Ulster Colleges

[bennydorano]

Point of order - county minor is U17, MacRory U19. (Hogan, 18.5?) Obviously County used to be U18, but there's increasing divergence. Schools & County compliment each other.

[marty34]

Is there not a massive secondary school in Carndonagh?

The community school, their teams would comprise players from which clubs? Are they part of an amalgamation?

Don't know.

Why are they not MacRory if school so big?

[JoG2]

Is there not a massive secondary school in Carndonagh?

The community school, their teams would comprise players from which clubs? Are they part of an amalgamation?

Don't know.

Why are they not MacRory if school so big?

A school serviced by smaller junior and intermediate clubs v schools serviced by the likes of Magherafelt, Lavey, Glen, Slaughtneil etc

[thewobbler]

Is there not a massive secondary school in Carndonagh?

The community school, their teams would comprise players from which clubs? Are they part of an amalgamation?

Don't know.

Why are they not MacRory if school so big?

A school serviced by smaller junior and intermediate clubs v schools serviced by the likes of Magherafelt, Lavey, Glen, Slaughtneil etc

Ah would you stop.

If St Michael's were to take this attitude they'd just enter the Markey Cup every year.


You actually do seem to want to take someone else's cake and eat it, and force everyone else to watch.

[J70]

Looked it up. Carndonagh has a total of about 1150 students. But Inishowen is hardly a GAA stronghold, traditionally.

The five almalgamated schools have just under 2000 between them, presumably half of them boys.

How does that compare to the big northern schools?

[Wildweasel74]

You about 40 odd more than St Mary's Magherafelt.

[JoG2]

Is there not a massive secondary school in Carndonagh?

The community school, their teams would comprise players from which clubs? Are they part of an amalgamation?

Don't know.

Why are they not MacRory if school so big?

A school serviced by smaller junior and intermediate clubs v schools serviced by the likes of Magherafelt, Lavey, Glen, Slaughtneil etc

Ah would you stop.

If St Michael's were to take this attitude they'd just enter the Markey Cup every year.


You actually do seem to want to take someone else's cake and eat it, and force everyone else to watch.

Another 'my way or the high way' post. I'm all about giving players a chance, not the I'm alright Jack attitude some have

[Armagh18]

Is there not a massive secondary school in Carndonagh?

The community school, their teams would comprise players from which clubs? Are they part of an amalgamation?

Don't know.

Why are they not MacRory if school so big?

A school serviced by smaller junior and intermediate clubs v schools serviced by the likes of Magherafelt, Lavey, Glen, Slaughtneil etc

Ah would you stop.

If St Michael's were to take this attitude they'd just enter the Markey Cup every year.


You actually do seem to want to take someone else's cake and eat it, and force everyone else to watch.

Agree with you for once!

[thewobbler]

But that's not what's happening here JoG2.

We're establishing now that there's plenty of schools in Donegal bigger than traditional MacRory schools.

We already know (even if you try to deny it) that Donegal produce good minor teams and have a much better recent record than Down, Armagh, Antrim, Fermanagh and Cavan.

So the ingredients are there - very obviously there - for Donegal schools to compete at MacRory level.

Obviously there's something missing. Let's for now call it a culture of taking pride in schools football.

But rather than going down the route of accepting this and making a 5/10 year plan to compete on an even keel, you want shortcuts. You want the ability to handpick a globetrotter team from multiple schools and send them straight into MacRorys with a clear chance of winning because the raw talent makes up for any lack of culture / pride in the team.

And the best thing about this? If anyone who enjoys the current MacRory concept complains, you can slap it away with an accusation of  "why won't anyone think of the players?".

Let's just call it out for what it is. It's envy. And envy loaded with no concern for the damage that might be done to a competition that has thrived without Veruca Salts running amok.

[J70]

So how big ARE the traditional MacRory schools?

I only listed one big school from Donegal in an area where I don't believe a team has ever won a senior club football championship and has barely featured on the senior county side over the decades.

[Armagh18]

Amalgamate at club underage level out of necessity. You wouldn't see Leitrim and Sligo join up and say we're sick of Galway/Mayo winning Connachts it's time we did something. 

[BigGreenField]

But that's not what's happening here JoG2.

We're establishing now that there's plenty of schools in Donegal bigger than traditional MacRory schools.

We already know (even if you try to deny it) that Donegal produce good minor teams and have a much better recent record than Down, Armagh, Antrim, Fermanagh and Cavan.

So the ingredients are there - very obviously there - for Donegal schools to compete at MacRory level.

Obviously there's something missing. Let's for now call it a culture of taking pride in schools football.

But rather than going down the route of accepting this and making a 5/10 year plan to compete on an even keel, you want shortcuts. You want the ability to handpick a globetrotter team from multiple schools and send them straight into MacRorys with a clear chance of winning because the raw talent makes up for any lack of culture / pride in the team.

And the best thing about this? If anyone who enjoys the current MacRory concept complains, you can slap it away with an accusation of  "why won't anyone think of the players?".

Let's just call it out for what it is. It's envy. And envy loaded with no concern for the damage that might be done to a competition that has thrived without Veruca Salts running amok.

Shortcuts is the right word. Schools need to develop the culture and clubs and schools need to work hand in glove. Nothing good was ever won easy.

[BigGreenField]

Incidentally this isn't a Donegal issue, the Derry city amalgamation shouldn't be there either.

[twohands!!!]

Point of order - county minor is U17, MacRory U19. (Hogan, 18.5?) Obviously County used to be U18, but there's increasing divergence. Schools & County compliment each other.

Hogan Cup is U19 for 5 or 6 years now.

[OakLeaf]

So how big ARE the traditional MacRory schools?

Maghera has about 1350. Magherafelt probably around 1100.