Westmeath native's documentary on GAA icon airs on TG4 tomorrow night

A documentary about one of the GAA's legendary figures from the 1970s, which was co-produced by a Westmeath native, is being broadcast on TG4 tomorrow night, Thursday, at 9.30pm.

The documentary Anton O’Toole – Finscéal de Shaol GAA (A Legend of GAA Life) tells the life story of one of the best loved and most admired of 'Heffos Army', who sadly passed away in May 2019.

One of the many familiar faces from the GAA world who appear in the programme is Rosemount and Westmeath's Boidu Sayeh. Born in Liberia and raised in rural Westmeath from the age of eight, Boidu speaks about diversity, inclusion and the benefits of sport.

The documentary is produced by another Rosemount person, AnnaMay Mullins of Bankos Tales Productions. She and her team have deftly told the fascinating story of one of the most iconic figures of Dublin GAA.

Nicknamed the ‘Blue Panther’, O'Toole went from a small in stature schoolboy at Synge Street CBS to a giant of Croke Park and was one of the superstar players of the Dublin football team of the 1970s.

Under Kevin Heffernan, they transformed the sport in the city and sparked off a Gaelic football revolution in Ireland, with changes that cemented the GAA’s place at the heart of Irish culture.

Told against the backdrop of relevant historical events, the programme also gives insight into how GAA relates to society in general including diversity and inclusion and discusses retirement from sport. Its strong emotional stories will capture the hearts of all viewers not just the Gaelic football fans.

The documentary was first broadcast on December 29 and went down a storm with GAA fans, while Anton O'Toole trended on Twitter for two days afterwards.

The documentary can also be watched on the TG4 player.