Dermot O'Brien

Dermot O'Brien (23 October 1932 – 22 May 2007) was an Irish céilí and showband musician and singer, as well as a Gaelic footballer who played as a centre-forward at senior level for the Louth senior football team.[1]

For the Australian rules footballer, see Dermot O'Brien (Australian footballer).

Dermot O'Brien
Personal information
Irish name Diarmuid Ó Briain
Sport Gaelic football
Position Centre-forward
Born (1932-10-23)23 October 1932
Ardee, County Louth, Ireland
Died 22 May 2007(2007-05-22) (aged 74)
Ardee, County Louth, Ireland
Occupation Musician
Club(s)
Years Club
1949–1960
 St Mary's
Club titles
Louth titles 3
Inter-county(ies)
Years County
1952–1960
 Louth
Inter-county titles
Leinster titles 2
All-Irelands 1
NFL 0

Gaelic football career

O'Brien made his first appearance for the Louth team during the 1952 championship and was a regular member of the starting fifteen until a broke finger ended his career in 1960. During that time he has won one All-Ireland winners' medal and two Leinster winners' medals. In 1957 O'Brien captained the team to the All-Ireland title.

At club level O'Brien was a three-time county club championship medalist with St Mary's.

Musical career

A long-time amateur musician, in 1962 O'Brien became a professional musician when his band the Clubmen went professional; O'Brien played the piano accordion for the band rather than the more typical Irish button accordion. Dermot O'Brien and the Clubmen had considerable musical success, with their hit single "The Merry Ploughboy" (a cover of a Dominic Behan song about joining the Irish Republican Army) reaching the top of the Irish Singles Chart in only seven days and holding that position for six weeks in late 1966. The single was rushed to market to compete with a Top 100-ranking cover of the same song by the Abbey Tavern Singers.[2]

In the late 1960s, O'Brien began his own RTÉ show called The Styles of O'Brien.[3]

In 2018, Brown University students started a Dermot O'Brien appreciation club.

References
  1. "Obituaries: Dermot O'Brien". Irish Independent. 27 May 2007. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  2. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (8 October 1966). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 32–. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2013. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  3. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (7 June 1969). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 61. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 2 May 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2013. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
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