.

During the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2006, the ground was used as a makeshift campsite for visitors to the town for the duration of the festival. On 11 November 2008, St Eunan's confirmed that it had completed the purchase of 14.5 acre of land adjoining O'Donnell Park, which it intended to develop over the coming years into additional pitches for the club.

The Sam Maguire Cup and members of Donegal's 2012 All-Ireland SFC winning team attended a world record attempt at O'Donnell Park on 29 September 2012.

The O'Donnell Park pitch was "highly commended" at the 2019 National Pitch Awards, and finished in the top six alongside such stadiums as Páirc Tailteann, Nowlan Park, Pearse Stadium and Dr Hyde Park.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, O'Donnell Park was used as a drive-through test centre.

County matches

Having formerly been a venue for football matches played by the Donegal county team, O'Donnell Park went unused for this purpose for three decades. On 25 March 2007, O'Donnell Park hosted its first inter-county football match since this hiatus, with Donegal defeating reigning All-Ireland champions Kerry by a scoreline of 1–15 to 0–13 in Division 1 (the top tier) of the National Football League. There was a half-hour delay to the game after the Kerry team were unable to arrive on time due to fog at the airport. TG4 broadcast the match live to a national audience. Donegal followed up their victory by winning the 2007 National Football League title.

Donegal have played the following league games at O'Donnell Park since then.

NFL matches at the venue have tended to be competitive, with opponents finding it difficult to leave with full points if they do. 2014's 2–11 to 0–10 victory over Monaghan, an eight-point win, is Donegal's biggest victory at O'Donnell Park.

It has also been used by the Donegal senior hurling team, for example in the 2020 Nicky Rackard Cup.

References

References

1. (6 December 2012). "Capacities confirmed". [[Donegal News]].
2. "Letterkenny Town Council: St Eunans GAA club, O'Donnell Park".
3. "Opening of O'Donnell Park". [[St Eunan's GAA]].
4. (14 October 2008). "St Eunan's club complete purchase of 14.5 acre site". [[Donegal Democrat]].
5. (28 September 2012). "Stars to bring Sam Maguire to world record attempt at O'Donnell Park".
6. Keenan, Shaun. (26 June 2019). "O'Donnell Park 'highly commended' at National Pitch Awards".
7. (24 March 2020). "St Eunan's GAA club to be used as Covid-19 test centre". [[Donegal News]].
8. (October 2025). "Donegal News: Donegal beat Kerry}}{{Dead link".
9. "Return of NFL to O'Donnell Park".
10. Bradley, Oisín. (6 February 2020). "O'Donnell Park record". [[Donegal News]].
11. (13 April 2008). "Donegal 0–10 Derry 0–15". [[RTÉ Sport]].
12. (13 April 2008). "Donegal 0–10 0–15 Derry". [[BBC Sport]].
13. "Sport". [[BreakingNews.ie]].
14. McNulty, Chris. (27 March 2022). "Donegal hang on for win as things get hot and heavy with Armagh". [[The Irish Times]].
15. McNulty, Chris. (26 February 2023). "Allianz FL D1: Donegal and Galway share the spoils".
16. (31 October 2020). "Donegal advance to Nicky Rackard semi final with win over Armagh". [[Highland Radio]].