Brothers James and Dan McCartan senior set the foundation; their sons and nephews carried it through six All-Ireland finals. Now Dan junior moves into management as the dynasty evolves yet again.
Dan McCartan has transitioned from player with Down to manager of Queen’s – the latest in his family to step into management.(Image: Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Presseye/Mark Pearce)
In Down football, bloodlines are more than sentiment; they are currency. And if you trace the thread of the county’s story, from the breakthrough days of the 1960s to the rebirths of the 1990s and 2010s, one name stitches it all together. McCartan. Always a McCartan.
Before Down became synonymous with daring footballers who played the game with a swagger that felt imported from Argentina rather than Armagh, there were the brothers. First James and Dan senior, two men who walked into the 1960 All-Ireland final as underdogs and walked out as icons. James senior playing in both the ’60 and ’61 wins, Dan senior joining him for the 1960 and 1961 triumphs before adding another in ’68. And it didn’t stop there. James went on to manage Down to the 1983 National League title — the last time the Mourne men lifted that particular piece of silverware.
Dan senior stayed close too, serving as selector when Down won the Ulster SFC in 1978 and again when the minors won the All-Ireland in 1987. Two of Dan’s nephews sons, James and Brian, stood on the pitch that day as champions. Another nephew, Dan, was a kid dreaming of days to come.
That’s how it works in the McCartan household. The jersey isn’t inherited; the responsibility is.
So when the next generation took over, no one blinked. Wee James became the match-winner — man of the match in the 1991 All-Ireland final win over Meath, scorer of the goal that swung the ’94 decider against the Dubs. Dan junior became the corner-back who could mark a man as tightly as a signature on a cheque. Between the siblings, between the decades, the pattern held: when Down walked out on All-Ireland final day, a McCartan walked out with them. All six finals. Every era. Every rebirth.
And in 2010, when Down rose from the depths again, storming through the qualifiers and rattling their way to an All-Ireland final after 16 barren years, there they were again. James on the line as manager. Dan in the corner. Another generation, same instinct.
The medal count says enough. Dan senior: eight Ulsters, three Leagues, three Sams. James senior: six Ulsters, two Leagues, two All-Irelands, plus a National League as manager.
James McCartan with his father James snr
James junior: two All-Irelands, two Ulsters, another All-Ireland final as manager in 2010. Dan junior: the last McCartan to grace the biggest stage as a player.
But sport doesn’t care for what once was. It cares for what comes next. And for Dan junior, what’s next is already here — co-managing Queen’s University alongside Feargal Logan, the man who steered Tyrone to Sam in 2021.
Logan knows pedigree when he sees it. He’s worked with it. He’s won with it. “Some would consider them royalty in Down GAA,” he says. “James won a couple of Sigersons, one as a fresher in 1990. He managed Queen’s to the Sigerson in 2007 — and Dan was his captain then. So the tradition doesn’t just run through Down football; it runs through Queen’s football too. Dan’s heavily involved in Burren. He’s been around winning environments his whole life. And like a lot of GAA families, that gets passed down. You learn early. You absorb everything around you.”
He pauses, the way a man pauses when memory and reality collide.
“We also have Mark McCartan with us — James and Dan’s cousin — who was on that Down panel in the early ’90s. So yes, the tradition is there. But you’re only ever as good as your next game.”
For Logan, that’s not a warning; it’s a truth. For McCartan, it’s a challenge.
“Aye, Daniel is there,” Logan continues. “He’s young, he’s energetic, and he’s a driver for everything we’re doing.”
A co-pilot job, Logan calls it. But he knows, and Queen’s know, and anyone who’s followed Down’s story knows: McCartans don’t sit quietly in the passenger seat for very long.
Football is in the blood. Management might be, too.
And for the first time in a long time, a new chapter of an old dynasty is beginning.