REFLECTING ON A SOUTH KERRY FINAL
LAST Saturday the South Kerry senior football final between St Mary’s, Cahirsiveen and Skellig Rangers, Portmagee took place at the Con Keating Park in Cahirsiveen. The game, which was played on a calm, dry, wind-free day, ideal for football, resulted in victory for St Marys on a score of 1-15 to 1- 6.
In honour of the 100th anniversary celebrations of the 1916 Rising, it was a day of much pageantry, speeches, marches and celebration, very much to the honour of Con Keating, who took a very significant and active part in that Rising, being one of its first martyrs. His nephew Donal Keating of Renard raised the tricolour on the day with Nuala McDaid, secretary of Renard, reading the 1916 Proclamation at half time. Killorglin Pipe Band also very much enhanced the occasion, leading both teams around the field in the pre-match parade.Valentia’s Gerard O’Donoghue and Mary Linnane were pipers with the band on the day .
The Cahirsiveen historian and retired local secondary school teacher Junior Murphy, in his book, Cahirsiveen, the Town that Climbs the Mountain, states that the Con Keating Park was officially opened on August 6, 1950, with Wexford playing Kerry in the main event. Junior and Christy O’Connell of St Marys were instrumental in organising the 1916 commemorations in association with St Mary’s club and the South Kerry GAA Board.
The aforementioned Donal Keating, nephew of Con Keating, is a former Renard footballer and played on that day of the opening with a Renard selection versus Ballinskelligs in a curtain raiser to the Kerry v. Wexford game. Junior Murphy, as a youngster that day, played with the Cahirsiveen CBS band. He is the President of the St Marys club and was recently accorded an honorary Master of Arts degree by University College Cork in honour of literary work through the years. Congratulations to him. Well done also to the South Kerry GAA Board and the St. Marys club on organising the Con Keating 100th Anniversary commemorations in association with the South Kerry final to give all patrons a day to remember.
The victory of St Mary’s over Skellig Rangers now sees their goalkeeper Austin Constable equal the record of South Kerry senior football championship medals won. Prior to the final, the record of 10 won was jointly held by Seamus O’Connor (uncle of Maurice Fitzgerald) and Pat O’Connor of Valentia. Since the year 2000 St Marys have achieved three victories of three in-a-row. The years were of the periods 2001- 03, 2009-11 and 2014-16. The veteran Cahirsiveen goalkeeper played in all of these and also played in the 1995 victory over St Michaels/Foilmore. Bryan Sheehan, Niall O’Driscoll and Dan ’Casúr’ O’Sullivan of the current team have nine each. It was nice to see Denis Daly being honoured with the man of the match award after a long lay off through illness.
Since the victory of Skellig Rangers in 2006 after a replay over Waterville Frank Caseys in Con Keating Park on St Stephen’s Day the championship has been dominated by the Saints. St Marys have annexed six, with four to St Michaels/Foilmore.
Micheál Lyne, as Chairman of the South Kerry GAA Board, was the first person to present the Jack Murphy cup, so named after his grand-uncle. He presented it to Joe Joe O’Sullivan, captain of Renard /Foilmore, victorious over Valentia in 1974. Tommy Quirke of St Marys was the last captain to be presented with the cup in existence previous to Jack Murphy.
He was presented with the Moran Cup in 1973 when St Marys defeated Valentia.