Brian McEniff

McEniff was born on 1 December 1942. He was born in Bundoran, County Donegal. His parents were County Monaghan, and Begley from Carrickmore, County Tyrone. From the age of 17, McEniff spent three years studying hotel management at Cathal Burgha Street College in Dublin. McEniff left Ireland for Canada in 1962 to gain hotel work experience. It was in 1966 that he came back to Ireland. ==Playing career==

McEniff supported Tyrone against Louth in the 1957 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final, his first visit to Croke Park. He managed them as recently as 2013. McEniff was player-manager of the first Donegal team to win an Ulster Senior Football Championship title in 1972. He received an All Star award in 1972. He was also player–manager of the 1974 Ulster SFC winning team. He was wing-back in the final as Donegal defeated Down. ==Management career==

In 1975, the Donegal County Board ousted McEniff as manager. In 1975, he assisted as a mentor the Sligo county team that won that county's second Connacht Senior Football Championship title. He later returned as Donegal manager, for the first time as a non-playing member of the team. He was manager again by late 1982. They narrowly lost to Galway in the 1983 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final. He helped Tyrone club Carrickmore, where his mother was from, when they were struggling against relegation in 1983 and 1986. McEniff returned as Donegal manager in 1989, succeeding Tom Conaghan. McEniff's success in Gaelic games culminated when he led his native Donegal team to glory over Dublin at Croke Park in the 1992 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final. It was shortly before this match that McEniff was informed that the brother of one of his players Joyce McMullin, had died from cancer. McEniff managed Ireland for the International Rules Series of 2000 and 2001. McEniff departed as Ireland manager in 2001. He soon returned for a last outing as Donegal manager. He was chairman of the Donegal County Board in late 2002, but could not find a manager, so he did it himself. In 2003, he led Donegal to the All-Ireland SFC semi-final. During his final time as manager, McEniff called such players as Neil Gallagher, Rory Kavanagh, Karl Lacey and Eamon McGee into the senior county team for the first time, in late 2003. McEniff later denied this, though Louth County Board chairman Padraic O'Connor said McEniff would be a "great capture" and would not be paid. McEniff managed his local club in the 2013 Donegal Senior Football Championship, taking over from Joe Keeney after his resignation and filling the position in his 71st year. McEniff guided both Jim McGuinness and Declan Bonner, his most noteworthy successors as Donegal manager, into management. Management style Personal connections formed a critical part of McEniff's management style, so much so that when Declan Bonner brought his wife to Austria on their honeymoon McEniff maintained regular contact. ==Other ventures==

Involved in Gaelic games administration in County Donegal, McEniff also spent time as Donegal's GAA Central Council delegate. He is Managing Director of the McEniff Hotel Group, which has a presence in such locations as Bundoran, Drumcondra, Sligo, Rosses Point and Westport, County Mayo. Even though his father was a strong Fine Gael supporter, his mother was a supporter of Fianna Fáil. He was appointed to the board of Ireland West Airport in 2002. As of 2022, McEniff remained chairman of the CLG Réalt na Mara club. ==Personal life==

McEniff is married to Catherine "Cautie" O'Leary, a native of Cork whom he met in Canada and married her there. A pianist, he had a heart attack in late 2021. ==Honours==

;Player • Ulster Senior Football Championship: 1972, • In May 2012, the Irish Independent named him in its selection of Donegal's "greatest team" spanning the previous 50 years. • In 2017, the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) chose McEniff and Kilkenny hurler Eddie Keher as its recipients of lifetime achievement awards. • In January 2018, McEniff was inducted into the Donegal Sports Star Awards' Hall of Fame, with Donegal Sports Star Awards chairman Neil Martin quoted as saying: "As a committee we were unanimous when the name of Brian McEniff was proposed for 2017 Hall of Fame". • On 19 April 2018, McEniff was presented with an All-Ireland Lifetime Achievement Award at the All-Ireland Business Summit. • In February 2019, McEniff was honoured with a gala dinner at the Mount Errigal Hotel, attended by GAA president John Horan. • In May 2020, the Belfast Telegraph named him as one of the "inspirational quartet" who would feature on Ulster GAA's Mount Rushmore. • GAA Writers' Hall of Fame Award, received in May 2022, alongside Len Gaynor, who received the equivalent in hurling ==References==