Rory Gallagher, who has been "temporarily debarred" from the GAA pending a safeguarding probe into domestic abuse claims, played Gaelic football for two counties, Fermanagh and Cavan, for four different clubs, and has managed three Ulster counties – Donegal, Fermanagh, and Derry.
As a club player he won an All-Ireland title with St Gall’s of Antrim in 2010, having previously won a Leinster crown with Dublin outfit St Brigid’s.
A talented forward, he jointly held the individual championship scoring record of 3-9 for 18 years, having notched that total in an Ulster match for his native county Fermanagh against Monaghan in 2002.
His home club is Erne Gaels, Belleek, for whom his father Gerry also starred; Rory played alongside his brother Ronan, a goalkeeper, at club and county. His mother Deirdre is a Kavanagh from Ballygawley, with her brother Eamonn having featured for Errigal Ciaran and Tyrone.
His uncle Eamonn was a dual player, notably playing soccer as a midfielder for Omagh Town over three spells, and also with Finn Harps and Glentoran.
Rory Gallagher followed that lead, featuring for Portadown in the Irish League during his early days with Fermanagh, having captained Northern Ireland Schoolboys and Fermanagh’s team in the then Milk Cup tournament.
However, it was as a Gaelic footballer that he made his name. Fermanagh were a struggling side but his tally of 3-9 against Monaghan brought him to wider attention.
He departed the Erne County senior set-up in 2005, and switched county allegiance to Cavan in 2007, having hooked up with Crosserlough at club level. He briefly returned to the Fermanagh panel in 2010.
In 2011, he moved into the inter-county management scene, as a selector for Jim McGuinness's Donegal, helping them to win their first Ulster title since 1992.
The next year, Donegal added only their second All-Ireland, having retained the Ulster title.
However, after a falling out with McGuinness, he resigned as senior selection, but paired up with ‘Maxi’ Curran as Donegal’s U21 management team, and also became joint manager of Donegal club Kilcar along with John McNulty.
When Jim McGuinness moved into the soccer world, Gallagher was appointed Donegal senior manager in October 2014.
In his first season, Donegal lost in the Division One semi-finals to Cork and reached the Ulster final, only to lose by a point to Monaghan. Mayo ousted them from the All-Ireland series.
Donegal also lost the 2016 Ulster final, late on, to Tyrone, who defeated them well in the 2017 Ulster semi-final.
A 15-point hammering by Galway in round 4A of the All-Ireland qualifiers ended his reign as Donegal boss.
Gallagher was quickly snapped up by his native Fermanagh, and led them to the 2018 Ulster final with a shock semi-final victory over holders Monaghan. Donegal, of course, were the opposition in the decider and they comfortably regained the Anglo-Celt Cup.
After leaving the Fermanagh job in 2019, Gallagher was appointed as senior football boss by Derry.
Missing the Slaughtneil players for the early part of that Covid-interrupted season, the Oak Leafers still only missed out on promotion from Division Three on their head-to-head record against Down.
Gallagher did bring Derry up to Division Two in 2021, thrashing Offaly in the Division Three final.
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They narrowly missed out on reaching the top flight in 2022 but, more importantly, ended a 24-year wait for Ulster SFC glory. Derry beat the three dominant teams in Ulster over the past decade: reigning All-Ireland champions Tyrone, Monaghan, and Donegal in the final, after extra time.
Gallagher earned promotion to Division One for Derry earlier this year, but stepped back from the manager’s role in May after allegations of domestic violence made against him on social media by his estranged wife Nicola.
She claimed in a Facebook post that she was the victim of physical abuse for more than two decades.
Mr Gallagher, who turned 45 last month, said the allegations had been "investigated and dealt with by the relevant authorities".
The Public Prosecution Services received two investigation files from the PSNI in January and June 2022 and it was determined there was not enough evidence to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction in relation to any individual.
In September 2023, Ulster GAA said Mr Gallagher had been "temporarily debarred" from the GAA while an investigation continues by its adult safeguarding panel.
It issued a statement following reports that he had been helping train Co Monaghan club Corduff Gaels.
An Ulster GAA spokesperson said: "Ulster GAA wish to confirm that Mr Rory Gallagher has been temporarily debarred, without prejudice, from the GAA until the Ulster GAA Safeguarding Panel conclude their work. We will not be making any further comment on these matters at this time."
