Denis Gabriel "Gay" O'Driscoll (born 1946) is an Irish former

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

er. His

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 sys ...

career at senior level with the Dublin county team spanned thirteen seasons from 1966 until 1979. Born in

West Cork West Cork () is a tourist region and municipal district in County Cork, Ireland. As a municipal district, West Cork falls within the administrative area of Cork County Council, and includes the towns of Bantry, Castletownbere, Clonakilty, Du ...

, O'Driscoll was the son of a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

serviceman. He moved with his family to Marino in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

at an early age where he attended Scoil Mhuire and St Joseph's Secondary School in Fairview. O'Driscoll first played competitive football with the St Vincent's club and had much success in a career which spanned three decades. The highlight of his club career was in 1976 when he won an

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) is a term used to describe organisations and events whose interests extend over the entire island of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Irelan ...

medal with the club. O'Driscoll also won two

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

medals and ten county senior championship medals. O'Driscoll first appeared on the inter-county scene as a hurler at minor and under-21 levels with Dublin. An

runner-up in the under-21 grade in 1967, he enjoyed an eight-year career with the Dublin senior team. In spite of never having played minor or under-21 football, O'Driscoll made his senior debut during the 1966–67 league. Over the course of the following thirteen seasons he enjoyed much success and won three

medals between 1974 and 1977. He also won six successive

medals and two

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

medals. He is the grandfather of Louis O’Driscoll

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odriscoll, Gay 1946 births Living people All Stars Awards winners (football) Dual players Dublin inter-county hurlers Dublin inter-county Gaelic footballers Gaelic football backs Gaelic games players from County Cork People educated at St Joseph's, Fairview St Vincents (Dublin) Gaelic footballers St Vincents (Dublin) hurlers Winners of three All-Ireland medals (Gaelic football) 20th-century Irish sportsmen