Donegal is officially on the padel map.
Our three courts at the Finn Valley Sports Complex in Stranorlar were formally opened on Saturday, with the Minister of State for Sport, Charlie McConalogue TD, doing the honours alongside Deputy Pat ‘The Cope’ Gallagher and Councillors Patrick McGowan, Martin Scanlon and Dakota Nic Mheanman — and a great crowd from the community who came along to see the new courts and try the game.
A new sport for a storied campus
If you know Donegal sport, you know Finn Valley. For over fifty years the campus has been one of Ireland’s great community sports stories — home to athletics, soccer, rugby, Gaelic games, gymnastics, swimming and much more, built and sustained by generations of local volunteers.
Padel is the newest string to that bow. Patsy McGonagle of the Finn Valley Centre described the sport as aligning perfectly with the centre’s community focus — and that’s exactly why we wanted to build here. Our whole approach is to bring padel to places that are already at the heart of local life, in partnership with the people who run them.
The three courts are now part of the campus’s everyday offering, run by the Finn Valley team led by Karen Walden.
What the day meant
Speaking at the opening, Councillor McGowan — a former Finn Valley athlete himself — summed up what makes the place special: it’s about health, wellbeing, and community as much as sport. Deputy Gallagher went further, saying a visitor dropped into the campus wouldn’t believe they were in the middle of Donegal — a tribute to what Ballybofey and Stranorlar have built.
That’s the company padel now keeps at Finn Valley, and we couldn’t be prouder of it.
The world’s fastest-growing sport, now in Donegal
If you haven’t come across padel yet: it’s a doubles racket sport that mixes the best of tennis and squash, played on an enclosed court where the walls are part of the game. It’s easy to pick up, brilliantly social, and it’s booming — played by roughly 25 million people worldwide, with the sport on track for the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane.
And now it’s in Stranorlar.
Play for free, every weekday
Like every Padel 100 club, the Finn Valley courts offer Free Hours: Monday to Friday, 11am–3pm. No cost, no membership, no catch — just turn up and play. Rackets are available at the club, so you don’t need any gear to get started.
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With thanks to Minister McConalogue, Deputy Gallagher, Councillors McGowan, Scanlon and Nic Mheanman, and everyone at Finn Valley who made the day.
