His retirement allows him to relax after working in a variety of fields. Dan O'Neill recalls his time as a footballer in Mayo, New York, and particularly his achievements in Louth. The late Galway footballer Jack Mahon sometimes recounted a story about his exasperation one day as a teacher in Fr Griffin Technical School. He told four of his students that with the attitude they were showing, none of them would ever achieve anything in life. Subsequently, however, all managed to become, in their own field, what most of us would only consider a dream. Christy O'Connor became a Ryder Cup golfer. John Connolly became Galway's first hurling All-Star. Val O'Brien became successful as a racehorse trainer whole on the soccer field Tommy Lally played for Celtic and managed Galway United. Dan O'Neill's memories do not involve students or the classroom but there are details which, for their occurrence alone, are as memorable as Mahon's statement. The anecdotes he recounts are interesting and engaging: a number of careers, a number of football clubs, winning an All-Ireland medal in 1957 on a team which used no subs and maybe most incredibly, the story of a team-mate who walked on the subway tracks in New York and survived. His football and livelihood have both revealed versatility and he admits that he has had a "chequered career". Now 73, his football career took him from the west with Castlebar Mitchels to the east with Louth clubs Oliver Plunketts, Naomh Mhuire and St Dominic's before he returned to Mitchels. He finished his playing career with Galway club Fr Griffins. During his career he won four senior championships with Castlebar Mitchells between 1951 and 1954 and another in 1963. He played both junior and senior football with Mayo winning a national league with the county in 1954. He then left to join the guards and was first stationed in the Phoenix Park before being transferred to Drogheda. His career with the guards required a number of transfers and when he left the force, he worked in Castlebar with Calor Gas, the General Electrical Company and the Western Tourist Board. "I took a step down when I went to St Dominic's in Drogheda (St Dominic's were a junior club) I had temporary transfers within the force, one to Castlebellingham and the other to Julianstown. "I played with St Dominic's and captained the team in 1954 and in 1956. I then transferred to Oliver Plunketts and was stationed in the Border county around the time of the 1957 border campaign,"he says. While with Oliver Plunketts he played alongside a number of players from outside the county such as Hughbert Reynolds (Leitrim), Liam Maguire (Cavan), Dermot Wilson (Roscommon) and Donie Duff (Kerry). His shortest span playing Gaelic football in Louth was with Oliver Plunketts while his time with St Dominic's was also relatively short. His longest spell was with Naomh Mhuire, where he won an Old Gaels Cup medal. During his first championship match against Kildare he was withdrawn through injury and he was transferred to Navan hospital. Still, better times lay ahead. O'Neill played at midfield when Louth won their first All-Ireland championship for 45 years in 1957. The team had the unique feat of using no subs. Some of his most vivid recollections involve his time in New York with both the Louth and Mayo county teams. He played with the Mayo side which won the National league in 1954 and the team travelled to play in the Polo Grounds in New York and in Fenway Park, Boston. Along with fellow guard Séamie O'Donnell, they were part of a team which played a Boston selection during that trip. "He (O'Donnell) was also on the 1957 All-Ireland team. We were big thick guards! When Louth won an All-Ireland the Louth men's association invited us to play against New York in the Polo grounds. We were the last gaelic football team to play there," he says. In May 1958, they played a New York team which possessed players such as Paddy Casey (Offaly), Sean Brennan (Kildare) and Pat McAndrew (Mayo). But, perhaps the trip will be remembered for an unusual occurrence at a subway station. Travelling to the races, the team got off at the proper stop. Well, most of them did. "Frank Lynch, the youngest member of the team at 19, stayed on and got off at the next stop. He panicked and ran back between the tracks (on the subway). It was a suicidal trip and he became known as the 'subway kid' after that. We were glad to see him!" O'Neill continued playing with Naomh Mhuire and having left the guards in 1959, joined the General Electrical Company while playing with Castlebar and then spent six years with Calor Gas. Later he joined the North West Tourist Board where he became regional manager. Fr Griffins (Galway) was his last club, a team with whom he lost the Galway county final in 1968. He retired that year. Now residing in Kingston, Co. Galway, Lynch returns to Louth as often as possible. His wife Nancy has family in Drumconrath, Co. Meath. Her seven brothers were part of the St Peter's team which won the 1964 Meath junior championship, a trophy the team had failed to win in the previous 25 years. Though Louth haven't won an All-Ireland title since his own triumph, he is aware of the effort players in the county invest in the game, knowing that they are usually beaten only by the narrowest of margins. "For commitment they cannot be faulted," he says. There are many who have influenced him. One great GAA commentator stands out. And, he adds, all members of religious orders who were staunch supporters of Gaelic games. "Br Baptist at De La Salle St Patrick's National School was a great influence on me. He started a school league there when I was only around ten years old. I think brothers, priests and teachers have been the greatest bulwark of the Gaelic. In the Diocesan schools the brothers and priests had a passion for the games and what it means," he says. Still, he maintains that Croke Park was never given the recognition it deserves until Gaels such as Peter Quinn and Dr Mick Loftus came along. "It was never as strong because of the likes of (Liam) Mulvihill. He stood the test of time…. Paddy O' Keeffe and Seán Ó Síocháin were the greatest men in the GAA. We should be very proud of them. You don't see them upfront; they are modest and shrewd." He expressed sympathy to the family of the late Louth great, Jimmy 'Sogger' Quigley who passed away in 2005. Quigley trained the Louth team to the 1957 triumph and during his playing days, was a Louth centre-half back and centre-half forward He was, O'Neill said, "one of the greatest Gaels in Louth". The evening of the interview O'Neill was preparing for Jack Mahon's funeral. Unlike Mahon, there are no students who have proved him wrong but his life involving such a range of clubs, a number of professions and an All-Ireland medal are worthy of recognition. Tweet

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