Former Down All-Ireland winner Kevin O'Neill dies
Kevin O'Neill, a former Down All-Ireland winner, has died, leaving behind a legacy in Gaelic football and a family with deep roots in the sport.
The death of former Down All-Ireland winner Kevin O’Neill has touched the hearts of Gaels over a wide area, now least in the neighbouring county of Armagh where his family roots are firmly embedded.
A native of Newry he was a member of the Down team that brought the Sam Maguire across the border for the first time, a defender on those trailblazing sides of 1960 and 1961 when the Mourne men defeated Kerry and then Offaly in the All-Ireland finals.
Kevin called time on his inter-county career after winning a second Celtic Cross but continued to play for his club Newry Mitchels winning four Down SFC titles.
His younger bother Sean, a decorated forward during the 1960s, was part of the Down team that in many ways changed the face of Gaelic football such was their play.
Kevin was married into the well known McKnight GAA family from Killeavy. His wife Mary predeceased him. Three of her bothers, Mickey, Felix and John McKnight at one time formed the entire full-backline of the Armagh senior team.
Kevin shared a direct family origin and extended bloodline with the prominent O’Neill clan from County Armagh. Both families trace their roots back to the same extended family origin in Carnagh, near Keady, the ancestral home of his father Mick, who went to work in Newry,married and settled there.
His uncle Paddy O’Neill, from Carnagh, was the father of the Dr Pat O’Neill, who played for Armagh in the 1953 All-Ireland Final against Kerry and the late Brendan O’Neill who was part of the Armagh Minor team that won the 1949 All-Ireland.
Brendan is the grandfather of Rian, Oisin and Aaron O’Neill, who have just helped their club Crossmaglen Rangers to its 48th SFC title and are also part of the Armagh senior squad.
And just like the late Kevin O’Neill, Rian and Oisin have sampled All-Ireland glory at inter-county senior level.
Kevin O’Neill’s funeral Mass was celebrated in The Church of the Sacred Heart, Cloughoge, followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery.
He is survived by his sons Michael, Shane, Donal and Ronan and extended family to whom deepest sympathy is extended.