Saint Eunan’s College Ulster Schools GAA Danske Bank UK MacLarnon Cup Final tomorrow đ
St Eunanâs College, Letterkenny have unapologetically stormed their way to the MacLarnon Cup Final. Just sixty minutes and Aquinas Belfast now stand between them and lifting the cup.
But this is no ordinary cup.
The MacLarnon is the second tier of Ulster Schools GAA football, a trophy steeped in history, with a roll of honour that reads like a whoâs who of Ulster football. Names are etched not only onto the silver, but into the fabric of schools and communities across the province.
Days like this donât happen overnight. Not over a single season. But over many, many years of devotion, determination, and downright grit from players, parents, teachers â those teachers who coach in their âspare timeâ â and the club volunteers who give endlessly behind the scenes.
This will be a proud, proud occasion for you all.
In next weekâs MacLarnon Cup Final, the St Eunanâs College panel will take to the pitch wearing jerseys not only designed by their peers but earned by their peers.
In early May 2025, I had the privilege of attending the annual primary school blitz day organised by the Transition Year students at St Eunanâs College through the Young Leaders programme. It is one of my favourite days of the year.
Under the guidance of Mr McDaid and the school leadership team, these students donât simply âhelp outâ. They set up a CCC, a Finance Committee, an RAC, and a PR & Marketing Committee. They plan. They budget. They organise. They lead. Every minute detail of the day is meticulously mapped out.
But even that wasnât enough.
Last yearâs Transition Year group executed the event so exceptionally that they didnât just run a blitz â they set a standard. Their off-the-pitch performance was recognised when they won a set of jerseys for the school.
And what they chose to put on the front of those jerseys says everything about the type of young men St Eunanâs helps to shape.
They chose the logo of the Donegal Hospice.
These boys are not just educated with books. They are moulded into the future adults we all want â and should want â our children to be.
It is no coincidence that the Donegal Hospice was chosen. There are very few families in this county who have not been aided, saved, and enveloped by the care, compassion and dignity provided there, my own family included. In choosing to support the Hospice, these students chose to back a charity that backs us all.
Because thatâs what St Eunanâs does. Standards are not talked about. They are set. And they are lived.
And that same culture now stands on the brink of a MacLarnon Cup final.
So, I ask that as many people as possible come out and support the boys who both represent and support us.
To the players, manager Mr Devine, backroom team of Mr Herlihy & Mr Diver, and everyone else who has made this happen, I give my profuse thanks for the brilliant campaign! I’m so very grateful for the permission to promote it.
BeirigĂ bua a bhuachaillĂ â€ïžđ€
Sinéad Breen
Communications Officer
Donegal GAA
