[3] His father died suddenly at the age of 50, after suffering a heart attack, when Conaghan was a still a boy.
[3] Conaghan attended Hugh Roe Boys' School and the Tech, before taking up employment as a driver, a job which necessitated travel across Ireland.
[citation needed] Over the course of his time as senior manager during the 1980s, Conaghan fell out with numerous players.
He dropped Marty Carlin and Charlie Mulgrew from his team for one year after they played for Letterkenny in a Forster Cup final victory at Ravenhill in 1987.
[1] Other players with whom he fell out during his time as senior manager included Declan Bonner, Manus Boyle, Matt Gallagher, Barry McGowan and Sylvester Maguire.