A GAA club was first established in Killybegs in 1924. However, it fell aside for a few years
and in the 30's, a playing field known as 'Maguires Field' was obtained in Island. Funds were raised by holding ceílis in the
local school. The GAA in the area really took off and a special parish cup was established - "The St. Catherine's Cup".
Football fell away again after the war and players played with neighbouring clubs.
In 1952 Killybegs won the Dr. Maguire Cup - their first county title in its short
history. But shortly after this great achievement, the team broke up again with many players lining out with Kilcar and Dunkineely.
When a meeting was held to bring the club back together, land was acquired at Fintra and in 1967,
Fintra G.A.A. Park was opened with a match between Donegal and Mayo.
The 70's saw a lot of effort put into youth development in the club and it certainly paid off
as the record shows - In almost 10 years, the club won 17 underage titles, 2 Ulster Club Minor titles, 2 County Shields and
1 Intermediate County title. During this period, Killybegs completed an unbelievable run of 16 wins out of 16 underage finals
- a feat I don't think has been repeated anywhere. A few of the young players had the talent to go on to play for their county
- winning more underage medals including an All-Ireland U-21 medal - and some went on to win a coveted All Ireland Senior
Championship medal in 1992.
Fintra Park was renovated in 1988 , and christened McDevitt Park and a inter county game between
Donegal and Leitrim was played in front of a fantastic crowd after a U-16 curtain raiser. At the moment, new ground has been obtained
and is currently in the development stage - but with the current success and interest in the GAA in Killybegs, the final grounds should
be on a level with the best in the county.
The current underage teams in the town seem to be on a same par as the teams of the early
eighties with some of the coaches believing that they have more talented players now than those who've gone before - indeed current
form suggests that they might not be far wrong. And with the last of the great players over the past two decades hanging up their
county and club boots, it is up to these future stars to put Killybegs club back up where it belongs.