Séamus Moynihan is an Irish former

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 ...

er from Shronedarraugh, a townland halfway between Barraduff and Glenflesk,

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

. He has played football for St Brendan's College,

Glenflesk Glenflesk () is a small village in County Kerry, Ireland. It is located on the N22 national primary route between Cork and Killarney. The local Roman Catholic church is dedicated to Saint Agatha and was built . Glenflesk is in the Roman Catholi ...

, East Kerry,

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

, Institute of Technology Tralee,

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 County ...

Minor, U21 and Senior teams,

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 ...

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 ...

side and the

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. He was a member of the Kerry Senior Football Panel from 1992 to 2006. He resides in Shronedarraugh with his wife Noreen, son Jamie and two daughters Clíona and Eve.

Early life

As an underage player, Moynihan idolised the style of Kerry All-Star forward John Egan and played for his local GAA club Glenflesk, secondary school team

St Brendan's College, Killarney St Brendan's College, known locally as The Sem, is a secondary school in Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland History St Brendan's is a Catholic Diocesan College, founded in 1860 by Bishop David Moriarty as a boarding and day-school for boys under ...

, and Kerry Minors and U21s. Moynihan's first inter-county success arrived at the age of 16 when he was part of the Kerry Minor team that claimed the Munster crown in 1990. 1992 was a pivotal year for Moynihan, when he lined out for the St Brendan's team that beat

St Jarlath's College St Jarlath's College () is a Catholic secondary school for young men in Tuam, County Galway. The college was founded in 1800 and in 2009 absorbed St. Patrick's College, Tuam. The College, which operates under patronage of the Archbishop of Tuam, ...

Tuam Tuam ( ; ga, Tuaim , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. Humans have lived in the area since the Bron ...

to win the

Hogan Cup The Hogan Cup ( ga, Corn Uí Ógáin), also known as the All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Senior A Football Championship, is the top level Gaelic football championship for secondary schools (sometimes referred to as colleges) in Ireland. The com ...

in the All-Ireland Colleges Final and was also noticed on the Kerry U21 team that won out in Munster. It was about this time that Mickey 'Ned' O'Sullivan, former Kerry captain and later manager of the Limerick senior football team, began to talk to people about Moynihan's potential. Séamus Moynihan, aged just 18, made his senior debut at midfield for Kerry in the Munster Final, replacing

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 ...

veteran

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 ...

. Playing alongside the likes of Kerry forward Eoin 'Bomber' Liston and midfield colossus

Jack O'Shea Jack O'Shea (born 19 November 1957 in Cahersiveen, County Kerry) is an Irish former sportsperson. He played Gaelic football at various times with his local clubs St Mary's in Kerry and Leixlip in Kildare. He was a member of the Kerry senior foo ...

, Kerry lost to a steely

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side on a score of 2–10 to 0–12. It was O'Sullivan's last game in charge of the Kerry senior side.

Formative career: 1992–1996

During the 1992 and 1993 campaigns, Moynihan was tried at half back, midfield and half forward before settling into the half back line. The next 3 championship seasons were unsettling from a Kerry viewpoint as 3 straight defeats by Cork in the 1993, 1994 and 1995 Munster Finals saw the Kerry seniors eyeballing a 10-year low. Despite this disappointing level of achievement at inter-county level, Séamus Moynihan was beginning a strong run of success at Sigerson Cup level, playing for U.C.C. in the 1994 and 1995 finals; then returning 2 years later in 1997 and 1998 whilst studying for a master's degree at

IT Tralee The Institute of Technology, Tralee (IT Tralee; ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Thrá Lí) was an institute of technology, located in Tralee, Ireland. It was established in 1977 as the Regional Technical College, Tralee. In January 2021, itse ...

to collect more winner's medals.

Retirement and plaudits

Moynihan announced his retirement from inter-county football on Saturday, 23 September 2006 through an article in The Irish Times. On the following Monday, Kerry team manager Jack O'Connor hailed Moynihan as "a one-off player" and said Kerry football would never see his like again. He also stated that Séamus was an inspiration to the entire Kerry team, particularly the younger players and that he would be missed. Announcing his decision to quit lining out for Kerry, Moynihan said: "All good things come to an end." On 18 December 2011, Séamus announced his retirement from club football after over 20 years of service for the Glenflesk senior football team.

Honours

Moynihan won four All-Ireland medals, three National Leagues, nine Munster championship medals, four Sigerson Cup medals, three GAA All-Stars, one Railway Cup medal and one Division 2 title. He also won three county championship medals with East Kerry and captained his country in the International Rules series. In May 2020, a public poll conducted by

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named Moynihan in the full-back line alongside Páidi and

Marc Ó Sé Marc Ó Sé (born 25 April 1980) is an Irish sportsman. A teacher by profession, he works in the CBS in Tralee Co. Kerry, he played Gaelic football for the Kerry county football team, Kerry county team from 2002 until 2016 and played with his l ...

in a team of footballers who had won All Stars during the era of ''

The Sunday Game ''The Sunday Game'' is RTÉ's main Gaelic games television programme. It is shown on RTÉ2 every Sunday during the Football Championship and Hurling Championship seasons. It is one of RTÉ2's longest-running shows, having been on air since 197 ...

''. Also in May 2020, the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

'' named Moynihan at number fifteen in its "Top 20 footballers in Ireland over the past 50 years".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moynihan, Seamus 1973 births Living people All-Ireland-winning captains (football) All Stars Awards winners (football) Gaelic football backs Glenflesk Gaelic footballers Irish international rules football players Kerry inter-county Gaelic footballers Texaco Footballers of the Year UCC Gaelic footballers Winners of four All-Ireland medals (Gaelic football)