Declan Coulter
Personal information
Sport Hurling
Born 1987/8
Occupation Primary school teacher[1]
Club(s)
Years Club
20??–201?
201?–
 Cuchulainn's
Setanta
Inter-county(ies)
Years County
2005–2016
2017–
 Armagh
Donegal

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

Coulter previously played for Cuchulainn's and the Armagh county team.

Playing career

Club

Following a move to Donegal, Coulter began playing for Setanta with whom he won a Donegal Senior Hurling Championship and an Ulster Junior Club Hurling Championship in 2017, scoring 1–6 in the Ulster JCHC final against Na Magha.[3][4] He won his second Donegal SHC in 2019, scoring 1–2 (including 1 free) in the final.[5] He played on the Setanta team that won the 2022 Ulster Junior Club Hurling Championship, scoring 0–10 (0–5 of which were frees) in the final.[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]

Inter-county

Coulter made his inter-county debut for Armagh at the age of 17 in 2005.[2] He won his first Nicky Rackard Cup in 2010. He won his second Nicky Rackard Cup with Armagh in 2012, scoring 2–2 in the final against Louth.[9] He continued to play for Armagh until 2016.[2]

Coulter began playing for Donegal in 2017.[2] He played for Donegal during the 2018 National Hurling League, when the county recorded their first competitive victories over Derry and Down (he scored 1–1 in the comprehensive defeat of Derry and 0–2 in the three-point defeat of Down).[3][10][11] Donegal also defeated Armagh in the closing game of that league campaign, with Coulter contributing 2–1 (including one penalty) to the three-point victory over his former side.[12] Donegal went on to win the 2018 Nicky Rackard Cup, Coulter's first for Donegal and third overall, with Coulter scoring 1–10 (0–4 of which were frees, 0–1 of which was a '65) in the final, a seven-point victory for Donegal.[13] He was later named Nicky Rackard Hurler of the Year.[14] He and fellow Donegal player Stephen Gillespie featured on the Nicky Rackard Team of the Year.[14]

Coulter was named as a replacement on the 2018 All-Star team for their game against the 2019 All-Star team in Abu Dhabi in November 2019.[15][16] He put in a man of the match performance and scored 1–6 from play, despite not being an actual All-Star and being in the presence of hurlers from teams ranked above any across Ulster.[16][17][15] Martin Breheny, in the Irish Independent, wrote that Coulter, having outscored teammates of the calibre of Séamus Harnedy (Cork) and Graeme Mulcahy (Limerick), had "made a major statement on behalf of hurlers from lower-ranked counties".[18]

Coulter has expressed his support for the "Team Ulster" concept that would allow Ulster to contest the Liam MacCarthy Cup.[19][20][21]

Personal life

Having spent several years living in Dublin, Coulter settled in the Finn Valley area of County Donegal.[2] He met Ciara Cullen from Donegal while representing Ireland in the Shinty-Hurling International Series in Dublin in 2006.[2] Coulter later married her.[16] Cullen is the sister of Donegal player Danny.[2] Coulter has since become a father.[13] He has a son and a daughter.[1]

Honours

Armagh
Donegal
Setanta
Individual
  • Nicky Rackard Hurler of the Year: 2018[14]
  • Nicky Rackard Team of the Year: 2018[14]
  • All-Stars Man of the Match, Abu Dhabi: 2019[16]
  • Donegal News Sports Personality winner: March 2020[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ferry, Ryan (7 May 2020). "Coulter is March Sports Personality of the Month". Donegal News. p. 54. However the Dromore NS teacher did receive a boost late last year when he was selected to go on the All Star trip to Abu Dhabi. Original print title was "Coulter collects league title in Carrickmore".
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 McLaughlin, Gerry (4 September 2019). "Declan Coulter: Setanta focusing on Ulster and Keady tussle". The Irish News. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  3. 1 2 Devlin, Michael (20 June 2018). "The Cullen family continues to deliver for Donegal hurling". GAA. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  4. 1 2 "Coulter's strike drives Setanta to glory". Irish Independent. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  5. 1 2 "Donegal SHC final: Setanta goals sink St Eunan's". Hogan Stand. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  6. 1 2 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. 1 2 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…
  9. 1 2 "Nicky Rackard final: Orchard blooms against Louth". Hogan Stand. 9 June 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  10. ↑ "Donegal make their own history: Donegal 4–17 Derry 2–9". Irish Independent. 5 February 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  11. ↑ Comack, Tom (25 February 2018). "Donegal hurlers pull off an historic first win over Down in Letterkenny". Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  12. ↑ "Fired-up Coulter burns Orchard: Donegal 2–17 Armagh 1–17". Irish Independent. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  13. 1 2 3 "Donegal win the Nicky Rackard Cup for the first time since 2013". Irish Independent. 23 June 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2018. The photograph is captioned: "Declan Coulter of Donegal celebrates with his daughter Lara, age 1, following the Nicky Rackard Cup Final match between Donegal and Warwickshire at Croke Park in Dublin".
  14. 1 2 3 4 McNulty, Chris (3 November 2018). "Donegal star Declan Coulter is Nicky Rackard Hurler of the Year". Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  15. 1 2 McNulty, Chris (19 November 2019). "Declan Coulter to feature in All-Stars trip to Abu Dhabi". Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "Declan Coulter shines in PwC All Star game in Abu Dhabi". Highland Radio. 30 November 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019. It was a great experience being from one of the weaker counties and a nice honour. It was about two weeks ago that I got notice so it was a matter of trying to arrange work and baby sitters but it was a trip you couldn't turn down – and for my wife Ciara as well to get something out of it.
  17. ↑ Moran, Seán (29 November 2019). "Declan Coulter takes opportunity to shine in Abu Dhabi: Donegal and former Armagh hurler scores 1–6 and is named Man of the Match". The Irish Times. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  18. ↑ Breheny, Martin (30 November 2019). "Donegal's Coulter top man in All-Star shoot-out". Irish Independent. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  19. ↑ "Video: eleven top hurling people discuss the Team Ulster proposal". Hogan Stand. 1 June 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  20. ↑ "'We have to do something — we're standing still' — Players and managers support idea of Ulster hurling team". RTÉ Sport. 1 June 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  21. ↑ "Video: Highlighting the merits or otherwise of a 'Team Ulster' hurling initiative". The Irish News. 2 June 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
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