They call it the place where the blanket was manufactured.
They say the entire county is still infected from the McGuinness bomb and that football there is in quarantine.
Its high winds along the Atlantic coast means hand passing thrives there and that long kicking is a bigger risk than it is anywhere else.
But Donegal is a proud people and its football is still alive and well – despite football dying all those times.
The romance around the reemergence of the men from the hills coming down and claiming Sam out of nowhere, then derailing Jim Gavin’s Dublin juggernaut quickly vanished as teams all over the land tried to copy a knockoff version of their counter-attacking tactics and turned a lot of matches predictable and cautious.
What no-one seemed to appreciate was the Donegal, from 2011 to 2014, had the perfect team to play that system. They had the right defenders, the best runners in the country and they had three target man full forwards who were thriving with the space afforded on the counter. Crucially, their tactic was also new, fresh, and surprising and they made hay. Trying it years later without the team to do so, without the element of surprise and without an ill-equipped opposition is just stupid.
Anyway, Donegal is still tarred with the brush that other counties and other teams are using today but one result in the senior club championship shocked the country.
Gweedore haven’t triumphed in Donegal since Declan Bonner was in charge in 2006 but by golly they’re looking frightening at present.
The western outfit took on Bundoran in the quarter-final on Sunday and hit them for eight goals in a match that saw 11 green flags wave in Ballybofey.
Gaoth Dobhair 8-13 Bundoran 3-12
A 16-point win for a side who shipped 21 points – that’s Donegal football.
To the fore for Gweedore were seven different goalscorers with Donegal legend Kevin Cassidy bagging one for himself.
Dáire Ó Baoill netted twice, Naoise Ó Baoill joined him, as did Cian Mulligan, James Carroll, Eamon Collum and Niall Friel.
Ódhran Mac Niallais scored two frees and Michael Carroll chipped in before Neil McGee popped up from the bag to get in on the action too.
Despite Bundoran’s total of 3-12, Jamie Brennan was held scoreless and Gweedore march on to take on Sean MacCumhaills in the semi-final this weekend.
Donegal SFC semi-finals
Gaoth Dobhair v Sean MacCumhaills
Naomh Conaill v Glenswilly
