Declan Meehan (Gaelic footballer)

Declan Meehan (born 16 January 1976) is an Irish Gaelic footballer from County Galway, Ireland. He plays his club football with Caltra and played inter-county football for the Galway team from 1996 to 2011.[1] He was regarded as one of the most talented and skillful wing half-backs in the country.

Declan Meehan
Personal information
Irish name Déaglán Ó Míocháin
Sport Gaelic football
Position Right half back
Born (1976-01-16) 16 January 1976 (age 48)
Ballinasloe, Ireland
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Club(s)
Years Club
1993–2016
Caltra
Club titles
Galway titles 1
Connacht titles 1
All-Ireland Titles 1
Inter-county(ies)
Years County
1996–2011
Galway
Inter-county titles
Connacht titles 6
All-Irelands 2
NFL 0
All Stars 2

Playing career

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Club

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In 2004, Meehan was part of the Caltra team that had a memorable run to All-Ireland Club Championship glory. After coming through the Galway and Connacht club finals, which first time triumphs for the club, Caltra met An Ghaeltacht of Munster. In a close exciting encounter, Caltra prevailed by one point, 0–13 to 0–12. His brothers, Michael, Tomás, Enda and Noel, who captained the team, were all starting players on the team.

Inter-county

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He won All-Ireland Senior Football Championship medals with Galway in 1998 and 2001,[2] he also won 6 Connacht Senior Football Championship medals. As well as an All Ireland medal in 2001 he also won a second All Star in a row and was named Player of the Year. He was part of the Ireland international rules team in 2002.

In January 2011, Meehan announced his retirement from inter-county football.[3][4]

Biography

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He attended the famous St. Jarlath's College and won a Hogan Cup medal with them in 1994.

He comes from a famous footballing family in Galway. His brother Tomás also played in the All Ireland wins in 1998 and 2001, and his youngest brother Michael also played for the Galway senior team. The passion of football in the Meehan family was clearly evident when 5 brothers started on the successful All-Ireland Club Championship Caltra side while eldest brother Seamus was a sub on that day. Declan's sister, Mairead, was a sporting star in her own right. She was a very useful camogie player. A teacher who graduated from DCU, she gained an All-Ireland junior camogie medal with Holy Rosary College. Mairead died in 2007 from osteosarcoma.

References

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  1. ^ "O Flatharta pays tribute to retiring Meehan". Hoganstand.com. 6 January 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
  2. ^ "Football". Hoganstand.com. Archived from the original on 19 December 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
  3. ^ "Meehan calls time on Galway career". Hoganstand.com. 6 January 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
  4. ^ "Meehan calls time on Galway football". RTÉ Sport. 6 January 2011. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
Awards
Preceded by All Stars Footballer of the Year
2001
Succeeded by