Anthony Thomas O'Toole (18 February 1951 – 17 May 2019) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

er. His

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

and

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

career at senior level with the Dublin county team spanned thirteen seasons from 1972 to 1984, including six All-Ireland finals in a row. O'Toole won four All-Ireland championship titles.

Background

Born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, O'Toole first played competitive Gaelic football during his schooling at

Synge Street CBS Synge Street CBS (colloquially Synger) is a boys' non-fee-paying state school, under the auspices of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, located in the Dublin 8 area of Dublin, Ireland. The school was founded in 1864 by Canon ...

. He joined Synge Street PPGFC and won a county junior championship medal in 1970.

Inter-county career

O'Toole made his debut on the inter-county scene when he was picked on the Dublin minor team. He subsequently joined the Dublin under-21 team, under Eugene McGee. O'Toole joined the Dublin senior team during the 1972 championship. Over the course of the next thirteen seasons he won four

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

medals, beginning with a lone triumph in 1974, back-to-back championships in 1976 and 1977 and a final title in 1983. O'Toole also won eight

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

medals, played in 6 consecutive finals (1974-1979), won two

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

medals and three All-Stars. O'Toole could play anywhere in the front eight. He played much of his career at left wing forward, although he started his first All-Ireland Final in 1974 at corner-forward, and his final one in 1983 at full forward. With

Brian Mullins Brian Mullins (27 September 1954 – 30 September 2022) was an Irish Gaelic football Manager (Gaelic games), manager and player. He played football with his local club St Vincents GAA, St Vincent's and was a senior member of the Dublin county ...

, he was the last of the '74 team left in the side when they won their final championship of that era in 1983, although at that stage O'Toole had been remade into a

full forward Full-forward is a position in Australian rules football and Gaelic football with a key focus on kicking goals. The Coleman Medal is awarded to the player, often a full-forward, who has kicked the most goals in an Australian Football League seaso ...

. He played his last game for Dublin in September 1984.

Managerial career

In retirement from playing O'Toole became involved in team management and coaching. He guided Templeogue Synge Street to the

Dublin Intermediate Football Championship ''See also Dublin Senior Football Championship'' The Dublin Intermediate Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition organised by Dublin GAA between second-tier Gaelic football clubs in County Dublin, Ireland. Qua ...

title in 2008.

Death

He died in May 2019 after a 15 month battle with cancer. Tributes were paid from all across the GAA world. At his funeral the pallbearers included many of O'Toole's former teammates including Kevin Moran, Fran Ryder and Bobby Doyle, as well as current Dublin players

Niall Scully Niall Scully (born 19 April 1994) is a Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular ...

Ciarán Kilkenny Ciarán Kilkenny (born 7 July 1993) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for the Dublin county team and as a dual player for his club Castleknock. He was previously on the playing list of Australian rules football club Hawthorn, as a rook ...

and Brian Howard.

Honours

Team

; Synge Street PP *

(1): 1970 ; Dublin *

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...

(4):

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

Leinster Senior Football Championship The Leinster Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Leinster Championship and shortened to Leinster SFC, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA ...

(8):

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

(2): 1975-76, 1977-78

Individual

; Awards * All-Stars Awards (3): 1975, 1976, 1977

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otoole, Anton 1951 births 2019 deaths Dublin inter-county Gaelic footballers Gaelic football forwards People educated at Synge Street CBS Sportspeople from South Dublin (county) Templeogue Synge Street Gaelic footballers Winners of four All-Ireland medals (Gaelic football)