Séamus Leydon

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Séamus Leydon
Personal information
Irish name Séamus Ó Liodáin
Sport Gaelic football
Position Left wing-forward
Born 1942 (1942)
Dunmore, County Galway, Ireland
Died (aged 81)
The Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Nickname The Dunmore Dynamo
Occupation Sales director
Club(s)
Years Club
1960–1972
1972–1975
 Dunmore McHales
Nemo Rangers
Club titles
Galway titles 5
Connacht titles 1
Inter-county(ies)
Years County Apps (scores)
1961–1972
 Galway 33 (9-41)
Inter-county titles
Connacht titles 7
All-Irelands 3
NFL 1
All Stars 1

Séamus Leydon (1942 – 31 October 2023) was an Irish Gaelic footballer who played for club sides Dunmore McHales and Nemo Rangers, and at inter-county level with the Galway senior football team.[1]

Career

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Leydon first played Gaelic football to a high standard as a student at St Jarlath's College in Tuam. He won two Connacht Colleges JFC titles and was part of the college's senior team that beat St Finian's College to win the Hogan Cup in 1960.[2] Leydon's club career with Dunmore McHales also began around this time and he won his first Galway SFC medal in 1961. It was the first of five winners' medals, as Dunmore also claimed the title in 1963, 1966, 1968 and 1969.[3] Leydon was also part of the Dunmore team that won the inaugural Connacht Club SFC title in 1966.[4]

Leydon first played for Galway as a member of the minor team in 1959. He won the first of two consecutive Connacht MFC medals that year before winning an All-Ireland MFC medal after a defeat of Cork in 1960.[5][6] A season with the Galway junior team yielded a Connacht JFC medal in 1961.

After sustaining an injury which required a lengthy absence playing for the junior team, Leydon made his senior team debut in late 1961.[7] He won the first of four consecutive Connacht SFC medals in 1963, while he also made the first of four consecutive All-Ireland final appearances that year but lost out to Dublin.[8] Three successive All-Ireland SFC titles followed for Leydon, beating Kerry in the finals of 1964 and 1965 and Meath in the 1966 decider.[9][10][11] He also claimed a National League title in 1965.

Leydon won three more Connacht SFC medals in 1968, 1970 and 1971, while he served as team captain in 1968. He was also a regular on the Connacht inter-provincial team for almost a decade and won Railway Cup medals in 1967 and 1969. Leydon's last big occasion for Galway was when he lined out at left corner-forward in the 1971 All-Ireland final defeat by Offaly.[12] His performances that season earned him his only All Star.[13]

Leydon retired from inter-county football in 1972 when his job as regional sales director with Cantrell and Cochrane required him to move to Cork. He joined the Nemo Rangers club in the city and won consecutive Cork SFC and Munster Club SFC titles in 1974 and 1975.[14] Leydon also lined out when Nemo were beaten by University College Dublin in the 1975 All-Ireland club final.[15]

Death

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Leydon died at St Bridget's Hospice, The Curragh on 31 October 2023, at the age of 81.[16][17]

Honours

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Team

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St Jarlath's College
Dunmore
Nemo Rangers
Galway
Conancht

Individual

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References

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  1. ^ "Séamus Leydon". Hogan Stand. 10 September 1993. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  2. ^ Hughes, Paul (1 May 2020). "Sixty years since St Finian's were pipped by stellar St Jarlath's side". Westmeath Examiner. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  3. ^ Coss, Billy (23 October 2019). "Dunmore MacHales celebrate their Kings of the Sixties". The Tuam Herald. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  4. ^ Egan, Kevin (3 December 2022). "Dunmore MacHales come good late on to claim Connacht IFC title". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  5. ^ Woods, Mark (3 June 2021). "Recalling Cork's first All-Ireland minor football success in 1961". Echo Live. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Golden Jubilee reflections on one of Galway's greatest ever Minor football teams". The Tuam Herald. 25 October 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  7. ^ Brosnan, Maurice (28 December 2023). "Remembering Seamus Leydon and the best goal ever". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  8. ^ Scully, Niall (18 May 2020). "'The thing I most remember is the noise. From the second we ran out, there was a din. And it was constant'". Irish Independent. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  9. ^ "3-In-A-Row Seán Cleary recalls the glory days with Galway". Ireland's Eye. 1 May 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  10. ^ "Galway three-in-a row teams". Galway Advertiser. 4 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  11. ^ "Galway's three-in-a-row team remembered". Hogan Stand. 1 May 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  12. ^ "50 years on, how Offaly won the 1971 All-Ireland final". Uibh Fháilí website. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  13. ^ Brosnan, Maurice (28 December 2023). "Madness of Football Podcast: John Keenan's tribute to Seamus Leydon and Galway's treble". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  14. ^ "Senior Football (Club)". Munster GAA website. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  15. ^ Breheny, Martin (20 November 2002). "Inclusion of UCD undermines club championship". Irish Independent. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  16. ^ Fallon, John (1 November 2023). "Former Galway and Nemo Rangers stalwart Seamus Leydon passes away". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  17. ^ Fallon, John (1 November 2023). "Galway three-in-a-row star Séamus Leydon dies, aged 81". Irish Times. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
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