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 later played with numerous clubs in Louth and won a county senior championship medal in 1957 with Oliver Plunketts. After rejoining the Castlebar Mitchels club in Mayo, he won a fifth county senior championship medal in 1963. O'Neill finished his club career with Fr. Griffins in Galway.

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 Mayo County Board over expenses saw him walk away from the Mayo team in 1956. Shortly after this he joined the Louth senior team and won a set of All-Ireland and Leinster medals in 1957. After several years playing for Louth, O'Neill returned to Mayo and played his final game for the team in 1963.