Humphrey Kelleher (1946–2005) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

sportsperson. He played

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 ...

with his local club

Millstreet Millstreet () is a town in north County Cork, Ireland, with a population of 1,555 (as of 2016). Millstreet is within the civil parish of Drishane, and within a Poor Law Union also called Millstreet. The Millstreet Union encompasses the civil ...

and was a member of the Cork senior inter-county team from 1971 until 1975.

Playing career

Club

Kelleher played his club football with his local club in

Inter-county

By the late 1960s Kelleher had joined the Cork senior team, however, the team was forced to play second fiddle to Kerry. In 1971 Cork were back. A 0–25 to 0–14 trouncing of back-to-back All-Ireland champions Kerry gave Kelleher a

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

winners' medal. Cork, however, were later defeated by eventual champions

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

in the All-Ireland semi-final. Two years later Kelleher secured his second Munster winners' medal. The 5–12 to 1–15 defeat of Kerry showed the traditional football powers that Cork were coming. The subsequent All-Ireland final pitted Cork against

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

Jimmy Barry-Murphy James Barry-Murphy (born 22 August 1954) is an Irish hurling manager and former hurler, Gaelic footballer and association football player. He was the manager of the senior Cork county hurling team from 2011 to 2015, returning a decade after h ...

scored the first of his two goals after two minutes before scored a third for Cork after switching to left wing-forward. At full-time Cork were the champions by 3–17 to 2–13. This victory gave Kelleher an

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

winners' medal. Cork continued their provincial dominance in 1974. A 1–11 to 0–7 defeat of Kerry gave Kelleher a third Munster winners' medal. This victory resulted in Cork being installed as the favourites to retain their All-Ireland title. Kelleher's side were defeated by eventual champions

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Inter-provincial

Kelleher also lined out with

in the inter-provincial football competition. He first played with his province in 1974. In 1975 Kelleher was a member of the team again and he captured a

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship ( ga, An Corn Idir-Chúigeach) 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 ...

winners' medal following a victory over

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

. Kelleher was a non-playing substitute when Munster retained the title in 1976.

Death

Humphrey Kelleher died on 21 September 2005, after a short illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelleher, Humphrey 1946 births 2005 deaths Millstreet Gaelic footballers Cork inter-county Gaelic footballers Munster inter-provincial Gaelic footballers