All-Star O’Shea admits to suffering several concussions

Mayo footballer Aidan O’Shea has revealed he suffered six or seven concussions in his playing career, two of them coming within weeks of each other in last year’s Connacht final and All-Ireland semi-final replay.

Wed, 14 Jan, 2015 - 00:00

John Fogarty

John Fogarty is the Irish Examiner’s GAA correspondent, with unique insights into the action on the pitch and in the Gaelic games’ corridors of power.

O’Shea’s admission comes as Peter Robinson yesterday warned that “concussion can be fatal” after his teenage son Ben died during a schools rugby match four years ago this month.

The 2013 All Star clashed heads with Cillian O’Connor during August’s defeat to Kerry in Limerick, a collision which he felt had a “fairly significant” influence on the outcome of the game. The incident occurred in first-half injury-time with both players replaced by subs at half-time before O’Connor returned in the 42nd minute and O’Shea seven minutes later. It came seven weeks after he was knocked out in the provincial final win over Galway.