Philip Joseph Duke (1925–1950) was a

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 for the Cavan county team.

Playing career

As a footballer, Duke could play as a half-back, midfielder or as a forward. Cavan's historic win over Kerry in the 1947

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 ...

final played at the

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 to 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built for the ...

in New York was arguably P.J. Duke's greatest ever hour. Cavan found themselves eight points down against Kerry. Team-manager Hughie O'Reilly switched Duke from midfield to right half-back to mark Batt Garvey who had threatened to win the game on his own. The switch saw an immediate tightening up of the Cavan defence and this changed the pattern of the game with Duke making several runs out of defence, and the inter-passing speed and skills of

Mick Higgins Mick Higgins (22 August 1922 – 28 January 2010) was an Irish Gaelic footballer who played at senior level for the Cavan county football team, Cavan county team, winning three All-Ireland medals during his career. In later years he was a succe ...

and Tony Tighe. He again formed a half-back partnership with Simon Deignan and J. J. O'Reilly to reclaim the title in 1948. He won a

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 ...

medal in 1949 and he collected a

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 ...

medal with Ulster in 1950. He won three

Sigerson Cup The Sigerson Cup is the trophy for the premier Gaelic football championship among Higher Education institutions (Universities, Colleges and Institutes of Technology) in Ireland. It traditionally begins in mid January and ends in late February. T ...

medals with

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

Death

Duke died, while still a young man, on 1 May 1950 after a short illness at St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin. He was just 25 years old.

Other honours

* Number 124 in the "125 greatest stars of the GAA" * Selected at right half back in Cavan's "Team of the Millennium" in December 2000 * Picked for the Combined Universities team against Rest of Ireland selections in 1949

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duke, P. J. 1925 births 1950 deaths Cavan inter-county Gaelic footballers Irish dentists 20th-century dentists Health professionals from County Cavan