Brian McEniff explained in 2013 that St Joseph's was formed when the clubs in the two towns "were doing rather poorly. In spite of the great rivalry, they came together. The bonding factor was the De La Salle College in the upper part of our parish... All of the boys — except myself, I went to a boarding school in Monaghan — were from De La Salle. It was a natural transition".[5]
St Joseph's won an unofficial Ulster Senior Club Football Championship against St John's in Irvinestown in 1966,[5] reached the first official final in 1968[5] and won the official tournament in 1975; they remained the only Donegal club to do so until 2018 when Gaoth Dobhair won Ulster.