East Kerry Player Profiles

Other Profiles


	Other Notable GAA Player Profiles from the district
	Con Clifford R.I.P. O’Donoghue Cup Record Holder
	Con Clifford was only 17 years old when he won his first O’Donoghue cup medal in 1956 along with 18 year old fellow Croke, Jackie Looney. They went on to win 7 titles on the trot and were members of the winning Dr Croke teams in 1964, 1965 and in 1968, for an unequalled record of 10 O’Donoghue cup medals in their illustrious careers. Indeed only for losing to Rathmore in 1963, they would have won 9 in a row. They bounced back in 1964 to beat St.Finan’s and Glenflesk in 1965. Their 10th title came in 1968 when 4 goals beat off the challenge of Spa , who were to emerge as the new force in East Kerry. When their playing days were over they continued to serve the black and amber as dedicated officials. Both are modest about their successes and point to Michael O’Connor, RIP, as the catalyst for the Dr Croke successes, which commenced in 1956; “The club had a very lean period for 20 years prior to that, so it was fortuitous for the club that Michael “Coiny” O’Connor, transferred his workplace back home, when he was appointed as teacher in Anabla NS; he was young, energetic and a great organizer,” said Jackie. “When he took over as club secretary at that time, his infectious enthusiasm and great drive, as player and club official got us all going; we made the breakthrough and success breeds success,” added Con. He was fulsome in his praise also for Donie Sheahan whom he said made a huge contribution as well. Both agree that a great bunch of players emerged at the time and became great friends, away from the playing fields. “ I have very fond memories of groups of us going off for walks around the Pike Hill, Woodlawn and Muckross after training with the Crokes, a great way to build up spirit,”said Con. Club training in the 50’s and 60’s was very different to the present time. Even with a good run in the Kerry SFC and in East Kerry they would only have about 10 competitive matches a year. No Munster or All Ireland Club series, but the tournament games and particularly the Sneem Seven -A- Sides were very attractive. A Classy Midfielder. His early promise in ‘The Mon,’ blossomed in Killarney Vocational school, with whom he starred in the Kerry VS c’ships in ’55 and ’56, before the All Ireland series started. He went straight in to Dr Croke senior team in 1955, lost that final and again in 1963, but won 10 O’Donoghue Cup medals. He was always pencilled in at midfield, although he did switch to full back for one final when Johnny Hurley was unavailable. His wonderful physique, spectacular fielding and attention to fitness ensured that he could play the demanding role of a midfielder up to the end of his career. When he won his 10th medal in the 1968 final he teamed up at midfield with Fergus Moroney and scored 2 goals in that win over Spa. He won Munster football medals with Kerry in ‘57(minor) and ‘61(junior). Like fellow clubman Dr Eamonn O’Sullivan, author of ‘The Art of Science and Gaelic Football’, published in 1956, he understood that the elements of artistry and science in football deserved careful study and consideration. Con was way ahead of his contemporaries in these fields and when he retired from football, he became a squash enthusiast, encouraging Maurice O’Donoghue to form the Gleneagle Squash club. He was its first chairman, its real driving force and was honoured to receive the Squash award in the inaugural Killarney Sport Stars Awards. He is very proud that he can trace his family tree back to the founding of Dr Crokes in 1886; at present his grandson Risteárd is the 6th generation of Cliffords playing for Dr Crokes. This family and club pride is evident in ‘The Golden Era 1900-1914’, a marvellous chapter he researched and wrote for the club’s history book. “Dr Crokes Gaelic Century”. He says the club is now a thriving operation, with so many teams, coaching, activities and excellent facilities. “It has come a long way from the club of my childhood, based around Brewery Lane, where the Croke jerseys were hung out to dry with the Clifford washing”. The players he admired most were his own team mates in Dr Crokes during his long and distinguished career in the black and amber jersey. He also spoke very highly of inter-county stars, Mick O Connell, Tadhgie Lyne, Sean Purcell, (Galway), Willie Casey (Mayo), Stephen White (Louth), Tom Long and Donie O Sullivan. He has strong views on the value of sport in people’s lives, “A healthy body is a healthy mind”. A lifelong fitness fanatic he says GAA players are much fitter now than in his playing days, but he is not enamoured by the modern game. “The only similarity between today’s game and the football I played are the goalposts. I find it very hard to get enthused about the modern hand passing dominated game. How often do we see up to nine short hand passes instead of one long kick. After all the game is football, not hand passing -basketball”, he said.
	Seamus Moynihan- The Greatest

	Name: Seamus Moynihan. 1st League Game for Kerry: v Wicklow 1993 1st C'ship Game for Kerry: v Clare 1992 U21 Experience with Kerry: 1992-1994 Minor Experience with Kerry: 1990, 1991 Achievements / Honours: 4 All-Ireland Senior; 3 National League; 1 Railway Cup; 4 Sigerson Cup; 1 All-Ireland Colleges; 5 Munster Senior;2 Munster U-21;1 Munster Minor; International Rules 1998,1999, 2000, 2001, 3 County Senior Championships, 2 All-Stars, 1997 and 2000. A unique man, Seamus has represented St. Brendans College, Glenflesk, UCC, ITT, East Kerry, Kerry and Ireland with distinction. A magnificent career.
	A Legend of East Kerry GAA - Johnny Culloty of Legion
	Legion's Johnny Culloty remains one of only 2 men to win All Ireland Senior football medals both as a goalkeeper and an outfield player. Here we take a look back at some of his outstanding achievements. In a Senior inter county career that began as a 19 year old in 1955, Culloty won almost every honour on offer culminating in his captaining of Kerry to win their 21st All Ireland title! Johnny started out his inter-county career as a forward, being part of Kerry's famous victory over Dublin in the 1955 All Ireland. Two years later his career as a goalkeeper came about by chance when the appointed Keeper, Marcus O'Neill failed to show. He went on to play in 8 All Ireland finals in that position! A glance at his inter-county record shows just how successful he was: 5 All-Irelands senior medals 1955, 59, 62, 1969 and 1970 12 Munster Senior Championship medals 1955, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 68, 69,70. 1 All Ireland Junior Football medal 1954. 5 National League medals 1959, 1961, 1963, 1969, 1971 His playing days over, Johnny trained Kerry for a three-year period 1972 to 1974, winning a National Lleague title in each of those years. Johnny Culloty - The Clubman Johnny was a loyal clubman to his beloved Legion and East Kerry. He played in 5 Senior County Championship finals and 10 East Kerry championship finals; indeed his record at club level is no less impressive: 4 County Senior football championship medals. 1965, 1968, 1969, and 1970. 4 Senior East Kerry championship medals in 1953, 1954, 1955, 1967 2 All - Ireland Hospitals medals in 1959 and 1978. 2 Munster Club championship medals with East Kerry. Johnny Culloty- The Hurler Not everybody knows that Johnny Culloty's first appearance for Kerry was as a hurler in fact, he was a tender 14 years of age when he donned the Kerry Jersey as a Minor goalkeeper. He went on to play at inter-county level for four years in that grade. He first played with Killarney Minors at the age of 13, and in a very successful era for hurling in the Killarney area he was one of five players to play in all three Minor County Championship successes with Killarney. He was the first Killarney man to win an all Ireland Hurling medal with Kerry and in 1969, he added a county Hurling Championship medal to the football medal he had already won with East Kerry. A look at his medal haul confirms his prowess as a hurler: 1 All - Ireland Junior Hurling medal 1961 4 National Hurling league div 2 medals 1 Senior County Championship medal with Killarney in 1969 4 County Intermediate Hurling medals with Killarney 3 County Minor Hurling medals with Killarney -1950, 1951, 1952 Mottos: Johnny Culloty's motto is simple: "Never wallow in victory, never get too depressed in defeat. It’s still only a sport" Wise words indeed from a man who has made a truly remarkable contribution to sport both in Kerry and further afield. Fr Brian Kelly - Larger Than Life Figure A few short weeks before Christmas, Fr. Brian Kelly, a larger than life character, and a great GAA man, was laid to rest. His nephew, iár Uachtarán CLG Seán Kelly, penned this tribute to his late uncle on the occasion of the recent East Kerry championship - O’Donoghue Cup - final. It’s rather strange to be writing an article about one so close to you so soon after he passed away, but Fr. Brian would want me to do it and he’d appreciate the thoughtfulness and opportunity afforded to me by the E.K.B. The O’Donoghue Cup final places us all firmly at home in East Kerry and places East Kerry at the centre of the universe. Winning the O’Donoghue Cup means everything to clubs and players in East Kerry. In the seventies it meant everything to Fr. Brian. In ’72 when we won the O’Sullivan Cup (and lost the O’Donoghue Cup) he said at our dinner dance “When all fruit fails, welcome news.” Thankfully he trained us to welcome the fruit the following year. Divisional Board Championships have a life and soul of their own. Fr. Brian had trained Glenbeigh to make the great break-through in Mid Kerry and he was really proud of those Mid Kerry Championships too especially as the unheralded Glanbeigh-Glencar were competing in a division incorporating the mighty Pack Four Men of Laune Rangers. Later Fr. Brian as P.P. in Allihies trained that club called Garnish to win their first Beara Championship in 27 years. He got great satisfaction from that as they had only a “páircín” to play on and had a very tiny population. They celebrated that win as only fishing communities can and Fr. Brian was proud as punch of them. One of that team, Ger Harrington, is now chairman of the Dublin County Board. But while Fr. Brian enjoyed great successes with Kilcummin, Allihies and Glenbeigh his most famous achievement had to be training Mid Kerry to win their first county title in 1967. They had lost the previous year and it was a major break through for the mid Kerry men, and indeed for Kerry, and whole new generations of stars emerged from that little division to wear the green and gold of Kerry with pride and distinction for many years. He was always very proud of his players and in turn they remained loyal and grateful to him all his life. Many may not know that when he was based in Dingle he was also chairman of the West Kerry Board and started under age competitions in the area. Among those who often praised him for this initiative and said he benefited greatly from the new competitions was Páidí Ó’Sé. Páidí told me that he also served mass for Fr. Brian. Páidí picked up Fr. Brian’s fanatical zeal for football. He didn’t however follow him into the priesthood! Fr. Brian was also chairman of the mid Kerry Board for some time and had a great working relationship with his great pal from the Laune, former County Board Treasurer, Jimmy Coffey. Ironically he was due to come with me to the launch of a great mid-Kerry footballer, Pat Ahern’s book in Jimmy Coffey’s during the summer when, unfortunately, illness prevented him from doing so. The large crowd who attended his removal and funeral and who came from all corners of Kerry and beyond, was testament to the high esteem in which Fr. Brian was held. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis. Mickey Culloty gets the Legion Hall of Fame Award. At the Legion social on New Years Eve, Mickey Culloty was named as the Hall of Fame Award winner - the first time that that distinction has been awarded posthumously. Mickey was an all round sportsman and had distinguished careers in football, hurling and basketball. He played senior football with the club for close on twenty years and is only one of two players - the other being his brother Johnny - to hold three O’Donoghue Cup medals from the successes in 1954, ‘55 and ‘67. In the company of his brother Johnny, he won three county minor hurling championship titles with Killarney (1950 to ‘52) at a time when Laois man, Ben Campion, played a major role in the promotion of the ancient code. Mickey was also on the Killarney team who shocked the hurling world in 1969 by defeating Causeway, Kenmare and Abbeydorney before accounting for Austin Stacks in the county senior hurling final. Mickey was corner back on that famous day and incidentally on the Stacks side was none other than Tommy “Bracker” Regan now of course a fully fledged Killarney man. Following his retirement from the playing side Mickey went on to fill various positions within his beloved Legion club before taking ill on his way out of Croke Park following the 1997 All Ireland Final. He passed away a few days later. It was a nice touch by the Legion club to recognise his achievements and dedication to the club and the Vincent Doyle trophy was presented to his wife Mitzy by club chairman, Sean O’Sullivan. Dan Creedon R.I.P. The death occurred in early January of former Rathmore and East Kerry player Dan Creedon. Dan was midfield with Larry Kelly on the Rathmore team that defeated Dr Crokes in the 1963 O’Donoghue Cup final, the first time a rural club won the cup depriving the townside of eight in a row and indeed of a possible ten in a row. Dan captained East Kerry in the 1964 county final when defeated by Shannon rangers on a score of 1-10 to 1-5. That team, who had defeated Austin Stacks, Mid Kerry and West Kerry on the way to the final, lined out as follows: Weeshie Fogarty, Lois Nolan, Jerry McCarthy, Dan Lynch, Derry Crowley, Tom Long, Dan Creedon (Capt.), Jimmy Hegarty and Tim Sheehan, Gerry Cullinane, Noel Healy, Pat Moynihan, Pat Cahill, Johnny Culloty, Michael Lyne.
	Michael McCarthy - Kilcummin's King
	Michael McCarthy 1st League Game for Kerry: 1999 1st C'ship Game for Kerry: 1999 U21 Experience with Kerry: 1998, 1999 Minor Experience with Kerry: 1996, 1997 Achievements / Honours: Honours Won: 3 All-Ireland Senior1 All Ireland U21;1 Munster Minor; 4 Munster Senior, 1 All-Star, 2000, 1 National League