CASTLEISLAND MAN PLOTTED KERRY’S DOWNFALL

OF course the great irony of Kerry’s heavy defeat by Mayo in Saturday’s All-Ireland Senior Football Championship is that our downfall was plotted by Castleisland native Donie Buckley – amongst others.

Donie has been the team’s coach since joining the Mayo squad in 2012.

A retired roads engineer with Clare County Council, Buckley played football with Castleisland Desmonds. He came to prominence after he and Martin Downey collaborated to score a last-minute goal in the All Ireland Club Final in 1985 to help Desmonds win the title over St. Vincent’s of Dublin.

Soon after retiring from playing he became involved in coaching. His coaching career began in Clare, where he led Milltown Malbay in 1990 and Faughs in 1994 to county championships. He then served as joint manager of the Clare senior team with former managing director of The Kerryman newspaper, Michael Brennan, in 2006.

After moving to Galway club Moycullen, he led them to an All-Ireland Intermediate Club Football Championship title in 2008.

He then served as selector with Mickey Ned O’Sullivan in Limerick for five years prior to joining the Kerry senior camp in 2011. He stepped down from his role with Kerry before the start of the 2012 championship season. It was never in the realm of common knowledge why he spent only one season in the Kerry senior set-up at that time.

At least we have that thread of interest to hang onto as Mayo makes a valiant effort to win the 2017 championship for themselves and their long suffering fans.

There has been one famous apparition in Mayo already but that was confined to Knock. Wait until the Sam Maguire Cup makes an appearance there. The players won’t know what hit them and they’ll need every ounce of the stamina they’ve been building up as the cup goes on the tour of the county. Good luck to them against the Dubs in three week’s time.

There is also another, tenuous link between Castleisland and the Mayo team in that defender Donal Vaughan lived here with his family for about five years. It was when his father, John, was appointed manager of Garvey’s SuperValu during its Upper Main Street days.

They moved away in 1996 when John was appointed manager of a meat factory in Ballinrobe.

Donie Buckley (right) at the 1985 All-Ireland Club Football Championship team celebration night at Woodies Hotel with John Lordan, (left) and Johnny O’Connor. Photo by John Reidy (29-3-1985)