The present club was founded in 1982.[6] A teenage Manus McFadden arranged a meeting at Foxhall of Glenswillyites who were interested in forming a team, with John Mc Ginley, Roger McDaid, Fr Eamon Crossan, Finbar Glackin, Jimmy Joe McGinley and chair Eddie McDevitt.[7]
Glenswilly reached their first ever Senior county final in 2007, where they lost to near neighbours St Eunan's 0–12 to 1–3.
On 25 September 2012, the Donegal senior team—fresh from winning the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final—were scheduled to visit Glenswilly; however, the visit was postponed due to time constraints which arose due to the huge crowds around the county eager to catch a glimpse of the team.[11][12][13] The team eventually visited Glenswilly on 27 September.[14][15][16]
In 2013, the club rebuffed allegations that they forced children into GAA jerseys.[4] Later that year they hosted the 2013 All-Ireland Football Series launch, held following confirmation of the four provincial winners.[17][18] That year they won their second Donegal Senior Football Championship and progressed to the final of the Ulster Senior Club Football Championship, which they lost to Ballinderry.[19][20]
The club won its third and final Donegal SFC in 2016.
^"Molloy hopes Ardara can win relegation four-pointer". Donegal News. 10 September 2016. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2016. The 1992 All-Ireland winning captain is well aware of the confidence the Glen men will have received from that victory, but they are gunning for an upset.
^"Major test for Eunan's minors". Donegal Democrat. 11 December 2008. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2008. The calendar year of 2008 has brought a clean sweep of adult triumphs for the club from the Cathedral town, with their minor championship victory in Glenswilly's Pairc Naomh Columba, over St Michael's being supplemented by successes for the seniors, reserves and junior B teams.
^ abcdFerry, Ryan (16 July 2020). "Changing of the guard for Glenswilly". p. 84. …the Pairc Naomh Columba outfit will have a much younger feel to it in 2020… former Donegal senior player Gary McFadden has recovered from his cruciate injury. However, seasoned campaigners and three-times Donegal SFC winners — Neil Gallagher, Ciaran Bonner and Joe Gibbons — have all called it a day, while Cathal Gallagher has emigrated… new manager Pauric Bonner is ready to give youth its chance… This is Bonner's first year in charge and he replaces Brendan Walsh and Ryan McKinley in the managerial hotseat… 'I was Treasurer for a year and then I managed the club minors to a county title last year, and now I have the senior job. Laurence McDaid, Eddie Crawford, and my brother Tarlach are in my backroom team, and you have George Simmons and Brian Gibbons, who were there before and are still involved… Davin Flynn is our S & C man, and Paul Gallagher is on logistics with Aidy Glackin on stats'.
^"Six in contention for Donegal job". BBC Sport. 30 September 2008. Archived from the original on 1 October 2008. Retrieved 30 September 2008. Martin currently manages leading Donegal club Glenswilly while Houston's managerial CV includes a spell in charge of St Eunan's.
^"Glenswilly fly the Donegal flag". 15 October 2011. Archived from the original on 11 May 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2011. 'The celebrations are on hold and our whole focus now is on Ulster this week. But being honest we only began talking about the Cavan game on Sunday evening after our league game in Malin. Last week once the celebrations died down all our attention was on the Malin game and surviving in the league. This week the total focus is now on Cavan Gaels', said Gary McDaid, joint Glenswilly manager with John McGinley.
^McNulty, Chris (24 June 2019). "Declan Bonner pays tribute to Manus Kelly on day of 'mixed emotions'". Archived from the original on 25 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019. Kelly was deeply immersed in Glenswilly GAA club and was managed[sic] them to a Senior C Championship win in 2016. Kelly was a club-mate of Donegal captain Michael Murphy.