Vincent 'Shin' O'Connor (born 1957 in

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Cast ...

, County Kerry,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

) is 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 ...

former sportsperson. He played Gaelic football with his local club

Dingle Dingle ( Irish: ''An Daingean'' or ''Daingean Uí Chúis'', meaning "fort of Ó Cúis") is a town in County Kerry, Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula, it sits on the Atlantic coast, about southwest of Tralee and northwest of Kill ...

and was a member of the

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in Count ...

senior inter-county team from 1977 until 1984. He was a selector under

Páidí Ó Sé Páidí Ó Sé (, ; 16 May 1955 – 15 December 2012) was an Irish Gaelic football manager and player, whose league and championship career at senior level with the Kerry county team spanned fifteen seasons from 1974 to 1988. Ó Sé is wide ...

during his time a Clare manager.

Club

At club level he lined out with

and West Kerry. He won back to back

Kerry Senior Football Championship The Kerry Senior Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as Garvey’s SuperValu Senior Football Championship) is an annual Gaelic football competition organised by the Kerry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1 ...

titles in 1984/85 with West Kerry. With

he won back to back

Kerry Intermediate Football Championship The Kerry Intermediate Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by mid-tier Kerry GAA clubs. Rathmore are the title holders (2022).. Teams 2022 Teams Honours The winners can be promoted to play in the Kerr ...

titles in 1988/89.

Minor

O'Connor lined out with

at minor level in 1975. A semi-final win over

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

on a 6-23 to 0-05 scoreline and a Munster final win over Cork on a 3-07 to 1-11 scoreline seen him pick up a

Munster Minor Football Championship The Munster Minor Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1928 for the youngest competitors (under-18) in the province of Munster in Ireland. It is ...

medal. He missed the sides semi-final win over

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 buil ...

but was back for the final. He was at Left Corner Back in a 1-10 to 0-04 win over Tyrone to pick up an

All-Ireland Minor Football Championship The Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Championship is the premier under-17 "knockout" competition in Gaelic football played in Ireland. 2017 was the final year of the minor under 18 football championship as it were replaced by an under ...

medal.

Under 21

O'Connor joined the Under 21 team straight out of minor. In 1976 wins over

and Cork seen him pick up a Munster Under 21 Football Championship medal. A semi-final win over

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...

seen

qualify for the All-Ireland final. He was Right Half Back during a 0-14 to 1-03 win to pick up an

All-Ireland Under 21 Football Championship The GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the EirGrid GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship) is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (G ...

medal. In 1977 wins over Clare and Cork seen him pick up his second Munster title. An All-Ireland semi-final win over Leitrim seen him qualify for another final. In the final

faced Down. A 1-11 to 1-05 win seen him pick up his second All-Ireland U21 title. In 1978 wins over

, Clare and Cork seen O'Connor pick up his third Munster title in a row. A semi-final win over

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town * Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia **Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * Cou ...

seen O'Connor qualified for a third All-Ireland final in a row. There was to be no three in a row as

cam up short on a 1-09 to 1-08 scoreline to Rocommon.

Senior

O'Connor first joined the

senior team during the 1976/77 National League where he played four games. He played no part in the subsequent championship. He played three games during the 1977/78 League. He was part of the championship panel that went on to win that years All-Ireland. He played another four games in the 1978/79 league. He made his championship debut in a game later known as the ''Miltown Massacre''. He was midfield, and scored 1-02, as powered to a 9-21 to 1-09 win over Clare. He was again midfield for the Munster final with Cork. A 2-14 to 2-04 win seen him pick up his first

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

title. He was again at midfield, and score a point, in the All-Ireland semi-final win over

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Ireland. It also provides the name of its civil parish and barony. The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7,678. The town is on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry and Lette ...

. He lost his place for the All-Ireland final with

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

. he did however come on in a 3-13 to 1-08 win to pick up his first All-Ireland on the field. He played in all eight of Kerry's 1979/80 National League games, including the final loss to Cork. His only championship game came in the Munster final with Cork. A 3-13 to 0-12 win seen him pick up his second Munster title. 1981/82 seen him line out in another league final against Cork. The sides finished level; however, he missed out on the replay. He made his first championship start since 1979 when he lined out against Clare in the Munster semi-final. He was back among the subs, but appeared as he picked up his third Munster title after overcoming Cork in the final after a replay. In 1983 he lined out in yet another Munster final with Cork. But for the second year in a row

were undone by a late goal. This time by Tadhg Murphy as Cork took the Munster title for the first time since 1974. In the 1983/84 National League he lined out in seven of Kerry's games. This including the final win over

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

. Despite his role in the league win his only championship appearance was also against

in the All-Ireland semi-final. His final appearance with

came in the 1987 Munster final replay loss to Cork. Despite a successful underage and National League career O'Connor could never hold down a place in the championship team. In all he made 12 Championship appearances between 1979 and 1987.

References

External links

O'Connor issues rallying cry to Clare wannabes - HoganStand
1957 births Living people Dingle Gaelic footballers Kerry inter-county Gaelic footballers Winners of one All-Ireland medal (Gaelic football) {{Kerry-gaelic-football-bio-stub