Countdown on to naming Kerry Person of the Year 2019 winner

IT’S considered one of the greatest honours any Kerry person can receive, and next year marks the 40-year anniversary of Dr Michael Carmody being named as the first Kerry Association in Dublin Kerry Person of the Year.

Kerry football legend Colm Cooper was the most recent recipient of the award earlier this year, but the countdown is already on to finding his successor as the closing date for nominations – January 4, 2019 – is fast approaching. The winner will then be honoured at the ‘Oíche Chiarraí’ ceremony on March 30, 2019.

This year sees the event move to Croke Park, considered an apt location given the countless glorious moments enjoyed by Kerry folk in the stadium over the years.

The ceremony will also honour the 2019 winner of the relatively new Laochra Chiarraí award, a prize for groups of oganisations who have contributed greatly to life in the Kingdom. This year’s award went to Kerry’s Special Olympics clubs.

“As is the case for the Kerry Person of the Year, the group selected must have shown leadership; [and] brought honour to and performed community, charitable or other services to such an extent that could be described as being beyond the norm of everyday life,” said Maurice Moynihan of the Kerry Association in Dublin.

The Kerry Person of the Year nomination form is available on the association’s website at www.kerryassociation.ie/ about-kerry-person-of-t-y/. The Laochra Chiarraí form is at www.kerryassociation.ie/ laochra-chiarrai/.