Do you know if the old Inter-provincial Football Shield is in Kerry?

A GAA historian in Kilkenny has been in touch to ask our readers to help him try to locate a piece of GAA history he believes may be in Kerry.

Dermot Kavanagh has written The Story of Inter-provincial Football,1905-2016, which is ready to go to print, but he is desperately trying to locate the original Shield

just to include a photograph of it in the book.

As Mr Kavanagh explained: “In 1905 Inter-provincial competitions in both codes were established with The Great Southern and Western Railway Company providing magnificent Shields for the winners. One of the rules attached to each competition was that the first province to win the Shield twice in succession or three times in all retained possession of the Shield.

“In hurling Leinster won in 1905 and 1907 with Munster winning in 1906 and 1908. Such was the interest generated by the games it was decided that Leinster and Munster would meet in Kilkenny in July 1908 to decide ownership of the Shield. Over 15,000 saw Leinster win and as Kilkenny supplied the majority of Leinster’s players the Shield was presented to the Kilkenny Board where it now remains.

“In football Leinster won in 1905

but Munster, with wins in 1906 and 1907, won the Shield outright.

In 2016 Kavanagh wrote The Story of Inter-provincial Hurling,1905 to 2015, and has now completed The Story of Inter-provincial Football,1905-2016 but he needs a photo of the football Shield for the book.

“As Kerry supplied the majority of players to the Munster team, and the captain, I’m assuming the Shield is somewhere in the county,”

he says, and he has already followed up an unsuccessful lead that the Shield was in Muckross House in Killarney.

The hurling Shield is pictured here, and Mr Kavanagh believes the Football Shield is very similar if not identical. If anyone recognises a similar Shield somewhere in the county or knows the whereabouts of the Shield they can contact Dermot Kavanagh at 085 1043761 or The Kerryman office.