John Francis Morley (6 October 1942 – 7 July 1980) 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 and

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace") is the national police and security service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards". The service is headed by the Garda Commissio ...

. His

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

career at senior level with the Mayo county team spanned thirteen seasons from 1961 until 1974. Morley is widely regarded as one of Mayo's greatest ever players.

Life and career

Born in

Kiltimagh Kiltimagh () is a town in County Mayo in Ireland. As of the 2022 census, the town had a population of 1,232 people. Although there is no river going through the town, three rivers flow around the town: the Glore River, Yellow River and Pollag ...

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

, Morley was educated locally and later attended

St Jarlath's College St Jarlath's College () is a Catholic co-educational secondary school in Tuam, County Galway. The college was founded in 1800 and in 2009 absorbed St. Patrick's College, Tuam. The College, which operates under patronage of the Archbishop of Tua ...

Tuam Tuam (; , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midland Region, Ireland, midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. The town is in a civil parishe ...

where he first played competitive football. Here he won back-to-back

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) is a term used to describe organisations and events whose interests extend over the entire island of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Irelan ...

medals in 1960 and 1961. At club level Morley first played at juvenile and underage levels with

before later lining out with a variety of clubs. His greatest success was with the

Ballaghaderreen Ballaghaderreen () is a town in County Roscommon, Ireland. It was part of County Mayo prior to 1898. It is in the north-west of the county, near the borders with counties Mayo and Sligo, just off the N5 road. The population was 2,387 in the 2 ...

club with whom he won a county senior championship medal in 1972. Morley made his debut on the inter-county scene at the age of seventeen when he was selected for the Mayo minor team in 1960. He enjoyed one championship season with the minor team which ended without success. He subsequently joined the Mayo senior team, making his debut during the 1961-62 league. Over the course of the next thirteen seasons, Morley enjoyed much success, winning

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

medals in 1967 and 1969 and a

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

medal in 1970. He played his last game for Mayo in June 1974. After being chosen on the

inter-provincial team for the first time in 1962, Morley was an automatic choice on the starting fifteen for almost a decade. During that time he won

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 in 1967 and 1969.

Death

Morley, who rose to the rank of detective in the Garda Síochána, was murdered on 7 July 1980 by alleged members of the

Irish National Liberation Army The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA, ) is an Irish republicanism, Irish republican Socialism, socialist paramilitary group formed on 8 December 1974, during the 30-year period of conflict known as "the Troubles". The group seeks to remove ...

(INLA) during a pursuit in the aftermath of a bank robbery near Loughglynn,

County Roscommon County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...

. Morley's colleague, Henry Byrne, was also killed in the pursuit. The officers' deaths provoked national outrage. Three men were apprehended, convicted and sentenced to death for capital murder. Two of the sentences were later reduced to 40 years imprisonment while the third was overturned.

Career statistics

Honours

;St Jarlath's College * All-Ireland Colleges Senior Football Championship (2): 1960, 1961 *

Connacht Colleges Senior Football Championship Connacht colleges senior football "A" championship, is the top level Gaelic football competition for secondary schools in Connacht. They compete for the Aonghus Murphy Memorial Cup. The winners advance to the Hogan Cup, the All-Ireland college ...

(2): 1960, 1961 ;Ballaghaderreen *

Mayo Senior Football Championship The Mayo Senior Football Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the ''Connacht Gold Mayo Senior Football Championship'', is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by the top Mayo GAA clubs. As of 2024, Ballina Stephenites GAA ...

(1): 1972 *

Mayo Intermediate Football Championship The Mayo Intermediate Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by mid-tier (17-32) Mayo GAA clubs. Ballyhaunis are the title holders (2022) defeating Kilmeena in the Final. Honours The winning club competes in t ...

(1): 1971 (c) ;Mayo *

Connacht Senior Football Championship The Connacht Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Connacht Championship and shortened to Connacht SFC, is an annual Gaelic football competition for the senior county teams of Connacht GAA. All of the county teams of Connacht particip ...

(2):

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(1): 1969-70 ;Connacht *

(2): 1967, 1969

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morley, John 1942 births 1980 deaths Ballaghaderreen Gaelic footballers Connacht inter-provincial Gaelic footballers Garda Síochána officers Kiltimagh Gaelic footballers Mayo inter-county Gaelic footballers People educated at St Jarlath's College Police officers from County Mayo Murder victims from County Mayo People murdered in the Republic of Ireland

Life and career

Death

Career statistics

Honours

See also

References