Background
Born at the Derries Upper, Killeshandra, County Cavan, his father was Big John O'Reilly who played as goalkeeper on the Cavan county team and his mother was Sarah Anne.
Born at the Derries Upper, Killeshandra, County Cavan, his father was Big John O'Reilly who played as goalkeeper on the Cavan county team and his mother was Sarah Anne.
John Joe O'Reilly was one of only eight men to have had the honour of being presented with the Sam Maguire twice as captain. A Commandant in the army, John Joe O'Reilly, picked up a serious injury during a football match in 1952 from which he never recovered. He died in the General Military Hospital in the Curragh on 22 November 1952 at only 33 years of age.
In 1984, the GAA's centenary year he was named at centre half-back on the Football Team of the Century. In 1999 he was again honoured by the GAA by being named on their Gaelic Football Team of the Millennium.