Dan O'Neill still follows the fortunes of the wee county Castlebar native won All-Ireland and National League medals with two counties! Significant contribution by Mayomen '57 success! 'We move up now along the line and come to centre field, The mighty Kevin Behan's here, he's never known to yield, And when the whistle sounds a free, the cheers ring loud and far, To tell us that the ball is sailing, clear, across the bar, His partner here is Dan O'Neill, he is well known to you, You'll easily recognise him there, he stand just six foot two, And when the ball is dropping high, there's no one else insight, As Danno reaches up to grab the Russian satellite. Just two of the ten verses of 'A Salute to the 1957 Heroes by an unknown, but enthusiastic, Louth supporter. If the 'Salute' was to be included on the Leaving Cert. courses, students might well be asked to describe what the writer was trying to tell us about Dan O'Neill. Russian satellites were a new phenomenon when Louth won the All-Ireland in 1957, they operated in outer space. Dan O'Neill was a big man who operated as Kevin Behan's centre field partner and such was his height, and his jumping and fielding ability that the writer thought the satellites were in danger! An exaggeration perhaps but understandable in view of Louth's sensational victory over Cork in the All-Ireland final. It's difficult to know where to start with Dan O'Neill. He has been living in Sligo for the past ten years where he is Regional Tourism Manager for Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim. But throughout a lengthy and successful football career he played in Mayo, Louth, Mayo again, and finally in Galway. Undoubtedly, the highlight of his playing days was Louth's victory over Cork in the 1957 All-Ireland final when he partnered Kevin Behan in the centre of the field. Three years previous, he helped Mayo to win the National Football League and he also helped them to win the Connacht Championship in 1955. But it all began on the streets of Castlebar when young O'Neill first learned the skills which would stand him in good stead as an adult. His first taste of organised team football came at the local St. Patrick's National School and later at St. Gerald's College, St. Gerald's was not the most successful of Connacht Colleges in football terms but young O'Neill showed remarkable progress and quickly graduated to the schools Senior side. He was also starring with the Castlebar Mitchells Underage teams. He was seventeen when Mayo won the first of their back-to-back All-Irelands in 1950, ironically beating Louth in the final by two points. Football fever struck the county and the young O'Neill became immersed. His rise to the Castlebar Mitchells Senior team was meteoric and in 1951, he helped them to win the first of four successive county titles. His performances did not go unnoticed, and in 1952, he was handed the green and red jersey for the first time…. by the Junior selectors. In 1953, he helped them to win the Connacht Championship, his first provincial medal and although he scored 2-5 of their 2-7 total against Cork, it was not enough. There was, however, swift consolation when he was selected on the Senior team to play Longford in the National Football League. Mayo won the League in 1954 and became the first county to bring a player across the Atlantic to help their cause. The 'Flying Doctor' was Padraic Carney who made the trips for the games against Dublin and Carlow. The prize for his team mates was a trip in the opposite direction to take on New York in the St. Brendan Cup. New York won by a point at the Polo Grounds. In the following year, Mayo won the Connacht title but Dan was injured in the Provincial final and could take no part in the drawn game, or replay against Dublin. Having joined the Garda Siochana, he was transferred to Drogheda in County Louth, a move which was ultimately to have a huge bearing on both his sporting and personal life. Unable to commute between Drogheda and Castlebar (availability of transport was a considerable problem in the mid-fifties), he joined the Oliver Plunketts club in the Boyneside town. He also enjoyed spells with the now defunct St. Dominics, who he helped to bring to Senior level, and also Naomh Mhuire. And while with St. Dominics, he had his first experience of administration as a very youthful Chairman. As a 'name' player he was much sought-after by the Wee County clubs and the county selectors were quick to draft him into the squad. One of his colleagues on the county team was another Mayoman, Seamie O'Donnell from Ballaghaderreen. In the early fifties the four best teams in the country were Mayo, Cavan, Meath and…Louth. But by 1957, Louth's star appeared to be on the descent. Leinster champions in '48, '50, and '53, the red and whites were unconsidered for the 1957 Leinster Championship. But there was something about this Louth team and when they shocked Dublin in the Leinster final before a crowd of over 30,000 at Croke Park, hopes of an All-Ireland title began to grow. Tyrone provided the semi-final opposition having emerged from Ulster for the first time ever. Many neutrals believed that the Ulstermen kicked themselves out of contention with a succession of bad wides and near misses. Louth were much more economical, and their greater experience paved the way for a 0-13 to 0-7 victory. The 'Wee County' were back in the All-Ireland final and Dan O'Neill was to be compensated for missing out on '55, with Mayo. But Cork were red-hot favourites having eliminated the All-Ireland champions, Galway, in the semi-final. With five minutes remaining, the favourites were clinging to a one point lead but were under pressure. Kevin Behan flighted a side line kick into the path of the incoming Sean Cunningham who fisted to the net. Incredibly, Cork had been beaten by Louth, 1-9 to 1-7. The switch of Behan to right half forward from centre field had a huge bearing on the result and it also meant that two Mayomen formed the winning centre partnership. Seamie O'Donnell had moved out to join Dan in the centre. Both Mayomen contributed a point to the victory as if to appease Louth's supporters for the two point defeat in the 1950 decider. "Of course, it's the highlight of any footballers' career to win an All-Ireland medal. It didn't really matter that it was with Louth rather than Mayo. Once you win one All-Ireland, everything else is secondary. Ask any of the Kerry team that won seven or eight All-Irelands and they'll tell you that the first is the one they remember most", says Dan. Dublin, and later, Offaly took over in Leinster but the man from Castlebar continued to line out for his adopted county until 1962. While in Drogheda, he met his future wife, Nancy Callan, from Drumconrath in North Meath. The Callan family have been synonymous with football in Drumconrath for a lifetime and several of Nancy's brothers wore the green and gold at various levels. Nephew Liam is currently on the Dublin panel. Having retired from the Gardai, Dan, Nancy, and their young family moved to the West in 1962 where Dan became Area Manager for Calor Gas (Ireland) Limited. He rejoined his beloved Mitchells and won a fifth Senior Championship medal in 1962. In the following year at thirty years, he was again selected for Mayo and turned in several impressive performances in the National Football League. Dan's playing career finally came to an end deep in the heart of enemy territory, with the Fr. Griffins club in Galway. His next port call was Sligo where he has remained for the last ten years, as Regional Tourism Manager. He still has a keen interest in football and goes to support both Mayo and Louth whenever possible. It is, perhaps understandable that he retains such affections for the 'Wee County, and he estimates he has missed only a handful of their Championship games since he last wore the red jersey over thirty years ago. Nancy and Dan have four sons and one daughter, Grainne. Donal, and Martin were both born in Louth and both subsequently lined out with the Galway Juniors. Martin has captained his Boston club to win League and Championship honours, while Paul and Sean have shown a definite preference for soccer, although, Paul has played centre half back for the Sligo Minors. He has been capped for the Irish Universities soccer team, while Sean has captained the U.C.G. Collingwood Cup team. Like several former footballers, Dan took up golf when his playing days were over. He plays out of the local Strand Hill club where he was captain in 1990. Although he is now sixty years old, he can play to a 10 handicap and last year he won the President's prize with a remarkable round of 73 (gross). But he is always willing to have a chat about football and, in particular, the glory days of the fifties. He has interesting views on the heavy demands being made on today's footballers. "There is a much greater emphasis on preparing teams physically. The higher standard of life-style and the comparatively cushioned existence that is the experience of the modern player means that a much greater effort is required to achieve the necessary level of fitness. Less muscles are being used at work hence the relatively 'new' injuries. And in our time, the player who took a drink was the exception. The standard dress was a suit and Pioneer pin. I didn't take a drink until I was 34. Nowadays, young fellows are absorbed into a drinking atmosphere. Having said that, the Kerry-Dublin games of the seventies were electrifying, with their incredible pace". He played with and against many of the game's legends. "Sean Purcell is the first to spring to mind. I remember him playing John Nallen, Tom Langan and myself out of the Connacht Championship in 1954. Dublin's Ollie Freaney was one of the best forwards around and Offaly's Paddy Casey was greatly underrated. Stephen White was a fantastic player. He trained all the year round which was virtually unheard of in those days. Derry's Jim McKeever was a class footballer and there were great full backs in those days, Eddie Boyle and Tom Conlon of Louth along with Paddy O'Brien and Paddy Prendergast". The names roll of his tongue with remarkable affection and enthusiasm. Dan O'Neill's career in football was remarkable. It has been well matched by his successful career in the Tourist Industry. He is ideally suited for the role of promoting the country's image. He, and Seamie O'Donnell were the last Mayomen to win All-Ireland medals. It's a fair quiz question but one suspects that Dan, and Seamie, would like the answer to change … and quickly. Taken from Hogan Stand magazine 16th April 1993 Tweet

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