Donal Gerard Courtney is a former international rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 referee

Referee

A referee is the person of authority, in a variety of sports, who is responsible for presiding over the game from a neutral point of view and making on the fly decisions that enforce the rules of the sport...

. He officially retired from refereeing in 2007 but is still involved with the IRFU

Irish Rugby Football Union

The Irish Rugby Football Union is the body managing rugby union in Ireland. The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ground at Aviva Stadium, where Irish rugby union international matches are played...

 Refereeing Department and with the European Rugby Cup

European Rugby Cup

European Rugby Cup is the organising body of two European rugby union club tournaments; the Heineken Cup and the Amlin Challenge Cup. The organisation was established in 1995 and is headquartered in Dublin...

.

Educated at CBC Monkstown

C.B.C. Monkstown

Christian Brothers College, Monkstown Park is a voluntary fee-paying Catholic school and Independent Junior school, founded in 1856 in Monkstown, Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin, Ireland. The school fees are approximately €4,700 per annum. The college arrived at Monkstown Park in 1950 from Eblana...

 and Dublin University, he played rugby for Monkstown

Monkstown Football Club

Monkstown Football Club is an Irish rugby club based in Dublin. They currently play in Division One of the Leinster League.In addition to the First XV, they also have Second , Third and Fourth XV's, a mini rugby section and a Golden Oldies team.-History:The club was founded in 1883 in Monkstown...

 until 1992, when injury intervened.

He made his international refereeing debut in September 2002, officiating in a World Cup

Rugby World Cup

The Rugby World Cup is an international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board and held every four years since 1987....

 qualifying match between Uruguay

Uruguay national rugby union team

The Uruguay national rugby union team is the representative side of Uruguay, governed by the Unión de Rugby del Uruguay. They have been playing international rugby since 1948. Their jersey is blue and black and they are known as Los Teros. They qualified twice for the Rugby World Cup, in 1999 and...

 and Chile

Chile national rugby union team

The Chile national rugby union team is a rugby union nation representing Chile. They first played in 1935 and have yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup. Rugby union in Chile is administered by the Federación de Rugby de Chile...

 in Montevideo

Montevideo

Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...

 and went on to earn 21 more caps as a referee.

In 2009 he was appointed as the ERC’s first match officials performance manager.