Caleb Crone (29 November 1919 – 8 January 1958) was an Irish

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

er who played as a left corner-back for club sides Air Corps and St Mary's, Saggart and was a member of the

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and

Cork senior football team The Cork county football team represents Cork in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Cork GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Sen ...

s from 1941 until 1948.

Career

Crone first came to Gaelic football prominence playing with the Air Corps club before linking up with St. Mary's in

Saggart Saggart () is a village in County Dublin, Ireland, south west of Dublin, Dublin city, in the Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local government area of South Dublin. It lies between the N7 road (Ireland), N7 (Naas Road), Rathcoole, ...

. He joined the

Dublin senior football team The Dublin county football team represents Dublin in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Dublin GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Irelan ...

in late 1941 before lining out in the 1942 All-Ireland final which saw Dublin claim their first title in 19 years after a 1-10 to 1-08 defeat of

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

. Crone later transferred to the

and collected a second winners' medal after their 2-05 to 0-07 win over

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road (Ireland), N3 road that links Dublin ( ...

. As a member of the

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

and

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

inter-provincial teams at various times, he won two

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship () or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster GAA teams are co ...

medals. Crone was posthumously named on the Cork Team of the Century.

Personal life and death

Born in

Rochestown Rochestown is a primarily residential area in Cork City, Ireland. Originally a somewhat rural area in County Cork, housing developments in the 20th and 21st centuries have connected the area to Douglas, Cork, Douglas and nearby suburbs. The area ...

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

, Crone spent much of his youth in

Killavullen Killavullen () is a village on the river Blackwater, in County Cork, Ireland. The village is located just south of the N72 road, between Mallow and Castletownroche. It is east of Mallow and north of Cork city. The census of 2002 put the p ...

where his father worked as the station master. He was educated at Sullivan's Quay national school and the Patrician Academy in Mallow. Crone joined the Air Corps in 1937. After his apprenticeship he temporarily transferred to

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

and retired from the Air Corps with the rank of Sergeant. Crone subsequently joined

Aer Lingus Aer Lingus ( ; an anglicisation of the Irish language, Irish , meaning "air fleet") is an Irish airline company which is the flag carrier of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded by the Irish Government, it was privatised between 2006 and 201 ...

where he worked as a technician in the simulator training department. Crone married Annie McDermott in

on 6 June 1945 and they had two sons. Crone died on 8 January 1958. At just 38 years of age, he was the second member of the 1945 All-Ireland-winning team to die.

Honours

;Dublin *

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) () is the premier inter-county competition in Gaelic football. County (Gaelic games), County teams compete against each other and the winner is declared All-Ireland Champions. Organised by the ...

1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...

Munster Senior Football Championship The Munster Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Munster Championship and shortened to Munster SFC, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Munster GAA, Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Associatio ...

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

;Cork *

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

;Leinster *

: 1944 ;Munster *

: 1946

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crone, Caleb 1919 births 1958 deaths St Mary's (Dublin) Gaelic footballers Dublin inter-county Gaelic footballers Cork inter-county Gaelic footballers Munster inter-provincial Gaelic footballers Leinster inter-provincial Gaelic footballers Gaelic football backs 20th-century Irish sportsmen