Martin O'Connell (born 29 August 1963 in Carlanstown,

County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

) is an Irish former sportsperson. He played

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 ...

with his local club St Michael's and was a senior member of the Meath county team from 1984 until 1997. O'Connell was listed on the "An Post/GAA Football Team of the Millennium". In a senior inter-county career that spanned two decades, O'Connell won every honour in the game at senior level. O'Connell claimed a Meath record of six

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 ...

and three

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

titles. O'Connell has also been the recipient of many awards off the field. He claimed four

All Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

awards as well as being named

Texaco Footballer of the Year The Texaco Footballer of the Year was a Gaelic football award, created in 1958, that honoured the achievements of a footballer of outstanding excellence. The award was part of the Texaco Sportstars Awards, in which Irish sportspeople from all fi ...

in his final playing season in 1996. Shortly after his inter-county career ended O'Connell was named in the left wing-back position on the GAA Football Team of the Millennium. In May 2020, the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

'' named O'Connell as one of the "dozens of brilliant players" who narrowly missed selection for its "Top 20 footballers in Ireland over the past 50 years". The All-Ireland medal he won in 1987 was stolen during a burglary in November 2020 but retrieved a short time later.

References

External links

Hogan Stand Article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnell, Martin 1963 births Living people Gaelic football backs Irish butchers Meath inter-county Gaelic footballers St Michael's (Meath) Gaelic footballers Texaco Footballers of the Year Winners of three All-Ireland medals (Gaelic football)

See also

References

External links