It was romance or more pertinently Ciara Cullen that brought ex-Armagh star Declan Coulter to that great hurling enclave of Setanta in East Donegal.
When Declan Coulter first met Ciara from Donegal back in 2006 it was the beginning of a pretty long goodbye to his native Armagh.
They met when both were representing their country at Shinty in Dublin.
And this was the start of the ex-Cuchulainn’s and Armagh star’s journey to eventually settle in the fertile field of the Finn Valley in east Donegal.
He did not line out for Tir Conaill until 2017, having lived for many years in Dublin.
The genial Declan was just 17 when he made his debut for Armagh in 2005 and played until 2016 picking up two Nicky Rackard medals en route.
Declan was always deadly accurate from play and frees and he got his third Nicky Rackard medal with Donegal last year with a memorable exhibition in Croke Park.
On Saturday he picked up his second Donegal county hurling medal, fighting hard against a crippling injury to help his adopted club take its 15thMunster Cup.
“My knee is still bothering me and I trained after the semi-final, but I was always playing today.'' he said.
“Whatever comes after comes after and if I need an operation I will take it, but I was never not togging out today.”
Classy Coulter hit the clinching goal a rocket that went through a hole in the side of the net prompting speculation that it might have gone wide.
But Coulter had no doubts.
“Definitely a goal, I hit it as hard as I could and there was a hole in the net, but it is just great to get the win after the disappointment of losing last year’s final.”
And while Coulter and his brother-in-law,Danny Cullen,played huge roles, Coulter quickly shines a light on Mark Devine: ''that man scored 2-2 from play and he is some player.
“He came into this club half-way through the season and he is originally from Strabane and maybe some people might have doubted him.
“He is living in Doneyloop and has a serious work ethic and the first goal he got, he just harried the keeper and made him make a mistake and that is what he has been doing all year.
“There was no doubting him today.”
Coulter also dropped back to defend in the final stages.
“Look if you have forwards up there like Mark and Davin Flynn, you have no need for me up there and if you can lend a hand somewhere else why not and my legs aren’t as good as they were,'' he stated.
“There was nothing in that game, a goal before half-time and a goal just after half-time was the difference.
“It is great to have another county championship.
“To be honest I had written this year off with the injuries.
“But now we are setting our sights on Ulster.”
And their opponents are Keady, from Coulter’s native Armagh
