Mighty Mac: Ciaran McDonald

Celebrated in Mayo and beyond, Ciaran McDonald is one the biggest cult figures in the GAA thanks to his modesty, his tremendous talent and one hell of a left foot.

It is a measure of the esteem in which Ciaran McDonald is held in Mayo that last summer, when he was 37 and hadn’t played for his county for over four years, the prospect of him returning to the green and red for one last hurrah was still a possibility. An incredibly distinct possibility mind, but a possibility all the same.

And it wasn’t without grounds either. McDonald was still shining for his club, Crossmolina, with whom he won and lost All-Ireland Finals in the last decade, totting up ridiculous individual tallies in games (0-9 in one particular encounter) and delivering the sort of performances that had GAA folk gossiping throughout the county and inventing rumours that he was about to be summoned into the senior set-up once again.

Word about Ciaran McDonald travels very fast in Mayo and the mere mention of his name is enough to raise ripples of excitement in the west.

But with McDonald, it just doesn’t stop at Mayo’s borders. The man is box-office material throughout the country and wouldn’t look out of place on a list with the Canavans, the Ó Sés, the McGeeneys, the Joyces, the Donnellans and the Maurice Fitzes of this world, the players who have had the most profound effect on Gaelic Football in the last 20 years.

His deeds alone were enough to make him a cult figure, but his cult status was increased by the fact that precious little people – and this includes Mayo as well as elsewhere – had encountered him publicly or knew what he sounded like. It was for that reason that there was such an incredible reaction when he conducted a very rare interview with Off The Ball ahead of the Mayo v Dublin game last summer; ‘legend’ was the general theme of the text messages streaming into the radio station afterwards.

It was for his exploits for Mayo against Dublin that McDonald will most be remembered, of course, having kicked the amazing last-minute point in the 2006 All-Ireland semi-final, a game that still stands as one of the greatest of the modern era. McDonald also kicked a point from a sideline ball that day and, as he did all summer, gave an exhibition of kick-passing, particularly off the outside his left boot, that was as effective as it was easy on the eye.

His style of play and his image – the long blonde hair, the tattoos etc, - led many to believe that McDonald was a fancy-dan, but the opposite was in fact the case, as the Aussies found out when they tried to target him in the International Rules Series in 2004. Thanks to years and years of physical labour and an application that possibly wasn’t highlighted as much because of his other qualities, McDonald was donkey strong, as many a centre back discovered to their cost over the years.

McDonald made his senior Mayo debut in 1994 but came to prominence in 1997, when he scored a penalty in the ‘Maurice Fitz final’ against Kerry, the side who would also be responsible for inflicting defeat on Mayo again in 2004 and 2006.

McDonald did taste glory with Crossmolina Deel Rovers in 2001, scoring seven points (four from play) in a single point victory over Nemo Rangers at Croke Park, earning Mayo’s first All-Ireland club title in the process.

Nemo gained revenge in the decider two years later, but McDonald was magnificent once more, leading the charge against the Cork side before the North Mayo club eventually fell to a two-point defeat.

Ten years on from that game, McDonald is still in magnificent shape, is still making waves in club football and until he officially hangs up his boots, optimistic fans in Mayo will cling onto any hope of a return of the Mac.

When he does, he’ll go down as one of the county’s and the country’s most gifted Gaelic Footballers.

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