Patrick Cullen (18 October 1944 – 6 February 2025) 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 ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

. His

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

and

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 Dublin county team spanned thirteen years from 1966 to 1979.

Career

Born in Stoneybatter but raised in the North Wall area of

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 ...

, Cullen was introduced to Gaelic football by the Christian Brothers at St Laurence O'Toole National School and later at the North Strand Vocational College. He joined the O'Connell Boys club straight after finishing his schooling and enjoyed a club career that spanned four decades from 1959 until 1982. Cullen combined both Gaelic football and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

in his youth and developed a reputation as a fine soccer goalkeeper when he played in the local street leagues. He later lined out with McNaughton's in the Athletic Union League. Cullen made his debut on the Gaelic football inter-county scene when he captained the inaugural Dublin under-21 team in 1964. Two years later he made his senior debut as a late call-up at full-forward against

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

during the 1966-67 league. After impressing in a tournament game at Easter 1967, Cullen was selected as Dublin's first-choice for the championship. Over the course of the next thirteen seasons, he won three

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, beginning with a lone triumph in 1974, followed by back-to-back titles in 1976 and 1977. He also won six

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 ...

medals, two

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 ...

medals and four All-Stars. Cullen played his last game for Dublin in September 1979. After being chosen on the

inter-provincial team for the first time in 1974, Cullen won his sole

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 that year as a non-playing substitute. In retirement from playing Cullen became involved in team management. He served as manager of the Dublin senior team from 1990 to 1992 and guided the team to Leinster and National Football League titles. Cullen died after a long illness on 6 February 2025, at the age of 80.

Career statistics

Honours

Player

;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 ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

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

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

: 1975–76, 1977–78 ;Leinster *

: 1974

Manager

;Dublin *

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

: 1990–91

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cullen, Paddy 1944 births 2025 deaths All Stars Awards winners (football) Dublin county football team non-playing personnel Dublin inter-county Gaelic footballers Gaelic football goalkeepers Gaelic football managers Gaelic games players from Dublin (city) Irish publicans Leinster inter-provincial Gaelic footballers Winners of three All-Ireland medals (Gaelic football) 20th-century Irish sportsmen