Joseph Corcoran (1940 – 23 October 2017) 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. 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 career at senior level with the Mayo county team spanned three decades from 1958 until 1974. Born in Ballina,

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

, Corcoran played at golf in his youth. At the age of fourteen he first played competitive Gaelic football with the Ardnaree Sarsfields club. He later progressed onto the adult team and won two county junior championship medals. Corcoran made his debut on the inter-county scene when he was selected for the Mayo minor team. He was an All-Ireland runner-up in this grade in 1958, having earlier won a Connacht medal. Corcoran made his senior debut during the 1958-59 league and, after a brief spell with the Mayo junior team, he became a regular member of the team. Over the course of a sixteen-year career, he won Connacht medals in 1967 and 1969, followed by a National League medal in 1970. Corcoran played his last game for Mayo in March 1974. As a member of the Connacht inter-provincial team on a number of occasions, Corcoran won a

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 ...

medal in 1969. Kevin McStay mentioned Corcoran as only being matched by Cillian O'Connor in the pantheon of Mayo forwards. " Ciaran McDonald was a completely different type of forward. He wasn't amassing the numbers Cillian gets. So that's two top class forwards, heavy scoring machines in 50–60 years", McStay told Dermot Crowe in 2022.

Honours

;Ardnaree Sarsfields * Mayo Junior Football Championship (2): 1959, 1971 ;Mayo * Connacht Senior Football Championship (2):

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

* National Football League (1): 1969-70 ;Connacht *

(1): 1969

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corcoran, Joe 1940 births 2017 deaths Ardnaree Sarsfields Gaelic footballers Connacht inter-provincial Gaelic footballers Mayo inter-county Gaelic footballers Sportspeople from Ballina, County Mayo