The East Kerry Board of the
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...
caters for 13
Gaelic football
Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...
clubs and 1
hurling
Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...
club in the East Kerry division of the GAA county of
Kerry
Kerry or Kerri may refer to:
* Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name)
Places
* Kerry, Queensland, Australia
* County Kerry, Ireland
** Kerry Airport, an international airport in Count ...
.
History
Early Years
The East Kerry Board was founded in 1925 following a decision to sub-divide Kerry into a number of divisions. The first chairman and secretary were football legends
Dick Fitzgerald and
Paul Russell. The first meeting of the new Board was attended by delegates from eight clubs;
Currow
Currow () is a rural village in County Kerry in south west Republic of Ireland, Ireland, located approximately 12 km from Killarney and 18 km from Tralee. Currow is situated on the Brown Flesk River, a tributary of the River Maine (Cou ...
, Farranfore, Firies, Headford,
Kenmare
Kenmare () is a small town in the south of County Kerry, Ireland. The name Kenmare is the anglicised form of ''Ceann Mara'', meaning "head of the sea", referring to the head of Kenmare Bay.
Location
Kenmare is located at the head of Kenmare Ba ...
,
Killarney
Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Castl ...
,
Kilcummin and
Killorglin
Killorglin () is a town in County Kerry, Ireland. As of the 2016 CSO census, the town's population was 2,199. Killorglin is on the Ring of Kerry tourist route, and annual events include the August Puck Fair festival, which starts with the crown ...
.
In 1931, Ballymacelligott, Cordal,
Currow
Currow () is a rural village in County Kerry in south west Republic of Ireland, Ireland, located approximately 12 km from Killarney and 18 km from Tralee. Currow is situated on the Brown Flesk River, a tributary of the River Maine (Cou ...
, Farranfore and
Scartaglin broke away from the Division and joined with Castleisland to form the Castleisland District League. In 1947,
Laune Rangers
Laune Rangers is a Gaelic football and Hurling club based in town of Killorglin, County Kerry, Ireland. The club is affiliated to Kerry GAA. Rangers won the All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship in 1996.
History
The club was formed ...
,
Castlemaine,
Milltown, Tuogh and
Glenbeigh
Glenbeigh or Glanbehy () is a town and civil parish on the Iveragh peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. The parish includes Rossbeigh beach, Coomasahran Lake and a number of important rock art sites. Owing to its natural heritage, history and i ...
broke away with Beaufort to form the
Mid Kerry League.
Hurling
Legend has it that a hurling game between the Fianna and the Tuatha De Danann took place in the countryside between Fossa and Glenflesk over 1,000 years ago. Legend aside, however, we have to go back roughly ninety years at least for the first mention of an East Kerry side in the County Hurling Championship at senior level at least.
In 1910, a Killarney team defeated holders Tralee Mitchells and went on to defeat Kenmare in the semi-final. However, a Kenmare objection stating that Killarney had illegally played players from Kilgarvan was upheld and Killarney was thrown out of the competition. Killarney also took part in 1911 and 1912, and in 1918 a team from Rathmore reached the semi-finals.
In the following decades Killarney took part in the county championship with varying degrees of success as follows:
1920s: Killarney took part in 1928 and East Kerry in 1929
1930s: East Kerry took part in 1930, 31, and 32. Killarney reached the semi final in 1933 while Rathmore took part the following year, receiving a walkover from East Kerry. Killarney represented the area from 1935 to 1940.
1940s: Teams from the area took part in the early 1940s; however Killarney were back from 1946 to start a 26-year unbroken run in the championship.
1950s: The fifties heralded a very successful period for hurling in the East Kerry area. Under the guidance of Laois man, Ben Campion, Killarney won 3 Minor County Championships in a row between 1950 and 52 and were beaten by Crotta in the senior final in 1951. Building on that base they went on to contest the Senior championship with a greater degree of success. 5 players played in all 3 finals during Killarney's unprecedented run of success winning 3 Co. Minor Championship in a row:
Liam Brosnan, Paddy O'Shea, Patrick O'Donoghue and Michael Looney of Dr. Crokes together with Legion's Johnny Culloty.
1960s: Johnny Culloty brought the first All – Ireland hurling medal to East Kerry when he was on the Kerry team that defeated London in the 1961 All Ireland Junior final.
Success at last - Unlucky to be beaten by two points at the Quarter final stage in 1968, Killarney took the championship by storm in 1969 defeating Causeway, Kenmare, O'Dorney and Austin Stacks (in the final) to take the County Senior Hurling title for the first and only time completing a Championship double with East Kerry Footballers. Killarney were back in the final the following year defeating O'Dorney and Ballyduff (semi-final) before going under to Kilmoyley in the final with a score of 2–12 to 4–4.
Killarney – 1969 County Champions: The team that defeated
Austin Stacks by 2–6 to 2–5 were as follows: Mikey Culloty, Eamonn Fitzpatrick, Bill Moloney, Mickey Culloty, Ultan Breen, Dan Kelleher, Denis Russell, Tadhgie Fleming, Derry Crowley,
Brendan Lynch,
Tom Prendergast,
Johnny Culloty, Pat Lynch, Mick Spillane, Con O'Meara (captain).
1970s: Successive defeats by
Ballyduff in 1971 and 72, followed by walkovers to the same opposition in 1973 and to
Austin Stacks in 1974 heralded the demise of hurling in the Division. It would be another 17 years before a team from the division would contest the Senior Hurling Championship.
1980s: in 1982 St. Patrick's E.K Hurling Club was set up to cater for hurling in the division.
Clubs
*Cordal
*
Dr. Crokes
*Currow
*Firies
*Fossa
*
Glenflesk
*
Gneeveguilla
Gneeveguilla, ( ), officially Gneevgullia (), is a small village in the Sliabh Luachra region of East County Kerry, Ireland. It lies about east of Killarney, close to the County Kerry/County Cork border.
Location
Gneeveguilla is situated in ...
*
Kilcummin
*
Killarney Legion
Killarney Legion are a Gaelic Athletic Association club from Killarney in County Kerry, Ireland. The club was founded on a March evening in 1929 when a group of eleven men held a meeting in the then Temperance Hall in High Street, Killarney.
...
*Listry
*
Rathmore
*
Scartaglin
*
Spa
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...
*
St. Patrick's
Hurling
Grades
Football
Grades
Honours
*
All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship
The All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament which began in season 1970–71. It is the top-tier competition for the senior football clubs of Ireland and London.
The current champions are Kilcoo of ...
** Winners (1): 1971
*
Munster Senior Club Football Championship
The Munster Senior Club Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Munster GAA Football Senior Club Championship) is an annual Gaelic football competition for the champion clubs of each county. It has been organised by the Mu ...
** Winners (3): 1965, 1968, 1970
*
Kerry Senior Football Championship
The Kerry Senior Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as Garvey’s SuperValu Senior Football Championship) is an annual Gaelic football competition organised by the Kerry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1 ...
**Winners (9): 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2019
2020
**Runners-up (3): 1964, 1967, 1995
* Kerry Under-21 Football Championship
**Winners (4): 1999, 2018, 2019, 2022
**Runners-up (6): 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2015
* Kerry Minor Football Championship
**Winners (10): 1965, 1996, 2004, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
**Runners-up (1): 1968
Notable players in the Division
Cordal
*
Tim Lyons
Dr Crokes
Dr Crokes is a Gaelic football and hurling club based in Killarney in County Kerry, Ireland. Notable players include Colm Cooper.
Founded in 1886, the club's successes include the capture of the All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championshi ...
*
Eoin Brosnan
Eoin Brosnan,born c.1980,is an Irish Gaelic football player who plays at centre forward. He is a former member of the Kerry senior county team and plays his club football for Dr Crokes. As of late 2021, he was a practicing solicitor, working f ...
* Tony Brosnan
*
Johnny Buckley
Johnny Buckley is a legendary Irish boxing manager and promoter from Boston, Massachusetts mostly during the first half of the 20th century who has handled some of the most famous boxers in the world including 3 World Champions. He guided Jack S ...
* Micheal Burns
*
Colm Cooper
Colm "the Gooch" Cooper (born 3 June 1983) is an Irish Gaelic footballer whose league and championship career at senior level with the Kerry county team spanned fifteen years from 2002 to 2017.
Born in Killarney, County Kerry, Cooper was born ...
* Kieran Cremin
*
Dick Fitzgerald
*
Fionn Fitzgerald
Fionn Fitzgerald (born 27 April 1990) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays as a left corner-back with the Kerry senior team.
Born in Killarney, County Kerry, Fitzgerald first played competitive Gaelic football during his schooling at St. ...
* Shane Murphy
*
Kieran O'Leary
Kieran O'Leary (born 28 July 1987) is an Irish Gaelic footballer. He plays at U21 and senior levels with the Dr Crokes club team and the Kerry county team. With Dr. Crokes he reached the 2007 All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship fin ...
*
Gavin White
Gavin White is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for the Dr Crokes club and at senior level for the Kerry county team.
Honours
;Kerry
* All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (1): 2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left ...
Currow
Currow () is a rural village in County Kerry in south west Republic of Ireland, Ireland, located approximately 12 km from Killarney and 18 km from Tralee. Currow is situated on the Brown Flesk River, a tributary of the River Maine (Cou ...
*
Séamus Scanlon
Séamus 'Moosey' Scanlon (''Irish - Séamas Ó Scanláin'', born 1981) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for the Currow club, the St Kieran's divisional team and the Kerry county team. He first came on the Kerry senior scene in 2002 un ...
*
Mick Galwey
Michael Joseph Galwey (born 8 October 1966) won an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship with the Kerry Gaelic football team in 1986, as a 19-year-old, before turning to rugby union. He is thus the only winner of an "All-Ireland" in both rug ...
*
Moss Keane
Maurice Ignatius "Moss" Keane (27 July 1948 – 5 October 2010) was a Gaelic footballer and a rugby union footballer who played for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions.
Life and career
Born at Currow in County Kerry, Keane started out as a ...
Firies
*
Donal Daly
Donal Daly was a footballer with the Kerry senior football team in the 1990s and 2000s. He played his club football with Firies and East Kerry.
Club
He played club football with Firies and East Kerry. With East Kerry he won three Kerry S ...
Fossa
*
David Clifford
David Clifford (Irish: ''Daithí Ó Clúmháin'') (born 22 January 1999) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays as a corner-forward or full-forward at club level for Fossa and East Kerry and for the Kerry county team. He is regarded as one ...
*
Paudie Clifford
Paudie Clifford (Irish: ''Pádraig Ó Clúmháin'') is an Irish Gaelic footballer. As of 2023, he is centre back and captain of Fossa, half forward for regional side East Kerry and at senior level for the Kerry county team.
He is the brothe ...
Glenflesk
*
Séamus Moynihan
Séamus Moynihan is an Irish former Gaelic footballer from Shronedarraugh, a townland halfway between Barraduff and Glenflesk, County Kerry. He has played football for St Brendan's College, Glenflesk, East Kerry, University College Cork ...
*
Johnny Crowley
Johnny Crowley (born 21 February 1956) is an Irish former hurler who played as a centre-back at senior level for the Cork county team.
Born in Enniskean, County Cork, his family later moved to the city. He attended Coláiste Stiofáin Naof ...
Gneeveguilla
Gneeveguilla, ( ), officially Gneevgullia (), is a small village in the Sliabh Luachra region of East County Kerry, Ireland. It lies about east of Killarney, close to the County Kerry/County Cork border.
Location
Gneeveguilla is situated in ...
*
Ambrose O'Donovan
Ambrose 'Rosie' O'Donovan (born 11 June 1962 in Gneeveguilla, County Kerry) is an Irish former sportsperson. He played Gaelic football with his local club Gneeveguilla and was a member of the Kerry senior inter-county team from 1984 until 19 ...
Kilcummin
*
Michael McCarthy
*
Brendan Kealy
Brendan Kealy (born 1 January 1986) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played as a goalkeeper at senior level for the Kerry county team.
Career
Born in Killarney, County Kerry, Kealy first arrived on the inter-county scene at the age o ...
Legion
Legion may refer to:
Military
* Roman legion, the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army
* Spanish Legion, an elite military unit within the Spanish Army
* Legion of the United States, a reorganization of the United States Army from 179 ...
*
James O'Donoghue
James O'Donoghue (born 19 June 1990) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for Kerry SFC club Killarney Legion. He is a former player at senior level for the Kerry county team.
Career
Born in Killarney, County Kerry, O'Donoghue's father, ...
*
Jonathan Lyne
Jonathan Lyne (24 February 1990) is an Irish people, Irish sportsperson. He plays Gaelic football with his local club Killarney Legion GAA, Killarney Legion and was a member of the senior Kerry county football team, Kerry county team from 2014. ...
*
Brian Kelly
Listry
Rathmore
*
Paul Murphy
*
Din Joe Crowley
*
Declan O'Keeffe
*
Tom O'Sullivan
*
Aidan O'Mahony
Aidan O'Mahony (born 8 June 1980, in Tralee) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays at senior level for the Kerry county team. He has 5 All-Irelands, 3 NFLs, 10 Munster Championships, 1 County Senior Championship, 1 Senior Club County Champio ...
Scartaglin
*
Padraig Reidy
*
Tom Forde
John Thomas Forde (14 March 1931 – 3 January 2012), known as Tommy Forde, was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a centre half for Distillery, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Glenavon and Ards. Forde also earned four caps at i ...
Spa
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...
*
Michael Gleeson
*
Mike O'Donoghue
*
Paudie O'Mahony
*
Donie O'Sullivan
Competitions
O'Donoghue Cup
The board runs its own competitions for clubs within the division. The most important is the O'Donoghue Cup which is awarded to the winners of the
East Kerry Senior Football Championship
The East Kerry Senior Football Championship is a Gaelic football competition for teams affiliated to the East Kerry division. Most adult clubs in the division compete for this cup, even if they are playing at junior or intermediate grades.
In ...
. Most adult clubs in the division compete for this cup, even if they are playing at junior or intermediate grades. The competition has been dominated by
Dr. Crokes.
O'Sullivan Cup
The
East Kerry Junior Football Championship
The East Kerry Junior Football Championship is a Gaelic football competition for teams affiliated to the East Kerry division. All 13 clubs in the division are eligible to compete in this championship, they must compete with their 'B'(Junior) te ...
is a
Gaelic football
Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...
competition for teams affiliated to the division. All 13 clubs in the division must compete with their 'B' (Junior) team. A 'B' player is defined as any player who is not a member of the Kerry inter-county panel at senior, junior or under-21 level in the current year, or a player who starts on the first 15 of his club's O'Donoghue Cup (
East Kerry Senior Football Championship
The East Kerry Senior Football Championship is a Gaelic football competition for teams affiliated to the East Kerry division. Most adult clubs in the division compete for this cup, even if they are playing at junior or intermediate grades.
In ...
) team in the current year. The competition has been dominated by 3 teams, Dr. Crokes (6 wins), Firies (5 wins), and Kilcummin (5 wins). The winners receive the O'Sullivan Cup.
References
External links
*
* https://web.archive.org/web/20101230181326/http://owenosullivancup.net/
* https://web.archive.org/web/20080406073856/http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/1998/10/05/shead.htm
* https://web.archive.org/web/20091109031816/http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/1998/10/02/shead.htm
* https://web.archive.org/web/20090208134602/http://archives.tcm.ie/thekingdom/2007/06/14/story24355.asp
{{Kerry GAA clubs
Divisional boards of Kerry GAA
Gaelic games clubs in County Kerry