Paddy McConigley is an Irish Gaelic footballer who played for Donegal county team and, before that, the London county team.[2] He currently plays for The Railyard Football Club in Kilkenny, where he has won two Kilkenny Senior Football Championship titles, in 2015 and 2016.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Gaelic football | ||
| Occupation |
Carpenter[1] Piscicultural worker[1] | ||
| Club(s) | |||
| Years | Club | ||
|
Gaeil Fhánada Tír Chonaill Gaels Railyard | |||
| Inter-county(ies) | |||
| Years | County | ||
200?–200? 200?–2007 |
London Donegal | ||
| Inter-county titles | |||
| NFL | 1 | ||
Playing career
editClub
editMcConigley's club Gaeil Fhánada lost the 2006 Donegal Intermediate Football Championship final to Cloich Cheann Fhaola after two replays.[1] However, the club won the Division 2 title with a win against Seán Mac Cumhaills.[1]
While in London, McConigley played for Tír Chonaill Gaels. He marked Michael Donnellan in an All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship quarter-final, losing by around four points.[1]
After his inter-county career ended, McConigley continued to play with his club and won a Donegal Intermediate Football Championship in 2009.[3] He won an All-Ireland Gaeltacht title in 2012.[3]
He played club football in Donegal until the conclusion of the 2014 season, then he and his family relocated to Kilkenny and he began playing for Railyard.[3]
Inter-county
editMcConigley captained the Donegal minor team and played for three years with the under-21 team, captaining them for two of those.[1] He first featured at senior level under the management of Mickey Moran.[1] However, the local fish farm did not provide with work continually throughout the year so he moved to London, England.[1] While there he played for the London county team. London played Donegal in 2006 and then Donegal manager Brian McIver asked McConigley if he would be returning to Ireland.[1] He did.[1] After impressing with Gaeil Fhánada (see above), McConigley was invited for a trial with the county team and was included on the panel.[1] He did not start the opening game of the 2007 National Football League (away to Cork at Páirc Uí Rinn) but came on as a substitute in the second game (at home against Mayo in Ballybofey).[1] He held onto his place in the team after this.[1] With Barry Dunnion occupying the other wing, McConigley had to see off competition from future All-Ireland winners Eamon McGee, Frank McGlynn and Anthony Thompson.[1] He started at right half-back in the NFL semi-final against Kildare at Croke Park but came off injured after 35 minutes.[1] McConigley also started in the final, again against Mayo.[4] He was a late inclusion for that game, instead of Thomas Donoghue.[1] Eamon McGee came as a substitute for McConigley.[1] Months later, while on a team bonding trip in Milford, McConigley was shot in the eye and blinded. His vision never recovered and he never played for Donegal again.[5][6] The incident occurred after the 2007 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship qualifier against Westmeath and before the qualifier against Monaghan[1] "It probably was a defining monent in my career to be honest", he said later.[1]
Personal life
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Ferry, Ryan (23 April 2020). "McConigley reflects on 2007 National League success". Donegal News. pp. 52–3.
- ^ Lawlor, Damian (18 November 2007). "McConigley determined to revive Donegal career". Irish Independent. Retrieved 18 November 2007.
- ^ a b c Forker, Mark (29 June 2015). "Former Donegal GAA star helps Kilkenny footballers win British junior title". Retrieved 27 October 2020.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "McConigley fails to recover sight in one eye". Hogan Stand. 13 November 2007. Retrieved 13 November 2007.
- ^ a b Fogarty, John (25 May 2013). "Simple pleasures sustain McConigley". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 25 May 2013.