Sport Gaelic football Years Club All irelands 2 | Position Half-Back Cavan titles 9 | |
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Irish name Seán Seosamh Ó Raghallaigh Occupation Commandant in the Irish army Died 21 November 1952, Curragh, Republic of Ireland | ||
John Joe O'Reilly (1919 – 1952) was a famous Gaelic footballer for the Cavan senior team.
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Playing career
Born at the Derries Upper, Killeshandra, County Cavan, his father was Big John O'Reilly who played as goalkeeper on the Cavan county team and his mother was Sarah Anne. After early successes with St Patrick's College and his club, Cornafean, he captained the Cavan team, which won All-Ireland Senior Football Championships in 1947 (at the New York City Polo Grounds) and 1948, having also played on three losing sides in the final. He won 11 Ulster senior football medals, as Cavan took the title each year from 1937 until 1949, except two. He won a National Football League medal and four Railway Cup medals, in 1942 and 1943 (when he was the first ever Cavan captain), 1947 and as captain again in 1950. John Joe O'Reilly was one of only eight men to have had the honour of being presented with the Sam Maguire twice as captain. O'Reilly's father also played in goal for Cavan and his brother, Tom O’Reilly, played on the 1947 All-Ireland winning team and also won Railway Cup medals for Ulster in 1943 and 1944.
Death and legacy
A Commandant in the army, John Joe O'Reilly, picked up a serious injury during a football match in 1952 from which he never recovered. He died in the General Military Hospital in the Curragh on 22 November 1952 at only 33 years of age. In 1984, the GAA's centenary year he was named at centre half-back on the Football Team of the Century. In 1999 he was again honoured by the GAA by being named on their Gaelic Football Team of the Millennium.