Offaly GAA mourns passing of Donie Hanlon, skipper of Faithful County’s maiden Leinster SFC title win
The Offaly GAA crest
Offaly GAA is mourning the death of Donie Hanlon, who skippered the Faithful County to their maiden Leinster senior football title in 1960.
The Gracefield clubman scored the winning point in that famous victory over Louth, and he was full-forward when Offaly contested their first All-Ireland SFC final a year later, losing to Down.
All told, Hanlon played over 30 league and championship games for Offaly between 1958 and ’64, while he won county SFC medals with St Patrick's (a Gracefield-St Mary's combination) in 1959 and then Gracefield in 1961.
“A sad day in Gracefield today as we got the news of the passing of Donie Hanlon,” his club said in a Facebook post.
“Donie was the first Offaly man to lift the Leinster Senior Football Championship in 1960 and was a central figure on Offaly teams for many years.
“Just before Christmas we held our dinner dance and presentation to our county championship winning teams of 1970 and 1972 and Leinster championship winning team of 1971, and it was great to see Donie present on the night with his family.”
