Michael O'Connell (born 4 January 1937) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer. Throughout his 25-year club career, he played for Young Islanders, winning seven South Kerry Championship titles during a golden age for the club; he also played for divisional side South Kerry, and experienced success in the County Championship. At inter-county level, he captained Kerry to win the 1959 All-Ireland Championship; he later claimed a further three All-Ireland medals, as well as Munster Championship and National League successes.
Early life
Mick O'Connell was born on Valentia Island, County Kerry in 1937. His father was a fisherman who also worked on the family's small farm on the island. From an early age, O’Connell showed his footballing talent and "inimitable signs of excellence". In 2000 O'Connell was also named on the associations 'Football Team of the Millennium'.
Personal life
In 1972 O'Connell married his wife Rosaleen. They have three children, Máire, Mícheál and Diarmuid. Mícheál married Emma, daughter of then-President Mary McAleese in December 2009.
Career statistics
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!rowspan="2"|Team
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="3"|National League
!colspan="2"|Munster
!colspan="2"|All-Ireland
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Division!!Apps!!Score!!Apps!!Score!!Apps!!Score!!Apps!!Score
|-
|rowspan="19"|Kerry
|1955-56
|rowspan="19"|Division 1
||0||0-00||3||0-01||colspan=2|—||3||0-01
|-
|1956-57
||5||0-02||1||0-01||colspan=2|—||6||0-03
|-
|1957-58
||4||0-06||2||0-00||1||0-00||7||0-06
|-
|1958-59
||7||1-08||2||0-04||2||0-02||11||1-14
|-
|1959-60
||7||1-04||2||0-04||2||0-02||11||1-10
|-
|1960-61
||8||0-09||3||0-03||1||0-00||12||0-12
|-
|1961-62
||4||0-13||2||1-04||2||0-12||8||1-29
|-
|1962-63
||2||0-03||2||0-08||1||0-04||5||0-15
|-
|1963-64
||6||1-19||2||0-03||2||0-07||10||1-29
|-
|1964-65
||4||1-09||2||0-06||2||0-03||8||1-18
|-
|1965-66
||3||0-07||2||0-05||colspan=2|—||5||0-12
|-
|1966-67
||0||0-00||0||0-00||colspan=2|—||0||0-00
|-
|1967-68
||2||0-02||2||0-06||2||0-03||6||0-11
|-
|1968-69
||10||3-32||2||0-10||2||0-05||14||3-47
|-
|1969-70
||1||0-01||2||0-06||2||0-03||5||0-10
|-
|1970-71
||1||0-00||2||0-02||colspan=2|—||3||0-02
|-
|1971-72
||8||0-13||2||0-05||3||0-12||13||0-30
|-
|1972-73
||1||0-03||0||0-00||colspan=2|—||1||0-03
|-
|1973-74
||0||0-00||1||0-00||colspan=2|—||1||0-00
|-
!colspan="3"|Career total
!73!!7-131!!34!!1-68!!22!!0-53!!129!!8-252
|}
Honours
;Valentia Young Islanders
- South Kerry Senior Football Championship: 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1979
- Kerry Novice Football Championship 1975
;South Kerry
- Kerry Senior Football Championship: 1955, 1956, 1958
;Kerry
- All-Ireland Senior Football Championship: 1959 (c), 1962, 1969, 1970
- Munster Senior Football Championship: 1958, 1959 (c), 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972
- National Football League: 1958–59 (c), 1960–61, 1962–63, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73
;Munster
- Railway Cup: 1972
See also
- List of people on the postage stamps of Ireland