Mick’s lifetime of service
Kinsella contributed to Wexford cause on and off field
MICK KINSELLA holds the unique distinction of having won All-Ireland medals in all grades of hurling.
The Buffers Alley player enjoyed a unique involvement in the G.A.A. both on and off the pitch. Having retired from hurling, following an illustrious career, Mick took to coaching before becoming fulltime County Secretary, the first incumbent to hold such a post in the Model county.
The clash of the ash was always something that resonated with Mick, from his early days in Kilmuckridge, where he was born.
And that passion followed him later to the streets of Gorey town and any vacant spacious areas therein to hone his skills, which eventually took him through under-age to the highs of the Senior inter-county game.
While he made his name as a player, later he was regarded as one of the leading hurling coaches, both at under-age and adult levels.
And it was those skills that he passed on to so many players, who went on later to win at the highest levels both at club and inter-county.
His coaching abilities were not just confined to Wexford, since at club level he enjoyed success in other counties, bringing clubs to a level many had only previously dreamed of.
In 1978 he trained Dunhill to win the Waterford Senior hurling championship, before taking over Arklow Rock Parnells whom he coached to win the Wicklow Senior hurling championship in 1982.
Not content with that, he returned to Waterford where he took Passage under his wing, coaching them to win the Intermediate hurling championship, and they have remained Senior ever since.
Now enjoying his retirement, Mick can still recall so many highlights from a career that spanned over so many years at both club and inter-county level.
He enjoyed a remarkable journey, starting out in Gorey and bringing him to Buffers Alley, while he maintained his love for hurling wherever his travels brought him.
His early education was at Gorey C.B.S., before going to St. Peter’s College, where he was part of the team which won the school’s first All-Ireland Senior hurling title back in 1962.
Regarded as one of the finest teams ever to leave this hurling hotbed, that success in turn helped Wexford to win a first All-Ireland Minor hurling title the following year, defeating Limerick in the final.
Two years in St. Peter’s College, after completing his Intermediate certificate at Gorey C.B.S., gave him what he describes as a ‘great grounding’. It was here that he wore the number six jersey on the team which beat Ennis C.B.S. after a replay.
‘That was the first All-Ireland ever won by a Wexford college team. We drew the first game in Thurles and then played the replay in Croke Park before the National Hurling League semi-final involving Dublin and Cork, which was actually the last [inter-county] game that Christy Ring played,’ he recalled.
With that All-Ireland Colleges medal in his pocket, it was then on to the All-Ireland Minor hurling championship.
‘I remember the thrill of Croke Park and playing Limerick on such a huge occasion. After a great game it was a second All-Ireland medal won.’
He was working in the post office in Galway at the time, before a move to Arklow after promotion in work saw hurling remain an integral part of his life.
One year after winning the All-Ireland Minor hurling title in 1963, it was on to the Under-21 grade when he was part of the side beaten by Tipperary in the first-ever All-Ireland final.
The following year (1965) they returned to once again face the Premier county in Nowlan Park, emerging victorious with a team that featured Liam Griffin on the substitutes’ bench.
In the year 1966 they once again appeared in the All-Ireland Under-21 final in a three-game epic with Cork.
‘The final of 1965 was the highlight, but losing to Cork in 1966 was a huge disappointment as it was a game where I believed we had the beating of them,’ he said.
Now beginning to stamp himself on the inter-county scene, Kinsella joined the 1968 All-Ireland winning Senior squad.
‘It was as a substitute that I watched the side take home the Liam MacCarthy Cup,’ he added.
Kinsella played in all grades of inter-county hurling, as in 1964 as a substitute he was part of the Intermediate side, winning the All-Ireland title by defeating London in the final.
He started at centre-back on the Intermediate side which lost the All-Ireland Home final to Cork in 1965, then as a member of the Wolfe Tones club in Gorey town.
In 1967 he came on for Willie Murphy in the National Hurling League final win over Kilkenny.
While a real hurling addict, Mick is quick to point to some footballing success during his career. When the subject of hurling getting priority over football was ever mentioned at County Board meetings, he was always quick to note how ‘I played football in my time and have the medals to show for it’.
In between all his hurling successes, Mick won Juvenile and Minor football medals with Gorey Young Emmets, while with Buffers Alley success came his way in both Junior and Intermediate football. He won a Junior title with the Alley in 1972, while Intermediate honours came his way two years later.
He recalled playing a county Senior hurling semi-final against Gorey St. Enda’s in 1975, and his three brothers - Pat, Seánie and Rory - were with the opposition.
‘They gave us a great game. Rory broke two of my fingers in that game with a dirty pull, that’s my memory of that game,’ he said.
Born in 1945, the eldest son of a family of five, Mick decided to bring his hurling to Buffers Alley, the only one of four brothers who didn’t continue his career with Gorey. A family move to Gorey in his early years saw Pat, Seánie and Rory line out always with Naomh Eanna.
Mick’s father, Pádraig, was the principal in Kilmuckridge Vocational School, and, along with his mother, Letterfrack woman Ann McDonnell, the Kinsella household produced a driven and talented group of siblings.
Hurling was always part of his life, even on the streets around Clúanín in Gorey where they learned the skills of the game.
‘I was the eldest, and being born in Kilmuckridge meant I was eligible to play with Buffers Alley,’ Mick explained.
‘The three brothers played with Naomh Eanna and I played that county semi-final against them. I was in midfield that day marking Michael Egan and I was getting the better of him, but in the second-half Rory broke my two fingers with a pull.
‘I called in at home later and there was a wall of silence,’ he remembered.
Mick was a key member of the breakthrough Buffers Alley team, winning his first Senior hurling title in 1968 when they pipped Faythe
Harriers in the final.
He added a second Senior hurling medal in 1970, beating the Shamrocks in the decider. However, the Alley lost the 1973 final to Rathnure who were winning a third in a row, with their famous adversaries a fourth successive crown in 1974.
After putting that final defeat behind them, they returned to the winners’ enclosure in 1975, defeating neighbours Oulart-The Ballagh in the final, while he won a a fourth Senior medal in 1976 at the expense of Rapparees. He was also part of the Alley team for the All-Ireland sevens success in 1973.
Having retired from playing, Mick went on to become full-time coach with Wexford G.A.A. from 1990 to 1993, while it was in the latter year that he was appointed the county’s first full-time County Secretary, a post he held until 2008.
He capably followed in the footsteps of such fine officials as Liam Murphy, Paddy Roche and Seán Ormonde, making up an exclusive group of the best officers to ever serve the county.
Mick enjoyed one of the finest careers in Wexford G.A.A., both on an off the pitch.
Over the course of an extraordinary involvement he made friends throughout the county and beyond, whether off the field of play or on it.
He set high standards which he always managed to maintain, and he could best be described as an approachable and exemplary gentleman, one worthy of leading Wexford G.A.A.
Mick, who lives in Wexford town with his wife, Pat, and family, had a parting thought for our readers in these difficult times.
‘Please take great care and abide by all the regulations that the health officials are giving. It’s so important not to let your guard down.
‘Be patient, kind and considerate to all people, especially your friends and neighbours in our county.’