Danny Cullen

For the Australian cricketer who played for South Australia, see Dan Cullen. For the Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales, see Daniel Cullen (New South Wales cricketer). For the Irish Olympic sprinter, see Dan Cullen (athlete).

Danny Cullen
Personal information
Sport Hurling
Born 1987/8
Club(s)
Years Club
200?–
 Setanta
Inter-county(ies)
Years County Apps (scores)
c. 2003/4–
 Donegal 153

Danny Cullen (born 1987/8)[1][2] is a hurler. He plays for Setanta, the Donegal county team and the Ireland national team.

He has won three Nicky Rackard Cups and represented (and captained) Ireland against Scotland in the Shinty-Hurling International Series.

Playing career

[edit]

Club

[edit]

Cullen's grandfather, Danny Snr, was a founder of Setanta in 1979.[3] He (the grandson) won a Donegal Senior Hurling Championship in 2017.[citation needed] Setanta followed this with an Ulster Junior Club Hurling Championship, also in 2017.[3][4] He won another Donegal SHC in 2019, scoring 0–1 in the final.[5]

He played on the Setanta team that won the 2022 Ulster Junior Club Hurling Championship.[6]

He played on the Setanta team that won the 2023 Ulster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship, thus becoming the first team from Donegal to win the competition, and scored 0–1 in the final.[7][8]

Cullen has coached under-age teams for his club.[2]

College

[edit]

He played for NUI Galway.[2]

Inter-county

[edit]

Cullen made his debut for Donegal at the age of 16.[1] He has also captained his county.[3][9][10]

He was part of a delegation to Croke Park who staged a sit-in as part of their effort to free Donegal manager Eamonn Campbell from suspension for the 2009 Lory Meagher Cup final against Tyrone.[11]

Cullen won the 2013 Nicky Rackard Cup with Donegal, playing in the final against Roscommon and scoring three points.[12]

He played for Donegal during the 2018 National Hurling League, when the county recorded their first competitive victories over Derry and Down.[3][13][14] He later cited the Down victory as important to him, since Down versus Tipperary in the 1997 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship semi-final was the first hurling match he attended at Croke Park.[3] Donegal also defeated Armagh in the closing game of that league campaign.[15] They went on to win the 2018 Nicky Rackard Cup.[16]

Cullen featured in the 2016 Champions 15.[17] He was also a Champions 15 nominee in 2019.[18] He was named on the 2020 Champions 15 team and also received the Nicky Rackard Hurler of the Year following Donegal's earlier victory in the 2020 Nicky Rackard Cup Final.[19][20] He scored three points in the final.[21]

By the end of 2022, Cullen had made 153 appearances for Donegal (more than any other panel member), with Seán McVeigh — who retired that year — in second place, ending on 129 appearances.[22]

Cullen was named on the 2023 Champion 15 Team of the Year.[23]

International

[edit]

Cullen was selected to play for Ireland against Scotland in the Shinty–Hurling International Series played over two games at Croke Park in Dublin and Bught Park in Inverness in 2013.[24] [needs update] He was also selected for the Inverness contest at Bught Park in 2018.[25] Ireland lost.[26] He captained the Ireland team for the Abbotstown contest in 2019, and was his county's only representative in that year's squad.[18][27] Though he scored, Ireland lost.[26]

Personal life

[edit]

Cullen's sister, Ciara, is married to Declan Coulter.[28]

He appeared in a short film on hurling made by a CNN-owned company based in New York and London.[9]

He had a honeymoon in 2022.[29]

Honours

[edit]
Setanta
Donegal
Individual
  • Donegal Hurler of the Year: 2013[31]
  • Champions 15: 2016,[17] 2020,[19] 2023[23]
  • Nicky Rackard Hurler of the Year: 2020[20]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Ferry, Ryan (13 February 2020). "Cullen still enjoying his hurling". Donegal News. p. 78. Danny Cullen has now been playing senior intercounty hurling with Donegal for half of his life… 'I'm 32 now so I have been on the go a good while', said Cullen. 'I think I was 16 when I played first so some people have been saying I was a veteran since I was 25!'
  2. ^ a b c Ferry, Ryan (4 June 2020). "Team Ulster concept 'worth a look'". Donegal News. p. 52. 'When I was younger, I was hurling with the college (NUIG) at a high level… 'I'm 32 now… I have been coaching our Under 12s with Setanta for the last five or six years as well…
  3. ^ a b c d e Devlin, Michael (20 June 2018). "The Cullen family continues to deliver for Donegal hurling". Retrieved 20 June 2018. Donegal captain Danny Cullen is indicative of the type of hurler who was born into the small ball tradition… and the club progressed through the years, most notably winning the Ulster Club JHC last year with county skipper Cullen playing a key role.
  4. ^ a b "Coulter's strike drives Setanta to glory". Irish Independent. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Donegal SHC final: Setanta goals sink St Eunan's". Hogan Stand. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  6. ^ a b Bonnar, Dáire (27 November 2022). "Super Setanta soar clear to win another Ulster JHC title". Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  7. ^ "Setanta create history as they win the Ulster IHC title". Donegal News. 2 December 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  8. ^ a b Mooney, Francis (3 December 2023). "Donegal's Setanta see off game Eire Og in Ulster IHC Final". The Irish News. Retrieved 3 December 2023. Declan Coulter and Danny Cullen were the experienced heads behind the flourish which saw Gilmore add another three scores, with Cullen, Oisin Marley and Josh Connolly McGee also on target as they built up a 0–11 to 0–5 interval advantage.
  9. ^ a b "Danny Cullen and Setanta feature in CNN Hurling film". Highland Radio. 13 August 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019. The Donegal Captain was part of a Great Big Story production documenting the tradition of the country's national sport.
  10. ^ Craig, Frank (26 January 2020). "County hurlers open at home to Armagh". Donegal News. Retrieved 26 January 2020. Donegal will also have a new skipper this season as St Eunan's Sean McVeigh takes over the armband from Danny Cullen.
  11. ^ Foley, Cliona (10 July 2009). "Donegal 'sit-in' protest over Campbell ban falls on deaf ears at Croker". Irish Independent. Retrieved 10 July 2009.
  12. ^ a b "Donegal win Nicky Rackard Cup". Irish Examiner. 8 June 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  13. ^ "Donegal make their own history: Donegal 4–17 Derry 2–9". Irish Independent. 5 February 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  14. ^ Comack, Tom (25 February 2018). "Donegal hurlers pull off an historic first win over Down in Letterkenny". Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  15. ^ "Fired-up Coulter burns Orchard: Donegal 2–17 Armagh 1–17". Irish Independent. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  16. ^ a b "Donegal win the Nicky Rackard Cup for the first time since 2013". Irish Independent. 23 June 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  17. ^ a b Walsh, Harry (5 November 2016). "McHugh was in library when heard he had won an All Star". Donegal News. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2016. Danny Cullen (Setanta) and Pádraig Doherty (Burt) make up two-thirds of the half-forward line in the 'Champions 15' selection.
  18. ^ a b McNulty, Chris (31 October 2019). "Danny Cullen to captain Irish squad for Shinty International". Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  19. ^ a b "Cullen and McVeigh named on Champion 15 selection". Donegal News. 15 February 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  20. ^ a b "Christy Ring winners Kildare lead Champion 15 selection". 15 February 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  21. ^ a b "Donegal goal burst enough to secure Nicky Rackard glory". RTÉ Sport. 22 November 2020.
  22. ^ "McVeigh's Donegal numbers crunched". Donegal News. 23 June 2022. p. 64. Most-capped of 2022 squad: 153 Danny Cullen 129 Seán McVeigh 108 Ronan McDermott
  23. ^ a b "Cullen and White make Champion 15 Team of the Year". Donegal News. 24 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  24. ^ "Donegal's Danny Cullen selected for Ireland shinty squad". Donegal News. 24 October 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  25. ^ "Cullen to represent Ireland in Huling/Shinty International". Donegal News. 17 October 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  26. ^ a b Duffy, Cóilín (7 November 2019). "Honours even for Ireland and Scotland senior and U21 sides in showpiece shinty/hurling internationals in Dublin". The Irish Post. Retrieved 7 November 2019. Scotland and Ireland held onto their Senior and Under 21 Shinty–Hurling International titles after strong second half displays in Dublin at the weekend… Kildare's Paul Divilly and Donegal's Danny Cullen ensured a 0-2 to 0-0 lead after four minutes, but despite Ireland's dominance in the opening stages, they failed to make it count on the score-board.
  27. ^ Barry, Stephen (31 October 2019). "19 counties represented in Ireland squads for Hurling–Shinty Internationals". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 31 October 2019. Donegal's Danny Cullen will captain a team which includes Laois stalwarts Willie Dunphy and Ryan Mullaney, Kerry's Mikey Boyle and Shane Nolan, and Westmeath duo Joey Boyle and Shane McGovern.
  28. ^ McLaughlin, Gerry (4 September 2019). "Declan Coulter: Setanta focusing on Ulster and Keady tussle". The Irish News. Retrieved 4 September 2019. And while Coulter and his brother-in-law, Danny Cullen, played huge roles, Coulter quickly shines a light on Mark Devine: that man scored 2–2 from play and he is some player.
  29. ^ Ferry, Ryan (3 February 2022). "Donegal hurlers step into unknown against London". Donegal News. p. 64. [Donegal hurling manager Mickey McCann]: 'Danny Cullen was just back from honeymoon on the Saturday and he took part in training on Sunday so that is a boost'.
  30. ^ Craig, Frank (18 February 2021). "Cullen excited about Donegal's future". Donegal News. p. 54. 'I was just delighted the ways things finished up for us', [Danny] Cullen told the Donegal News. 'We won the league — that moves us up to Division 2B'.
  31. ^ McNulty, Chris (22 December 2013). "Durack aiming for more success as hurlers honoured". Donegal News. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
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