Austin Stacks club refute Anthony Daly’s ‘unfavourable and inaccurate comment’
line team that included my mum Mary, Ann Eagar (Ballymacelligott), Anne Slattery (Tralee), Gerry O’Mahony (Castleisland) and Paddy Joe Shea (Blennerville).”
Despite being just 15 years of age, Andrea’s reputation as a goalkeeper of class resulted in Kerry senior trainer Ann Eager calling her into the senior panel.
“I was selected to play in a Muster championship game against the great Waterford team of that era and it was safe to say I was a little out of my depth. I was star struck to be playing in the same team as Bridget Leane, Fionnuala Ruane , Marie Fitzgerald, Helen Enright and Anne Costelloe. That day in Fitzgerald Stadium was traumatic. I remember so vividly the nerves and the fear. However that changed quickly when the star Waterford player, Aine Wall, bore down and goal and before I could blink both myself and the ball were in the back of the net. When I looked up all I saw was a lovely blue sky filled with little stars! It really was a baptism of fire played at a fast and furious pace. A massive step up from Under-16 level.”
While the Kerry senior team when through a few barren years due to retirements and emigration, they did win the All Ireland Intermediate final in 1997 defeating Dublin. Murt Delaney (Causeway) was the trainer of that Kerry side. Top Kerry senior trainers during those barren years up to 2000 included Nora Hallisey (Beaufort), Pat Hartnett (Castleisland), Sean Casey (Spa), Mick Fitzgerald (Castleisland), Noreen Power (Tralee), Ann O’ Donoghue (Tralee) and Sara McNamara (Tralee).
“In 2000 Robbie Griffin came on board as trainer along with Bridget Leane from Ballymacelligott and Brosna native Mick Horan. We were building a great team in 2003 and after a huge win over Laois we had the heartbreak of being beaten in the All Ireland semi final by Dublin. I think this was an All Ireland that we really left behind us. The team was built on so many great players including Jackie Murnane (Kenmare), Katie Gleeson (Spa), Grainne O’Malley (Beaufort), Riona Kennedy (Blennerville), Shari Delaney (Causeway), Sara O’Connor (Southern Gaels), Kasey O’Driscoll (Southern Gaels), Geraldine O’Shea (Blennerville) and Katie Kennelly (Ballyduff). However the heartbreak was eased a little at the end of the season when I was awarded a GAA All Star and a trip to New York to play in Gaelic Park with the All Stars. A memorable and incredible trip for all of us and it was also the first time the Ladies All Stars travelled to America.”
In 2003 Kerry lost the National League final which went to extra time with Sue Ramsbottom kicking a 50 mts long range free to win that game for Laois.
“It was an incredible kick, the best I have seen, and really in the mould of Maurice Fitzgerald. It was heart breaking to have got so far and then have the game snatched from us in the dying seconds.”
In 1996 she was offered a trial for Irish Under-18 soccer team. This came about by accident. At the time Geraldine O’Shea was playing for Ireland on the senior squad. An awards function was held in Annascaul attended by members of the Irish backroom and a number of top Irish scouts. Ireland were trying to recruit a new goalkeeper and heard of Andrea’s exploits as an outstanding keeper. With Gaelic football her first love, she declined the invitation and concentrated on her own game. It was a case of Kerry before Ireland in the sporting stakes.
“In 2004 we finally won a Munster final beating Waterford by two points. However we lost to Dublin yet again that year and this was to signal the end of my Inter county football career. The injuries were mounting up and taking their toll. I remember playing a league game in Beaufort against Waterford with a groin injury, a rib injury and an ankle problem. I should not have played but the day turned out to be a nightmare for me. It was goal after goal and there was nothing I could do about it. I was worse then useless that day. I sat down that night and decided to call it a day. I knew that I needed to have surgery for some time and kept putting it off.”
During this period of her career, O’Donoghue had joined the Chorcha Dhuibhne Club due to the demise of ladies football in St. Pat’s. The highlight was wining two Kerry Senior County championships titles in 2002 and 2003, and an All Ireland 7-a-side All-Ireland, a feat she also achieved with St. Pats of Blennerville.
“I did go back playing a bit of club football when St. Pats set up again in 2005 and we won a Kerry Junior B final. On this occasion I played full forward. After a break I went back playing with Austin Stacks. This was really to stay fit. We won a championship title and I was back net minding for a while.
However in one game I came on as a forward but that ended up with a broken ankle and the end of my playing days. You really can’t beat team sports. You make so many friends for life. I had the pleasure of working with some fantastic coaches down through the years but I have to credit Denis Healy who made me the goalie I was. There were so many people that helped me over the years but I would have to mention my Mom and Dad who travelled the length of the country with both club and county. It was a great journey and one that I relish and fondly remember. The GAA community is one I am so proud to be apart of and I try to give something back by coaching over the last number of years in the club. I saw the true spirit of the GAA after my Dad died and the support we got from all was just overwhelming. Many great memories and many great friends made. If only we could turn back the auld clock and play it all again. I suppose I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Andrea O’Donoghue Roll of Honour
All Ireland IFC
All-Ireland 7-a-side (x2) Interprovincial with Munster Munster SFC All-Ireland MFC Munster MFC All Ireland U-16 runner-up Munster U-16
U-14 All Ireland (x2) Munster U-14 (x3) Kerry County SFC (x2) Kerry County SFL (x2) Kerry County JFC (x2) Kerry Junior B Club Championships (St. Pats & Austin Stacks)
St. Brendan’s Board U-14 League and Championship
All Ireland Community Games silver medals (x2)
Player of the Year with Chorcha Dhuibhne
One All Star Award
AUSTIN Stacks GAA club has refuted what it calls ‘unfavourable and inaccurate’ comments about the Tralee club made by former Clare hurler and Kilmoyley hurling manager in a newspaper column.
Daly, in his weekly Irish Examiner column last Monday, wrote about a story he claims he heard about a boy from Tralee who plays football with Stacks and hurling with Tralee Parnells, and who was supposedly approached by a former Stacks and Kerry footballer to, more or less, dissuade him from the hurling and to concentrate on playing football with Stacks.
On Tuesday, the Stacks club chairman, Billy Ryle ( below), Vice-chairman Eamonn O’Reilly, and Juvenile club chairman Tim McMahon issued a lengthy statement to The Kerryman, taking issue with what they call Daly’s ‘very poorly researched article based on a nod and a wink’.
An abridged version of the Stacks statement reads: “An article by Anthony Daly entitled ‘Kerry hurling should be helped build their own Kingdom’ was published in the Irish Examiner on Monday, May 25. In the course of that article, Mr Daly, for reasons best known to himself, singled out the Austin Stacks GAA Club for unfavourable and inaccurate comment.
“In his article, Mr Daly claims to have ‘heard a story recently that didn’t surprise me in the least.
The best U-12 hurler in Kerry is a highly talented dual player from Tralee, who hurls with Parnells and kicks football with Austin Stacks. Stacks got such a panic attack that the young lad may become distracted by hurling that they got one of their highly-respected former Kerry footballers to have a word in his year. How paranoid would you have to be to try and turn a 12-year old?’
“We would humbly suggest that Anthony Daly is the person suffering from paranoia if he believes a tall-tale like that from an anonymous source. That is not the Rock way. Sport is the antidote to antisocial behaviour and we fully support the campaign for sport, recreation and leisure. Naturally, we hope that football will be the first sport of choice for all our players but we are well aware that the majority of our players enjoy other sports. And so, it should be.
“Indeed, if our ‘highly-respected former footballer’ had to have a word in the ear of every Austin Stacks player who played other sports, he’d be out and about from first light until the stars come out!
“The Rock is particularly proud of its Juvenile section. Mr Daly posed the question ‘should Stacks not be more worried about trying to recruit young lads ahead of O’Rahillys, Mitchels and Na Gaeil - the other clubs in the town – instead of telling one of their own to turn his back on hurling and his friends?’
“Not at all, we are happy with our fair share...hurling is part of the Rock DNA. All of the GAA clubs in Tralee coexist in a spirit of mutual respect and cooperation. We are all motivate[d] by the same desire to promote the aims and values of the GAA.
“While Austin Stacks has not had the numbers to compete in hurling competitions for a few years, we are pleased to support the initiative of the new Tralee Parnells Hurling and Camogie Club in promoting those games in the Tralee area. That club is now effectively doing what Austin Stacks did for many years. We are delighted that any of our players, who are interested in hurling, now have a local hurling club on their doorstep. Likewise, Austin Stacks, has always accommodated players from hurling only clubs, who wish to play football with our club.
“To the best of our knowledge, Anthony Daly has never set foot in Connolly Park. He has never seen how our wonderful club goes about its business. He wrote a very poorly researched article based on a nod and a wink. He did Austin Stacks a grave injustice. If he’d like to soak up the exhilarating atmosphere in Connolly Park and meet with the ‘rare auld stock of the Rock,’ he’d be more than welcome to visit Austin Stacks at any time.”
Daly won All-Ireland medals as a player with his native Clare before going to manage the Banner hurling team, as well as the Dublin hurlers and several club teams, including Kilmoyley, who he guided to two Kerry SHC titles in 2008 and 2009 during his four-year term as Kilmoyley manager.
For the last number of years Daly has been a hurling analyst with RTE as well as writing a column with the
Examiner.