ONE OF THE LAST Mayo men to have won an All-Ireland title was the late Dan O’Neill who was victorious with Louth in 1957.
IRISH TV are airing a documentary this weekend about O’Neill and GAA in the 1950s as well as how it has evolved over the years.
Originally from Castlebar, O’Neill ended up playing for Louth having been stationed there as a Garda. He lined out for Mayo previous to that, winning a National League medal and the Connacht championship in 1955.
The documentary contains interesting words from his wife, Nancy, whom he met in a ballroom in Navan.
He felt like he left Mayo ‘under a cloud’. “I don’t think he would have admitted if Mayo and Louth were to meet in a big game where his loyalties would have been,” she says.
Numerous familiar faces appear in the documentary including commentator Mícheal Ó Muircheartaigh and GAA President Aogán Ó Fearghail.
“A player who wins an All-Ireland medal stands apart from other players”, Ó Muircheartaigh says in the documentary, adding: “As they say in Kerry, if the player has passed on – they are the dead who shall never die – and while they are alive – they are the living who shall never die.”
The Dan O’Neill documentary airs on IRISH TV on Saturday from 10pm.
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