Documentary on one of the last Mayo men to win an All-Ireland medal
THE intriguing story behind the football career of one of the last Mayo men to win an All-Ireland medal is the subject of a powerful documentary airing on Irish TV this Saturday (May 28), when All-Ireland footballer and distinguished sportsman, the late Dan O’Neill, who actually won his medal while playing for Co. Louth in 1957, is profiled.
In addition to looking at GAA players in the 1950s, the programme contains footage on how the game has evolved over the years, changes in training methods and professionalism, with a focus on the importance and meaning of the GAA as a home-from-home support for Irish people settling in communities abroad.
Love and loyalty for the GAA is evident in the contributions as the talk revolves around community, family, the GAA coursing through Mayo streams, villages, towns, shaping people and building bonds and the universal gold carat value of an All-Ireland medal, no matter where a player comes from or what county they won it for.
GAA stats provided also show a total of 1,616 GAA clubs in Ireland, 315 GAA clubs overseas and an All-Ireland attendance record for football and hurling throughout 2015 amounting to 826,072 spectators.
Amidst the nostalgia viewers get to enjoy a delightful vignette with Nancy O’Neill, wife of the late football hero, who recounts not being one bit star-struck after first meeting Dan in a ballroom in Navan aged 25 – shortly after he had won his All-Ireland medal.
“I think he was taken aback I didn’t immediately recognise the name. On the way out one of my brothers rushed up to him with a piece of paper and a pencil and asked him for his autograph and that is how I learned who he was,” she said
Originally from Castlebar, as full-forward with Mayo in 1954 Dan O’Neill, who was born in 1932, won a National League medal followed by a Connaught Senior Championship medal in 1955.
The Mayo man ended up playing for Louth having been posted there during his garda career and the push-pull dual identity of his football career, captured in his book, Divided Loyalties, whereby his heart was in Mayo but his head in Louth, is probed further in the Irish TV documentary.
Describing Dan O’Neill as ‘one of the rare breed that rose to the top’, Castlebar Mitchels chairman Finian Joyce tells the programme that O'Neill achieved the ultimate dream of every young footballer who longs ‘to tog out and play in Croke Park and afterwards walk up the Hogan steps and collect the cup.’
“He was a leader among men, a gentle giant, he never forgot the club and always travelled down on days of big games. He loved to come back and always had a special welcome for you.
“He served this club well – he was chairman for three years and we are so proud to have him associated with Castlebar Mitchels.”
The Dan O’Neill documentary, produced and filmed by Enda Grace and David Lynch of Dundara Productions for Irish TV, tops off a magical evening of sport and entertainment when it airs on May 28 from 10 to 11 p.m., following directly on after the two-hour London live music and chat special from Irish TV at the football grounds in Ruislip previewing the London versus Mayo game.