The competition has been won by 28 clubs, 13 of which have won it more than once.
Declan Bonner was
player-manager of the 1989 winning team. He won the
Ulster Senior Football Championship with his county in 1990, followed by another in 1992 and the
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship of 1992 as well. A young
Jim McGuinness first came to the attention of then Donegal manager
Brian McEniff in the 1990 final. The most successful team to have emerged from the Donegal IFC in the 21st-century is
Glenswilly. They went on to claim several SFC honours for the first time in club history (2011, 2013, 2016).
Neil Gallagher, the future
National Football League-winning captain and All Star of the 2012 and 2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, won the Donegal IFC in 2005. The 2006 final required two replays before
Cloich Cheann Fhaola defeated
Gaeil Fhánada. Initially a straight knock-out competition, a round-robin group stage was introduced in 2013. With its 2023 title win, Na Dúnaibh became the first club to win the competition on four occasions, having previously done so in 1981, 1988 and 1993.
Michael Boyle (2012),
Kevin Mulhern (2014),
Jamie and
Paul Brennan (2015),
Frank McGlynn (2018),
Stephen Griffin (2019) and
Peter Boyle (2020). Others to have played in this competition and played at senior level for their county include
Michael Lynch,
Niall McCready and
Brian Roper. ==Honours==