Announcing “36 and Counting…Kerry’s Football Story” by Niall Flynn

Weeshie Fogarty says: No County has a publication that even comes close to the level of detail presented in Niall Flynn’s “36 and Counting…Kerry’s Football Story to 2009”

It’s amazing despite being the most successful football county in Ireland that some scribe has not put pen to paper earlier and record for posterity the names and achievements of the long list of Kerry men who have worn the green and gold with such distinction. This book rights a terrible wrong; that of not remembering our past as it should be. This magnificent publication is a tribute to all those great men who donned the green and gold for their county through the decades.

Between the covers of this book are the names and achievements, not alone of the Kerry players who have won the coveted Celtic cross on All Ireland final day in Croke Park, but also, and for me more importantly, the names of the unknown and almost-forgotten men who gave their all for the sake of their county without achieving the glory of an All Ireland medal.

The teams, the names, the facts, the figures, the scorers, the opponents, the dates are all brought together here for you in one superb publication for the very first time. What Niall has published is one of the greatest contributions to the story of Kerry football since The Kerryman’s legendary GAA reporter, Paddy Foley, published his history of Kerry football in 1944. That work was entitled simply “Kerry’s Football Story”. Niall includes the same words here as a small tribute to PF’s account.

Niall’s addition of a short summary of news events, both at home and abroad, for each year adds a touch that will educate, recall, and enlighten all of his readers to events long since forgotten. This section of the publication is fascinating in its own right. I am fully convinced that a copy of this publication will in time rest in every GAA home in Kerry and beyond. On this score it is a must. It will settle many an argument and browsing through its 400 pages or so will pass many an idle hour during those long winter evenings.

Most importantly of all, Niall has now assured that those men who donned the jersey even once with their beloved county have not been forgotten or erased from history’s pages but thankfully have been written into the pages of Kerry’s amazing football story.

Statistics on Players are from 1928-2009, while County Statistics go from 1884-2009:

Top 20 Scorers (goals and points combined); Top Goal Scorers; Top Points-only scorers; Top Average per Game Scorers (20 game minimum); Top Scorers in an Individual Game; Most Goals-only in One Game; Most Points-only in One Game; Top Appearances from 1928-2009 – the 36 with 40; Darragh Ó’Sé – Details of an Ironman All the Goalkeepers 1928-2009; Top 6 Family Names.

Kerry’s Record when scoring x (goals and points combined) expressed as a percentage.

Kerry’s Record when Scoring Goals; Kerry’s Record when Conceding Goals; Goal Scoring Differential Analysis; Kerry’s Record Points-only; Replay Records; Kerry’s Biggest Winning Margins; Kerry’s Greatest Losing Margins County by County and Province by Province Records 1884-2009;

Instead of an index, the book has a Register of Players, which reads as a players CV, for example, the 5 players with last name starting with A that played Championship Football for Kerry since 1928 are:

Aherne, Darren; 1995; (1-1) in 1 appearance Aherne, Pat; 1963; 1 appearance

Aherne, Roger; 1928; 1 appearance Ashe, Mickey; 1959; 1 appearance

Ashe, Tom; 1949-1953; (4-9) in 9 appearances

EACH DECADE STARTS LIKE THIS:

1970 – 1979 Summary of the Decade

Kerry played 35 games, scoring 84-531, conceding 34-353.

Munster Championship titles: 7 (1970, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979) All Ireland titles: 4 (1970, 1975, 1978, 1979)

National League titles: 5 (1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977)

U-21 titles: 4 (1973, 1975, 1976, 1977) Minor titles: 1 (1975)

Top Scorers: Mike Sheehy (17-88), Pat Spillane (12-48), Mick O’Dwyer (2-78)

Top Points-only scorers: Mike Sheehy (88), Mick O’Dwyer (78)

Top Goals-only scorers: Mike Sheehy (17), Pat Spillane (12)

Most Appearances: John O’Keeffe (34), Paudie Lynch (27)

1970

Kerry 2-19 Limerick 2-5;

Munster Final: Kerry 2-22 Cork 2-9;

All-Ireland semi-final: Kerry 0-23 Derry 0-10; All-Ireland Final: Kerry 2-19 Meath 0-18.

1971

Kerry 1-14 Tipperary 1-7;

Munster Final: Cork 0-25 Kerry 0-14.

1972

Kerry 1-12 Tipperary 0-9;

Munster Final: Kerry 2-21 Cork 2-15;

All-Ireland semi-final: Kerry 1-22 Roscommon 1-12; All-Ireland Final: Kerry 1-13 Offaly 1-13;

Replay: Offaly 1-19 Kerry 0-13.

1973

Kerry 3-11 Tipperary 0-5;

Munster Final: Cork 5-12 Kerry 1-15.

1974

Kerry 7-16 Waterford 0-8;

Munster Final: Cork 1-11 Kerry 0-7.

1975

Kerry 3-13 Tipperary 0-9;

Munster Final: Kerry 1-14 Cork 0-7;

All-Ireland semi-final: Kerry 3-13 Sligo 0-5; All-Ireland Final: Kerry 2-12 Dublin 0-11.

1976

Kerry 3-17 Waterford 0-6;

Munster Final: Kerry 0-10 Cork 0-10;

Replay: Kerry 3-20 Cork 2-19;

All-Ireland semi-final: Kerry 5-14 Derry 1-10; All-Ireland Final: Dublin 3-8 Kerry 0-10.

1977

Kerry 3-14 Tipperary 0-9;

Munster Final: Kerry 3-15 Cork 0-9;

All-Ireland semi-final: Dublin 3-12 Kerry 1-13.

1978

Kerry 4-27 Waterford 2-8;

Munster Final: Kerry 3-14 Cork 3-7;

All-Ireland semi-final: Kerry 3-11 Roscommon 0-8; All-Ireland Final: Kerry 5-11 Dublin 0-9.

1979

Kerry 9-21 Clare 1-9;

Munster Final: Kerry 2-14 Cork 2-4;

All-Ireland semi-final: Kerry 5-14 Monaghan 0-7; All-Ireland Final: Kerry 3-13 Dublin 1-8.

A TYPICAL YEAR: 1971

Summary: Played two championship games, lost Munster Final.

Game 1 – versus Tipperary in Killarney on June 13. Final Score: Kerry 1-14; Tipperary 1-7.

Johnny Culloty

Donie O’Sullivan Paud O’Donoghue Derry Crowley

Tom Prendergast John O’Keeffe (0-1) Micheál Ó’Sé

Mick O’Connell DJ Crowley (0-1)

Brendan Lynch (0-4) Pat Griffin (0-1) Eamon O’Donoghue

Mick Gleeson (0-1) Liam Higgins Mick O’Dwyer (1-6)

No substitutes used.

Game 2 – Munster Final versus Cork in Cork on July 18. Final Score: Cork 0-25; Kerry 0-14.

Johnny Culloty

Donie O’Sullivan Paud O’Donoghue Seamus MacGearailt

Tom Prendergast John O’Keeffe Micheál Ó’Sé

Mick O’Connell (0-2) DJ Crowley

Brendan Lynch (0-2) Pat Griffin Eamon O’Donoghue (0-1)

Mick Gleeson (0-2) Liam Higgins Mick O’Dwyer (0-7)

Substitutes: Paudie Lynch for Pat Griffin, Mickey O’Sullivan for Eamon O’Donoghue, Donal Kavanagh for Brendan Lynch.

Scorers for the Year: Mick O’Dwyer (1-13), Brendan Lynch (0-6), Mick Gleeson (0-3), Mick O’Connell (0-2), John O’Keeffe (0-1), DJ Crowley (0-1), Pat Griffin (0-1), Eamon O’Donoghue (0-1).

Total Scored: 1-28

Appearances:

2 – Johnny Culloty, Donie O’Sullivan, Paud O’Donoghue, Tom Prendergast, John O’Keeffe, Micheál Ó’Sé, Mick O’Connell, DJ Crowley, Brendan Lynch, Pat Griffin, Eamon O’Donoghue, Mick Gleeson, Liam Higgins, Mick O’Dwyer.

1 – Derry Crowley, Seamus MacGearailt, Paudie Lynch, Mickey O’Sullivan, Donal Kavanagh.

1971 – GAA Winners:

All-Irelands: Senior Football: Offaly Minor Football: Mayo Under-21 Football: Cork

National Leagues: Football: Kerry Hurling: Limerick

Senior Hurling: Tipperary

Kerry Co. Champions: Football: Mid-Kerry Hurling: Kilmoyley

1971 Football All-Stars:

P.J.Smyth (Galway), Johnny Carey (Mayo), Jack Cosgrove (Galway), Donie O’Sullivan (Kerry), Eugene Mulligan (Offaly), Nicholas Clavin (Offaly), Pat Reynolds (Meath), Liam Sammon (Galway), Willie Bryan (Offaly), Tony McTague (Offaly), Ray Cummins (Cork), Mickey Kearns (Sligo), Andy McCallin (Antrim), Sean O’Neill (Down), Seamus Leydon (Galway).

1971 – In The News:

• The Eurovision Song Contest is held in Dublin. Presented by Bernadette Ní Ghallchóir, it is the first colour broadcast by RTÉ.

• The GAA votes to lift its ban on members participating in “foreign games” such as soccer, rugby and cricket.

• Seán Lemass, Taoiseach from 1959 to 1966, dies in Dublin aged 71. He was active during the 1916 Easter Rising, the War of Independence and the Civil War.

• Members of the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement return to Dublin by train from Belfast bringing contraceptives as a protest against the law banning their importation.

• The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) announces that it is withdrawing from Stormont.

• Internment without trial is introduced in Northern Ireland. Over 300 republicans are “lifted” in pre-dawn raids. Some Loyalists are later arrested.

• British troops begin clearing operations in Belfast following the worst rioting in years in August. Taoiseach Jack Lynch calls for an end to the Stormont administration.

• A rally takes place in Dublin in September in support of a campaign of civil disobedience in Northern Ireland.

• The government defeats a motion of no confidence in Minister for Defence, Jim Gibbons.

• Neil Blaney and Paudge Brennan are expelled from the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party.

• Taoiseach Jack Lynch has talks with British Prime Minister Harold Wilson in Dublin in November.

• A bomb in McGurk’s Bar in Belfast kills 15 people on December 4.