With them he was part of the 1973 All-Ireland Hogan Cup winning team that saw off St Jarlath's College of Tuam in the final.
[1] McGettigan made his senior-inter-county debut for Donegal against Leitrim in the National Football League at the age of sixteen.
The next year he won his first Ulster Senior Football Championship medal when Donegal defeated Down following a replay.
Thus he contested the 1974 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, when Donegal fell to Galway at the semi-final stage.
McGettigan later reminisced upon the event; having travelled north for a Dr McKenna Cup final against Fermanagh, "the guy that brought me up had never been where the match was being played.
McGettigan, however, reversed his earlier decision and returned to play for Donegal in 1983 — just in time to win a second Ulster Senior Football Championship medal.
[1] McGettigan played for Ulster in the Railway Cup at a time when he was the only Donegal inclusion on that team.