100 stitches in head wound for Celebrity GAA player

Editorial Department • Published 19 Aug 2010 16:00 0 Comments

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Conor Doonan who was badly injured at the weekend.

A well-known player for Irvinestown St. Molaise GFC received such as bad head injury in a match during the filming for RTE’s Celebrity Bainisteoir at the weekend that the surgeon treating him lost count of the number of stitches she applied to the wound.

It’s estimated that 31-year-old Conor Doonan, a civil engineer, has more than 100 stitches in his head after he hit a concrete post at the side of the pitch as he played centre half-back in a game against Nobber on Saturday. It was being filmed as part of the Celebrity Bainisteoir programme which is due to be screened in October. Comedian Andrew Maxwell was the Irvinestown team’s manager. Unfortunately, the Fermanagh side lost 2-10 to 1-15.

It was ten minutes before the end of the game that the accident happened.

He was taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital where he underwent surgery for two hours.

Irvinestown club chairman, Mr. Liam Donnelly visited the injured player at his home after he was released from the Drogheda hospital earlier this week. “He got a bad gash all right. He has well over 100 stitches in his head. During the match with ten minutes to go one of the Nobber players went for the ball. There were big posts at the side of the pitch and his head came in contact with the post. It spoiled the day. Andrew Maxwell was very concerned. Conor would have been one of his main players and would have been filmed a lot being interviewed,” he said.

Mr. Doonan is a member of the well-known Doonan family of Irvinestown. Married to Blaithin, they live in Ballinderry. His mother, Mrs. Sheila Doonan, said that it had been a worrying time for her family. “It is going to be a process now and he is trying to get better again. There is a lot of convalescing to do. The surgeon said she lost count of the stitches. His eye is still closed”.

The family acknowledges the excellent work by surgeon Ms. Carton, the A&E staff at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and Mrs. Denise Donnelly, St. Molaise team nurse. They thank all well-wishers with messages and support and prayers from Irvinestown, Ballinderry and the Gaelic world in particular.

The Celebrity Bainisteaoir programme will be seen by a huge audience. It attracts the third highest audience figures on RTE after the news and The Late Late Show.

“It does not do Irvinestown any harm. People will see it in a way they have never seen it before,” said Mr. Donnelly.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 19 Aug 10

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