Dan O'Neill (Gaelic footballer)

Daniel O'Neill (1933 - 8 January 2015) was an Irish Gaelic footballer. His league and championship career at senior level with the Mayo and Louth county teams lasted a decade from 1953 until 1963.[1]

Born in Castlebar, County Mayo, O'Neill first played competitive Gaelic football with the Castlebar Mitchels club. He was just eighteen-years-old when he won the first of four successive county senior championship medals in 1951. O'Neill first appeared on the inter-county scene as a member of the Mayo junior team. He won a Connacht medal in that grade in 1953, before making his senior debut during the 1953-54 league. O'Neill won a Connacht and National League medals with the team, however a dispute with the County Board over expenses saw him walk away from the side in 1956.[2]

O'Neill played with several clubs in Drogheda, County Louth after moving there in 1954 to serve as a member of An Garda Síochána. After leaving the Mayo set-up, he was soon selected on the Louth senior team and won All-Ireland and Leinster medals in 1957, while playing club football with St Dominic's. In 1959, he joined south-side Drogheda club Naomh Mhuire and played in the 1961 Louth Senior Football Championship final, losing to Newtown Blues.

His last appearance for Louth came in a 1962 Leinster Championship defeat to Dublin. He subsequently returned to Mayo and played his final game for the county side in 1963. That same year he won a fifth county SFC medal after rejoining Castlebar Mitchels. By then he had resigned from An Garda Siochana to join Calor Gas as Area Manager.[3] He would later work in management positions with Ireland West Tourism.[4] O'Neill ended his club career with Fr. Griffins in Galway.

In 2008, his autobiography 'Divided Loyalties' was released.[5]