Mattie McDonagh
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Irish name | Maitiú Mac Donnchadha | ||
| Sport | Gaelic football | ||
| Position | Centre-forward | ||
| Born | 1936 Ballygar, County Galway |
||
| Died | 2005 | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Nickname | Big Matt | ||
| Occupation | National school teacher | ||
| Club(s) | |||
| Years | Club | ||
| 1955–1969 | Ballygar | ||
| Club titles | |||
| Galway titles | 0 | ||
| Inter-county(ies) | |||
| Years | County | ||
| 1956–1968 | Galway | ||
| Inter-county titles | |||
| Connacht titles | 10 | ||
| All-Irelands | 4 | ||
| NFL | 2 | ||
| All Stars | 2 | ||
Matthew "Mattie" McDonagh (1936–2005) was an [Irish] sportsperson. He played Gaelic football with his local club Ballygar and was a member of the Galway senior inter-county team from 1956 until 1968. McDonagh later served as manager of the Galway team. He is regarded as one of the greatest Galway players of all-time.
He sprung to sporting prominence as a teenager when he starred with Summerhill College, Sligo, where he colleagues remembered him from his striking stature as a youngster. Before he was 18 he has tasted Connacht Colleges glory and also won a Roscommon minor hurling medal with Ballygar.
Big Mattie burst on to the national scene in 1956 when forming the midfield partnership with Frank Evers which provided the possession lifeline for the side which powered their way to a 2–13 to 3–7 All-Ireland final victory over Cork on the day that Seán Purcell & ran riot, Stockwell setting a scoring record of 2–05 from play.
After the initial flush of success some lean years followed and Mattie had to bear the disappointment of two county final defeats with Ballygar at the hands of Tuam Stars and Dunmore McHales, the later by the narrowest of margins but the best was yet to come.
McDonagh was one of the most influential players in the Galway teams of the 1960s. After Galway had tasted heartbreaking defeat at the hands of Dublin in the 1963 All-Ireland final where Gerry Davey scored the controversial winning goal, the county under the stewardship of John Dunne, was to embark on their greatest ever run of success, winning three All-Ireland titles, beating Kerry in the first two and Meath in 66 to complete the three in a row, where Mattie McDonagh will be forever remembered in firing home ’left footed’ the only goal of the match in a 1–10 to 0–7 victory.
McDonagh is the only Connacht player to have won four senior All-Ireland medals
He never shirked a challenge and took on the task of managing the Galway senior team in 1980 after a turbulent period when player power made the headlines in the county and a cool and respected head was needed to settle the ship.
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