Rory Gallagher is a Gaelic football manager and former player. Gallagher has lined out for the Fermanagh and Cavan inter-county teams, as well as several club teams, including his home club Erne Gaels, as well as Dublin side Saint Brigid's and Antrim's St Gall's. He was a selector for Donegal during their 2012 Championship success, acting as number two to Jim McGuinness. He left the Donegal panel after the 2013 championship but later returned as Jim McGuinness's successor in October 2014 when McGuinness departed following the 2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. With John McNulty, he was joint manager of the Cill Chartha club in 2014 during his time away from the county panel.
Gallagher played for both Fermanagh and Cavan. Gallagher was top scorer in the Ulster Senior Football Championship for three consecutive years: in 2000, 2001 and 2002. In 2002, he scored 3-09 in an Ulster Senior Football Championship game against Monaghan. After soaring to such heights he quit Fermanagh in 2002. He briefly returned to Fermanagh in 2010. Then he left, such was his disgust when John O'Neill was appointed county manager.
Managerial career
Selector: Donegal
In 2011, Gallagher joined the Donegal senior football team as a selector. As soon as he joined he knew all the players' names. Jim McGuinness had originally recruited Peter McGinley but he had work commitments and spoke of Gallagher as an impressive coach. Martin McHugh also thinks highly of him. McGuinness decided to call upon Gallagher. Since his arrival McGuinness's team have twice won Ulster and in 2012 they got their hands on Sam the man himself. This led the people of Donegal to look upon Gallagher with awe and reverence and as a kind of demi-god to Jim's Messiah, though this was not in evidence when McGuinness departed and Gallagher took over. He resigned as a selector in 2013. He was then linked with the vacant Fermanagh and Antrim jobs but settled instead for Donegal Under-21s assistant manager under Maxi Curran. After his departure from the Donegal senior team, fellow McGuinness underling Curran, who also sacrificed himself, said: "I think that Rory made an enormous contribution to Donegal's success as a tactician, coach, motivator and diplomat. He did not spare himself in bringing Donegal right up to the top I cannot speak highly enough of him and I consider it an honour and a privilege to have worked alongside him. He will undoubtedly be a massive asset to any club or county side fortunate enough to engage his services." After Gallagher left the Donegal panel in 2013, he became joint manager of Cill Chartha with John McNulty.
Manager: Donegal
After the departure of Jim McGuinness. Gallagher and former Mayo manager James Horan were rumored as the most likely replacements until Horan announced he was not interested in the job. This left Gallagher as the most likely candidate. Gallagher was appointed the new manager of the Donegal senior football team in October 2014. Gallagher made his competitive managerial debut for Donegal in the National Football League Division 1 win against Derry with a score of 1-15 0-12. His second game ended in a defeat against Dublin losing 2-10 0-11. His third game ended with a marginal win against Cork with a scoreline of 0-12 1-08. Donegal's next meeting came against Monaghan resulting in a defeat of 1-04 0-09. Another win followed against Tyrone in a 1-13 0-06 scoreline. In the final round Donegal drew with Mayo 0-12 1-09 but made it through to the semi final on points difference but lost to Cork in a scoreline of 4-11 0-19. Gallagher's Championship debut soon followed, with Donegal meeting Tyrone in the preliminary round with the winner facing Armagh. Donegal overcame Tyrone in Ballybofey with a win of 1-13 1-10. Donegal later faced Kieran McGeeney's Armagh in what was expected to be a tough match following the previous year's meeting in the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final where Donegal snatched a victory 2 minutes from time winning by a point in a tense game that was going either way. However, it was not the case this time as Gallagher's men eased their way to victory with a 0-08 2-11 win, allowing Donegal to progress to the semi-final to meet Derry, whom they beat 0-10 1-09 in Clones to make Gallagher's first Ulster SFC Final as manager and Donegal's fifth successive final, which resulted in a narrow defeat to Monaghan by a score line of 0-11 0-10. As a result of Donegal losing in the Ulster SFC Final, Gallagher's men met Galway on 1 August 2015 at Croke Park in the last round of the All-Ireland Qualifiers. Donegal defeated Galway in a scoreline of 3-12 0-11 setting up a meeting with Connacht Champions Mayo in the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final, which resulted in defeat for Donegal by a 2-13 0-11 scoreline bringing an end to their 2015 Championship campaign. Gallagher stepped down as Donegal senior football manager on 31 July 2017.
Gallagher now lives in Carrick, a small village near Killybegs. He was formerly the manager of the local SuperValu in Killybegs. He and his wife, Nichola, separated in 2019.
