Gerald "Gerry" O'Malley (1928 – 5 January 2016) was an Irish

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 who played as a centre-back for the

Roscommon Roscommon (; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60, N61 and N63 roads. The name Roscommon is derived from Coman mac Faelchon who built ...

senior football team. Born in Brideswell,

County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Connacht , subdi ...

, O'Malley was introduced to

Gaelic games Gaelic games ( ga, Cluichí Gaelacha) are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the ...

during his schooling at Brideswell National School and the Marist College. At club level he first lined out as a minor

dual player Dual player or dual star is a term used in Hiberno-English to describe someone who competes in multiple sports — for example, in Victorian Ireland, cricket and hurling. The term today in Gaelic games typically describes a male player who plays ...

with

Four Roads Four Roads is a village in Saint Philip in Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of ...

. In a distinguished career spanning over twenty years, O'Malley won seven

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 ...

medals as a hurler. As a Gaelic footballer he later moved to the St. Patrick's club before winning four

medals with St. Brigid's. O'Malley made his debut on the inter-county scene when he first linked up with the Roscommon junior teams as a dual player. An

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 ...

medallist with the hurling team at the end of his career, O'Malley made his senior football debut during the 1947-48 league. He went on to play a key role for Roscommon during a hugely successful era, and won four

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

medals. He was an

runner-up on one occasion. As a member of the

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

inter-provincial teams in both codes, he won three

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship ( ga, An Corn Idir-Chúigeach) or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster ...

medals as a footballer. O'Malley retired from inter-county football following the conclusion of the 1964 championship. Immediately after his retirement from club activity, O'Malley took charge of the St. Brigid's senior team, guiding them to the championship title in 1969. He later went on to train the Roscommon county footballers that were based in Dublin between 1970 and 1971. The following year O'Malley trained St. Maur's to junior and intermediate championship successes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Omalley, Gerry 1928 births 2016 deaths Four Roads hurlers Roscommon inter-county Gaelic footballers Roscommon inter-county hurlers Connacht inter-provincial Gaelic footballers Connacht inter-provincial hurlers