‘He was way different to us,’ says Sean Walsh. ‘He’d never won an All-Ireland medal and suddenly he was captain. But he had the strength of character to be a good captain. He had a different approach altogether. He wouldn’t be over-analytical. It all came straight from the heart.
‘Of all the times our teams were revved up, it was during Ambrose’s time. I remember before the Munster final he hopped up on the table that day and said it was a privilege for him to captain all these guys who had won medals, “But my only worry,” he says, “was to wake up the following day listening to fellas from Kiskeam and Ballydesmond.” He was going into border stuff about Cork and Kerry. He brought us back to basics. It was pure passion. He wanted to win an All-Ireland and he had that fire in his belly. That was a whole new scene again.’
They tore Cork to shreds in 1984 and won another All-Ireland that September against Dublin. It was a new team, refreshed by O’Donovan’s leadership and the young blood now circulating through the team, but the drive was rooted in hurt, the roots sown by Darby.
What grew from those roots will live through football history for good. After 1984, Kerry stitched three consecutive All-Ireland titles together. Five players: Pat Spillane, Ger Power, Ogie Moran, Páidí Ó Sé and Mikey Sheehy each finished their careers with eight All-Ireland medals. The core of O’Dwyer’s team had finally proven themselves the greatest of them all. Their last All-Ireland title in 1986 was collected by Tommy Doyle. The phantom hand had disappeared. All the tears had been wiped away.
‘Walking up the steps [of the Hogan Stand] in ’84,’ says Charlie Nelligan, ‘it was like winning our first again. I remember looking at Bomber and Ogie going up and the tears in their eyes. It was great. We’d suffered in ’82 and ’83 but that was forgotten about. The mourning period was over then.’
* * *
In December 2005, thousands travelled to mourn Tim Kennelly in Listowel. The Dubs were there. Old Cork men. Football people from across the country who had grown up backing The Horse in every game.
A delegation of Kerry players had slipped into a local pub for a drink when Richie Connor came through the door, his broad frame blocking the sunlight out. Behind him was Seamus Darby. As he edged towards the bar, a local accent shouted at him: ‘Get out of Darby’s way, lads. If you don’t let him to the bar, he’ll push.’
The crowd erupted in laughter. Someone asked Darby about the title of his autobiography. ‘Not Pushed,’ he replied.
Circumstances have rarely brought the Offaly and Kerry players together like history does. Charlie Nelligan occasionally hosted Darby in his coffee shop in Tralee and they laughed about 1982 and the challenge game in Castleisland. On one visit home, Gerry Carroll and his wife were hosted in Dingle by the Ó Sés.
Years have softened old differences among them. Gerry Carroll has enjoyed pints with Eugene McGee in New York. In time, McGee married Marian O’Connor, a sister of Liam and Tomás. Players who once couldn’t fathom McGee’s personality now include him among their friends. They never underestimated his contribution to their footballing careers. Now they can fully enjoy his company, too.
Sometimes the Kerry players wonder about 1982, and what their lives might be like had they won the five-in-a-row. Some players reckon it would have finished their careers early. The weight of carrying such history could have capsized some of them, or inflated their egos so much they would have floated away from their real selves and become unrecognisable as the amiable, gregarious group who had charmed the world.
Even the holidays would get drab. For Mick O’Dwyer, the years spent coming to terms with 1982 had given him perspective. Five-in-a-row would have been too much for them all to handle.
‘It was best for the Kerry players who were drinking too much that they did not break any more records,’ he said in his 1990 autobiography. ‘In the end, I suppose everything evens itself out.’
‘I don’t know how I would’ve reacted but I know I would’ve been very difficult to live with,’ says Ger O’Keeffe. ‘In my job I’d have felt untouchable. I think it was better, in hindsight, to lose than win. There was somebody above saying: These guys will go apeshite.’
After 1982, fame and football extracted the same toll from Kerry as it had Offaly and other teams. Marriages and people broke down. Men wrestled with drink and other addictions. The misfortunes that befell them made them vulnerable and human. The commitments they made to each other as young men and the football they played made them immortal.
In time, Offaly’s unbending will and sheer refusal to submit would transcend the generations. Their spirit would accompany Cork to All-Ireland titles in 1989 and 1990, embolden a string of Ulster teams in the nineties and be revived again by Tyrone and Armagh in the last decade. Kerry’s blessed generation will be remembered as the last great dominant force. No team will ever rule and shape football as they did. On one September Sunday, it seemed like both teams were playing for their legacy.
In the end, history found room for them all.
POSTSCRIPT
THE KERRY TEAM
Charlie Nelligan
Made his last appearance with Kerry in Croke Park in the 1991 All-Ireland semi-final against Down. and returned to manage the Kerry minors alongside Mikey Sheehy in the late nineties. Also an accomplished musician, runs a successful bakery businesses in Tralee, Killarney and Castleisland.
Ger O’Keeffe
Was set to play on into 1983 but was forced into retirement having contracted malaria on a trip to Kenya. Worked as a selector with Kerry manager Jack O’Connor from 2004 to 2006, as Kerry won two All-Ireland titles in three years. Works as an engineer.
John O’Keeffe
Injury forced him to end a magnificent career in 1983, but O’Keeffe made a brief comeback to win one last county medal with Austin Stacks in 1986. Coached Clare and Limerick in the nineties, and worked as Kerry physical coach with Páidí Ó Sé and worked with Kerry hurlers alongside Ger Power. Also coached the Irish International Rules team with Matt Connor as selector in 2003 and 2004. Endured a hip replacement operation after years of damage. A teacher in Tralee CBS.
Paudie Lynch
Retired after the 1983 Munster final against Cork but remained active with Beaufort club. A solicitor in Killarney.
Páidí Ó Sé
Played on with Kerry until 1989 when O’Dwyer dropped him for the Munster final, prompting a rift that took years to heal. Ended his career among the record eight All-Ireland medal winners and took over Kerry Under-21s in 1994 before being appointed senior manager in 1996. Guided Kerry to two All-Ireland titles, six Munster titles and a League title before stepping down in 2003. Took over Westmeath in 2004 and watched them win their first Leinster title in his inaugural year. Took charge of Clare in late 2006, but resigned in July 2007. Runs a venerated pub in Ventry.
Tim Kennelly
Continued playing for Kerry into 1984 where he won a ninth Munster medal to compliment his five All-Ireland titles. Also acted as Kerry selector that year, but retired in mid-summer. Acted as selector again in 1990, and watched his sons, Noel and Tadhg, play for Kerry – Tadhg has forged a career with the Sydney Swans in the AFL. Kennelly remained a prominent character in Listowel, running a bar in the town up to his sudden death in December 2005, aged fifty-one.
Tommy Doyle
Having considered retirement after 1982, he captained Kerry to a third successive All-Ireland title in 1986 having had both ankles encased in plaster ten days before the final. Still a part of the team when Mick O’Dwyer stepped down in 1989. Suffered severe ankle problems after retirement. Now employed as a company rep.
Jack O’Shea
Retired after defeat in the 1992 Munster football final against Clare and began a brief managerial career with Mayo the following year, winning a Connacht title. Finished his playing career with seven All-Ireland medals and ten Munster medals, while also winning six consecutive All Stars between 1980 and 1985. Named on the GAA’s Team of the Century in 1984. Became a respecte
d newspaper columnist and runs a successful plumbing business in Dublin.
Sean Walsh
Won three more All-Ireland medals at full-back between 1984 and 1986, before retiring in 1988. Worked with the Kerry minors and teams at his club Kerins O’Rahilly’s in Tralee. Suffered problems with his hip in later life, and underwent replacement surgery. Runs an estate agency in Tralee.
Ger Power
Played on past his teammates as far as 1990 and ended a dazzling career without a scratch and eight All-Ireland medals. Part of John O’Keeffe’s international rules management team and currently working with O’Keeffe and the Kerry hurlers. Works in the employment exchange in Tralee.
Tom Spillane
Reverted to centre-back to win All-Ireland medals between 1984 and 1986, and eventually finished his Kerry career at full-back with four All-Ireland medals and three All Stars. Still involved with Templenoe underage teams and runs an auctioneering business in Killarney.
Denis ‘Ogie’ Moran
Another who ended his career with eight All-Ireland medals. Took over as Kerry manager in 1992 and coached various teams at underage level at Kerins O’Rahilly’s. Works with Shannon Development in Tralee.
Mikey Sheehy
Retired in 1988 with a record haul of eight All-Ireland medals, a place on the GAA’s Team of the Millennium and among the greatest players of all time, and with a list of injuries that left him with aches and pains for the rest of his life. Coached a succession of Kerry minor teams with Charlie Nelligan in the late nineties. Runs a financial consultancy firm in Tralee.
Eoin Liston
Won seven All-Ireland medals and made a brief comeback with Kerry in 1993, under his old friend Ogie Moran, having retired in 1990. Spent seven years managing Kerins O’Rahilly’s club, finally guiding them to their first Kerry senior county title for forty-five years in 2002. A selector on the Irish international rules management team in 2006. Works for Irish Nationwide in Tralee.
John Egan
Retired after the 1984 All-Ireland final with five All-Ireland medals and settled in Bishopstown, Cork city. Acknowledged as one of Kerry’s greatest ever forwards. Works as a Garda in Bishopstown.
Pat Spillane
Played his final game with Kerry in the 1991 All-Ireland semi-final with Down having enjoyed a career that earned him a record eight All-Ireland medals, nine All Star awards and a place on the GAA’s Teams of the Century and Millennium. Became one of the most controversial media pundits in Irish sport on RTE’s ‘The Sunday Game’, estranging many of his former teammates with his comments there and in his divisive autobiography. Now presenter of ‘The Sunday Game’, proprietor of the family pub in Templenoe and still teaching in St Goban’s College, Bantry.
Jimmy Deenihan
Was appointed to the Senate having retired from football in 1982, and was elected to the Dáil as TD in Kerry North in 1987. Was appointed Minister for State at the Department of Agriculture and Food in 1997, and worked as Fine Gael spokesperson on Arts, Sports and Tourism before the last election. Continued to play with Finuge until the late eighties and subsequently coached the team. Also did some specialist defensive coaching for Mick O’Dwyer with Laois during 2006.
THE OFFALY TEAM
Martin Furlong
Ended a magnificent inter-county career in 1985 aged thirty-nine. Emigrated in May 1988 to help his brother Tom run a pub in upstate New York before taking a job with a construction company in 1994. Still lives in upstate New York.
Michael Lowry
Continued to play with Offaly until 1991 and ended his career in the Leinster championship against Meath. Still living in Ferbane and involved with the local club.
Liam O’Connor
Retired after a lively inter-county career in 1985. Continued to play football with Bray Emmets until he was 50. Lives in Dublin and employed in security.
Mick Fitzgerald
Moved to Cork in 1985 and drifted away from the Offaly scene soon afterwards. Currently living in Tipperary and working for South Tipperary County Council in Clonmel.
Pat Fitzgerald
Held on to the right-half-back spot till 1985 when he disappeared from the panel. Managed Kildare and later Offaly in the mid-nineties. Lives in Newbridge and works for Bord na Móna.
Sean Lowry
Moved to Crossmolina in 1985 and popped up on the Mayo team that won the Connacht title that summer before retiring following their All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Dublin. Moved back to Shannonbridge in Offaly in recent years, where he works with ESB.
Liam Currams
Having played in All-Ireland football and hurling finals in 1981, winning a hurling medal, and collecting the football equivalent in 1982, successive knee injuries devastated Currams’s career. Finally had a knee operation to repair his cruciate ligament in September 1984 and managed to make the Offaly hurling panel the following August 1985, collecting an All-Ireland medal that year. Never returned to the football panel again and underwent further knee surgery in 1986. More knee problems followed in 1990 and his time with Offaly was over. Moved to Donegal in 1999 where he played his last football game with Four Masters. Works for the ESB.
Tomás O’Connor
Played for Offaly till 1987 but transferred from Walsh Island to Round Towers in Clondalkin where he continued to play and coach. Moved to Clane and coached Rathcoffey in Kildare, bringing them from intermediate to senior level. His son, Tomás, is a current member of the Kildare senior panel. Works as a psychiatric nurse.
Padraic Dunne
Emigrated to America in the mid-eighties but continued to travel home to play championship football with Offaly till 1991. Came home soon after and now runs a pub and delicatessen in Portarlington and trains underage teams in Gracefield.
John Guinan
Lasted with Offaly till 1990 when knee injuries forced him to retire, but played club football and the occasional game of rugby till 1999. Coached Ballinagar at junior level for a spell. Works as an electrician in Portarlington.
Richie Connor
Continued playing with Offaly till 1989 before calling time on a fourteen-year career. Immediately took over as Laois senior football coach, guiding them to a thumping win over Offaly in the 1990 Leinster championship. Still involved in coaching with Walsh Island.
Gerry Carroll
Emigrated to Boston in summer 1984 aged twenty-five, and never played for Offaly again, but enjoyed a successful football career in Boston and New York, before finally retiring from football in 1993. Runs a pub in Manhattan.
Brendan Lowry
Played on during a difficult decade for Offaly before retiring in 1993, his reputation among the county’s finest forwards assured. Managed Westmeath in the late nineties. Worked with Eircom and retired in 2003.
Matt Connor
Retired following his accident in 1984 with a brilliant record of 82 goals 660 points from 161 games with Offaly, five county medals with Walsh Island, two All Stars and a B&I Award from 1980. Worked with the Offaly minors from 1989 and with the Irish International rules team in 2003. Served as Offaly selector in 2004. Works as a Garda in Tullamore.
Johnny Mooney
Returned to America in 1987 and worked in New York before coming home and briefly rejoining the Offaly panel in 1990, an experience that left him deeply disillusioned. Sold his pub in Geashill in 1989 and emigrated to England for four years. Trained Warwickshire to an All-Ireland junior football final in 1990. Now returned to Rhode and works for a mobile phone company
Stephen Darby
Continued to be an influential figure in Rhode after his footballing career ended, guiding an array of players through to play for Offaly. Managed Rhode to a Leinster club final in 2006 and teaches in the local school.
Seamus Darby
Having ended his Offaly career in 1984, Darby continued to play for Rhode and Borrisokane having moved to Tipperary in 1989. Emigrated to London in late 1991 and ran a pub where his notoriety as the man who denied Kerry five-in-a-row f
lourished. Returned home to Toomevara where he runs the Greyhound Bar. Still has his jersey from the final.
THE MANAGERS
Mick O’Dwyer
A glorious association with Kerry stretching over four decades ended in 1989 following a third consecutive defeat to Cork in the Munster final, and addressed the dressing-room one final time with tears streaming down his face. Took over in Kildare in late 1990 where he enjoyed two stints as manager, leading them to an All-Ireland final in 1998. Took over Laois in 2003 and brought them to their first Leinster title in forty-seven years. Having turned seventy in 2006 and left Laois, turned up as Wicklow manager that November. The story continues.
Eugene McGee
Briefly managed Cavan in the late eighties and got involved with his local club Colmcille, having left Offaly. Managed the Irish Compromise Rules team in 1990 and remains a respected national newspaper columnist, having also served a variety of roles with the Longford Leader, including editor and managing director. Still a well regarded media pundit on Gaelic football, and widely acknowledged as one of the most revolutionary coaches the game has ever seen.
* * *
John Dowling
Left Offaly county board in 1988 after twenty-three years as county secretary to become GAA President. Served till 1991 and laid the foundations for the reconstruction of Croke Park. Later honoured as President of Offaly County Board. Died in 2002, aged seventy.
Weeshie Fogarty
Became a respected broadcaster with Radio Kerry. A voracious collector and recorder of Kerry sporting folklore. Recently published a book on his former mentor and legendary Kerry coach Dr Eamonn O’Sullivan, and continues to present his ‘Terrace Talk’ radio programme.
Sean Grennan
Grew into a gifted dual player, playing in both All-Ireland minor finals for Offaly in 1989. Later specialised in football, winning a Leinster senior medal, Offaly’s first since 1982, in 1997 and a league title in 1998. Was part of a committee charged with finding Offaly’s new football manager in 2006. Runs a farm machinery business in Edenderry.
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