"Young players may come and old players may go
But there'll ne'er be another like the gallant John Joe."
John Joe O'Reilly (1918 – 1952) was a legendary Gaelic footballer who played for the Cavan County team.
He won 2 All Ireland senior medals in 1947 and 1948 along with 11 Ulster senior football medals, as Cavan took the title each year from 1937 until 1949, except two. He also won a National Football League medal and four Railway Cup medals.
He is the only man to lead a team to All Ireland glory outside of Ireland, having captained the Breffni men to victory against Kerry in the iconic 1947 All-Ireland Senior Football Final played at the Polo Grounds in New York City.
A Commandant in the Irish Army, John Joe O'Reilly, suffered a serious injury during a football match against Ardclough in 1952 from which he never recovered. He died in the General Military Hospital in the Curragh on 22 November 1952 at only 34 years of age. In 1984, the GAA's centenary year he was named at centre half-back on the Football Team of the Centuary. In 1999 he was again honoured by the GAA by being named on their Gaelic Football Team of the Millenium.
On November 20th 2022, two days before the 70th anniversary of his death, a 7ft bronze statue of John Joe, sculpted by Seamus Connolly, was unveiled at Market Square in Cavan.