Fr. Pat Donnellan

Fr. Pat Donnellan: The Curate of Killawalla

A visit to Fr. Pat Donnellan’s house in Killawalla leaves one in no doubt as to where his football allegiance lies. The sign over his front door points proudly towards Moylough, the place of his birth.

When Fr. Pat came to Killawalla in 1993 he brought with him a wealth of Gaelic football experience. He played football with his native Mountbellew for over 20 years winning Galway County Championship medals in minor and U 21 grades. He was also one of the stars of the Mountbellew team that won the Galway Senior Championship in 1974.

He won a coveted All-Ireland Universities Sigerson Cup medal in1976 and must surely have created a record when he played Sigerson Cup football with Maynooth College for SEVEN consecutive years!

His modest unassuming and placid personality belies a tough and tenacious defender, as many young budding forwards would testify.

Having played with the Combined Universities and a number of times with Galway, he was introduced to the more manly type of Gaelic football when he became a curate in Achill Sound.

He suffered a broken hand while playing an Intermediate Championship match with Achill, thus bringing the curtain down prematurely on an illustrious footballing career and forcing him into retirement at the tender age of thirty seven!

These days he is reckoned to be an absolute wizard on the Golf Course!