Westmeath’s Cathal to take charge of Donegal decider

A burgeoning refereeing career will be further enhanced on Sunday afternoon when Rosemount native Cathal Boland takes charge of the 2026 Donegal senior football final between Naomh Conaill and St Eunan’s.

The 33-year-old relocated to Ardara with his partner Ruth in 2024 and having started his refereeing journey in Westmeath, he continued his GAA role in the surrounds of his new county.

The former Moate Community School student has been refereeing club matches at underage and adult level since 2022. A broken leg sustained in action as a goalkeeper for his club St Joseph’s in 2019 curtailed his playing activity and when approached by the Streamstown club, he enrolled in a refereeing course and an affinity with the whistle was born.

The son of Tomas Boland and Bernie O’Brien, Cathal gained considerable experience as a referee in his native county before his relocation to Donegal. He refereed a number of underage county football finals during his stint as a referee in Westmeath before his move to the north west.

During his time as the ‘man in the middle’ in Westmeath, Cathal said fellow referees such as Enda Kelly, Niall Ward, Enda Kenny and Alan Coyne were all “pillars of support” at the start of his career. He is also grateful to the umpires who served with him during his time refereeing in Westmeath, namely Seamus and Pat McCormack and Pat O’Brien.

Upon relocating to Donegal, his goal was to maintain his refereeing duties and initially he refereed reserve fixtures in the county. His whistling prowess soon caught the eye of the county’s referee administrator, Pat Walsh, who promoted Cathal to overseeing senior football championship encounters in 2025.

Cathal refereed both the Donegal Division 1 league final and the Junior ‘A’ football championship final in 2025. Such is his rising stock as a referee, he was appointed to referee the final of Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta, held in Donegal last June, which he described as his most “important refereeing challenge” to date.

Also appointed to the Ulster referees panel, Cathal was charged with overseeing the province’s minor league final between Derry and Cavan earlier this year.

Both of these occasions will be usurped on Sunday when he takes to the Ballybofey venue on Sunday for the showpiece fixture in Donegal club football . Cathal has refereed both clubs on their journey to the final and is expecting an evenly contested affair, adding that he hopes it will be “without controversy”.

Cathal has aspirations to be appointed to the national panel in due course and continue his “labour of love” on a national setting. He is grateful to the support of family members and friends, particularly his partner Ruth and daughter Saorla, who he said have been “very understanding” as his referee career continues to flourish.

“I am going to embrace the challenge ahead. I wouldn’t get too nervous in advance of big games, but hopefully the final will run as smoothly as possible,” Cathal said.