View source for Seán O'Neill

{{Short description|Irish Gaelic footballer}}
{{about|the Gaelic footballer|the Irish hurler|Seán O'Neill (hurler)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox Gaelic Athletic Association player
| code= Football
| sport = Gaelic football
| image = 
| name = Seán O'Neill
| irish = Seán Ó Néill
| feet = 5
| inches = 9
| occupation = Solicitor
| county = Down
| province = Ulster
| club = [[John Mitchel GFC|John Mitchel]]
| cposition = 
| clubs = 
| clyears = 1950s-1970s
| clapps(points) = 
| clcounty = 4
| clprovince= 0
| clallireland = 0
| sig = 2
| counties = [[Down GAA|Down]]
| icposition = Left wing-forward
| icyears = 1959-1975
| icapps(points) = 17–125
| icprovince = 8
| icallireland = 3
| nfl = 3
| allstars = 6
| clupdate = 
| icupdate =
| birth_place=[[Newry]], [[County Down]], [[Northern Ireland]]
}}

'''Seán O'Neill''' (born 1938, [[Newry]]) is an Irish retired [[Gaelic football|Gaelic footballer]]. He played with his local club [[John Mitchel GFC|John Mitchel]] and was a member of the [[Down GAA|Down]] senior inter-county team from the 1950s until the 1960s. O'Neill is one of only four Down players to win three [[All-Ireland Senior Football Championship|All-Ireland]] titles.

==Career==
O'Neill scored 85 goals and over 500 points for [[Down GAA|Down senior football team]] in his career, and was a key figure in the county’s [[All-Ireland Senior Football Championship|All-Ireland]] victories of 1960, 1961 and 1968. O'Neill's credits include eight [[Ulster]] senior football medals and eight [[Railway Cup]] medals in 1960, 1963 to 1966, 1968, 1970 and 1971. He won three [[National Football League (Ireland)|National League]] medals, in 1960, 1962 and 1968, as well as six [[GAA All Stars Awards|All Star awards]].<ref>[http://www.gaa.ie/page/football_all_stars_70s.html Football All Stars 70's | Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Official Website - GAA.ie<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304150933/http://www.gaa.ie/page/football_all_stars_70s.html |date=2009-03-04 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.gaa.ie/page/football_all_stars_60s.html Football All Stars 60's | Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Official Website - GAA.ie<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720001046/http://gaa.ie/page/football_all_stars_60s.html |date=2008-07-20 }}</ref> Other honours include a [[Sigerson Cup]] medal with the [[Queen's University of Belfast]] in 1958, whom he later coached to further wins.  He played club football with [[John Mitchel GFC]] Newry, winning the [[Down Senior Football Championship]] in 1960, 1964, 1967 and 1968. He also won the Down Minor Championship with Newry Mitchels in 1956 - the year the club was formed. His brother Kevin won an all Ireland with down in the 1960s.

Along with Joe Lennon, Dan McCartan and Paddy Doherty, he was one of four Down men who won all three All-Ireland medals in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite news |first=Pete |last=McGrath |title=Greatest ever corner back? |work=Gaelic Life |page=26 |date=10 October 2008 }}</ref>

==Later life==
O'Neill was the Down minor team coach, winning the 1977 [[All-Ireland Minor Football Championship]].<ref>[http://www.hoganstand.com/Down/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=48476 Hoganstand.com - GAA Football & Hurling<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Sean coached the Queen's University Belfast senior team in the early 1980s. As coach, he won the Sigerson Cup in 1982 and the Ryan Cup in 1984 and 1985.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

In 1984, the [[Gaelic Athletic Association]] centenary year, he was honoured by being named on their [[GAA Football Team of the Century|Football Team of the Century]]. In 2000 he was again honoured by the GAA by being named on their [[Gaelic football#Team of the Millennium|Gaelic Football Team of the Millennium]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hoganstand.com/general/champs/millennium.aspx |title=Hoganstand - National GAA Football & Hurling |website=www.hoganstand.com |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060303021127/http://www.hoganstand.com/general/champs/millennium.aspx |archive-date=3 March 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

O'Neill is a solicitor by profession.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

==Honours==
* [[Railway Cup]] (8) 1960 1963 1964 1965 1966 1968 1970 1971
* [[Ulster Senior Football Championship]] (8) 1959 1960 1961 1963 1965 1966 1968 1971
* [[Dr Lagan Cup]] (5) 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964
* [[Dr McKenna Cup]] (4) 1959 1961 1964 1972
* [[GAA GPA All Stars Awards|Cú Chulainn Awards]] (4) 1963 1964 1965 1967
* [[Down Senior Football Championship]] (4) 1960 1964 1967 1968
* [[All-Ireland Senior Football Championship]] (3) 1960 1961 1968
* [[National Football League (Ireland)|National Football League Division 1]]  (3) 1960 1962 1968
* [[GAA GPA All Stars Awards]] (2) 1971 1972
* [[Sigerson Cup]] (2) 1958 1964
* [[Down GAA|Down Division 1 Football League]] (2) 1965 1968
* [[Texaco Footballer of the Year]] (1) 1968

Manager
* [[Ulster Minor Football Championship]] (2) 1977 1979
* [[All-Ireland Minor Football Championship]] (1) 1977

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.bbc.com/sport/av/gaelic-games/54287584 Down’s historic All-Ireland win remembered 60 years on]

{{Down NFL Football Team 1960}}
{{Down Football Team 1960}}
{{Down Football Team 1961}}
{{Down Football Team 1962}}
{{Down NFL Football Team 1968}}
{{Down Football Team 1968}}
{{1971 All Stars}}
{{1972 All Stars}}
{{Texaco Footballer of the Year}}
{{Gaelic football Team of the Century}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Sean}}
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Alumni of Queen's University Belfast]]
[[Category:Down inter-county Gaelic footballers]]
[[Category:Newry Mitchels Gaelic footballers]]
[[Category:People educated at Abbey Christian Brothers' Grammar School]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Newry]]
[[Category:Ulster inter-provincial Gaelic footballers]]
[[Category:Queen's University Belfast Gaelic footballers]]