125 Years of Kerry GAA

[himself]

I have a book coming out in about three weeks time - "Forged in Green and Gold - 125 Years of Kerry GAA"
A chronological history of Kerry GAA from caid to Cooper. It's not an academic work - I rant and rave every now and then.
12 chapters of chronology - 11 decades back to 1900 and a chapter for 1884-1900. Each chapter starts with a short bit about what was happening in Kerry/Ireland at the time.
Separate chapters on Kerry Ladies Football (thanks to Mick Fitzgerald) and Handball (thanks to Brendan Falvey),
who Kerry Cups are named after e.g. Bishop Moynihan, Frank King, Jack Murphy
Kerry GAA and the Railway, i.e. The Ghost Train, 1910 and the Leather Medals
Clerical Influence on Kerry GAA, e.g. Br. Murray, Fr. James Linnane
Colleges and Kerry Techs - Tralee Sigersons, Hogan Cups, etc.
Club All Irelands - Kerry clubs have played in 20, plus the Walshes with UCD, Pat Spillane with Thomond, and Micheal O Se
Why Kerry wear Green and Gold and why Kerry is the "Kingdom"
GAA in the DNA - parents, siblings etc. that are connected to Kerry GAA
On The Road - various player transfers, e.g. the Cronin brothers of Millstreet, Jas Murphy President of Nemo Rangers, etc.

Photographs come from a lot of different sources - special thanks to some of the people on the photos thread - but Maurice Whelan and especially Tommy Regan of Legion deserve special mention.

The book will retail at E14.95 and my mam thinks it's very good.
All support would be appreciated.

[mackrilld]

This sound like a great read will it be avalible to buy online ot be post overseas thanks, Dom

[himself]

For overseas it will have to be ordered direct from me. I will include my address on this thread shortly and I will be posting it myself. Unfortunately it looks like I won't be able to lodge from credit cards - have a friend involved in that kind of thing; he says that the financial companies will just nail the likes of me walking in the door.
That's not a dig at the banks, by the way, Killarney Credit Union and Ulster Bank have shown a lot of faith in me and I appreciate it.

[glengael]

Congrats on the book, great to see the old bit of initiative being combined with the love of the green and gold. Look forward to more details.

[patinkerry]

Good on you! I hope it goes well for you.

Tell me I read somewhere that the Kerry jersey was green and red at the early stages. However, I recently bought a jersey from Dingle that stated that it was a copy of the very first Kerry jersey (its green and gold). Were the Kerry colours green and red once?

[Crokerman]

Well at least the book has a happy ending
Look forward to getting a copy, when is the launch??

[fortyyards]

Perhaps 'himself' may correct me here but as I believe Kerry adopted our present colours from the first All Ireland win in 1903. Tralee Mitchels, the Kerry representatives back then had borrowed the set of jerseys for the final from Tralee rugby club whose original colours were green and gold.
Even if it isn't all fact, it's an QI story....

[himself]

The first Kerry teams (as opposed to club sides representing Kerry) lined out in green and red because County Champions Mitchels had the greatest representation and County Secretary Maurice Moynihan was effectively the quarter-master. Circa 1903 Kerry travelled to play in an invitational tournament in Waterford, but forgot to bring the Mitchels jerseys.
Kerry fullback Roddy Kirwan (nicknamed "Stonewall" - says an awful lot about a fullback! He was a great athlete who once allegedly caught a ball in flight and continued the leap clean over his marker) was a Waterford native (he was working as a bank clerk in Castleisland for several years) called up to a local club Kilrosanty to borrow their green and gold strip. Roddy, incidentally, refused to play for Kerry in a Munster Final because his brother Percy was captaining Waterford.
It was John Kiely, recent Waterford manager and a pure gentleman, who first told me that story the day that Ballinacourtey beat Kilcummin in the Munster Club Championship.
It's worth noting that the famous 1903 Final was actually played in 1905 and Kerry wore Mitchels colours, but one newspaper account mentions the throng "bedecked in green and gold rosettes".
In 1924 County delegates were requested to name individual county colours. Kerry delegate Con Brosnan (an awful lot of the early Kerry greats continued to serve as administrators. Con's son Dr. Jim was one of the great County Chairmen) proposed the green and gold but Kerry had certainly worn green and gold long, long before that.
The same year, Kerry were refusing to play the All Ireland semi-final until Austin Stack, Humphrey Murphy, and Moss O'Connell were released from internment - Galway, Limerick, and Dublin (who could have claimed the game) backed us to the absolute hilt. Club teams in Kerry also refused to play. One of the first backers were Tralee Rugby Club (GAA and rugby were not early friends, even though Laune Rangers had been County Rugby Champions before switching to gaelic) who came under enormous pressure from their own organisation but proudly held their ground.
I was talking to Gordon Revington, rugby correspondent with Kerry's Eye and far more knowledgeable about Kerry sport than I am, recently and he was lamenting the fact that so few photographs of early rugby teams are available in Kerry - there was usually one suspect who could have been caught by the "Ban".

[himself]

patinkerry, it is quite possible that the jersey you bought is a replica of the first "Kerry" jersey - the green and red was Mitchels club jersey.
green and gold bands (the gold was actually yellow), white collar and cuffs.
The early jerseys were much tighter around the chest than modern ones and also much heavier cloth.
It would appear from photographs that moustaches were almost obligatory. Clean-shaven Dick Fitzgerald was an exception.
As for the boots? Let's just say that Tom Crean quite likely wore something similar on his Antarctic travels

[yellowbelly]

As this seems to be a thread on Kerry GAA history, can anyone settle a recent pub debate?
Which is the oldest, still running, GAA club in Kerry??

[himself]

Ballymacelligott, established by Jack Hussey in 1884. Laune Rangers switched from a rugby club to a GAA Club in 1888 and were the early Kerry superpower. Maurice Moynihan founded the "Kerry Gaelic Athletic Association" in 1885 - not a county board, it was the earliest incarnation of John Mitchels. Dr. Crokes were founded in 1886.

This tells you a lot about what I've been doing for the past year!

The Book Launch will be Saturday November 7th. I have to book a venue yet. One guest in attendance will be the captain of Kerry's 1903 All Ireland final opponents London, a frequent Kerry visitor and an old friend of mine.

Actually I've only once ever been up close to Sam Maguire. A huge favour by the County Board; I owe them big time for their support.

[riverfeale]

can anyone help with this query, Austin Stacks have the most All Ireland medals in their club but are there any Kerry clubs still without an All Ireland Senior medal.

[himself]

Clounmacon only turned senior two years ago. Even in Kerry, we'll give them some bit of time yet!

[animal]

Oct 3, 2009 11:11:57 GMT himself said:

One guest in attendance will be the captain of Kerry's 1903 All Ireland final opponents London, a frequent Kerry visitor and an old friend of mine.

Jaysus he must be a fair age now!! ;D

[himself]

He had cosmetic surgery in 1988!

[fritz]

Best of luck with the book himself. Will be delighted to support it. Keep us updated on the launch etc.

[falveyb2k]

Sounds brilliant, where will we be able to buy it and have you set a date on it?

[JOAN]

Count me in for one himself sounds like a great read already!! best wishes and loads of luck!!!

[ballynamona]

Himself, you mention county secretary Maurice Moynihan of over 100 years ago. Was he any relation to Maurice Moynihan from Tralee who became a senior civil servant? I know I'm related to him through the Moynihan side so I'm curious.

By the way I'm delighted this book is coming out, it is badly needed. Best of luck with it.

[himself]

Thanks to everybody for the good wishes. The bit of encourgement really does help much more than people think. It's all running away merrily on the print presses right now; I no longer have the slightest power to change anything (and I have caught one mistake that slipped through, sure there are probably millions).

I know I must sound like a bit of a freak on some of the older facts, but Maurice Moynihan is another that I thought was fascinating. He was the IRB leader in Kerry and he was the father of the civil servant Maurice Gerard Moynihan, who became Private Secretary to Eamon De Valera....Maurice Jnr. actually played a key part in drafting the Irish Constitution!

The Book Launch will be Saturday, November 7th, 7.00pm in the Mangerton Suite in the Gleneagle Hotel. Sam Maguire will be there, hopefully a few more.
One and all are invited.

[austinstacksabu]

We should all go down - support our own on a big night.

[Crokerman]

Jimmy gave a short interview during the Crokes vs Legion match last Sunday. I'm sure, despite his nervousness, you can appreciate Jimmy's knowledge and passion on Kerry GAA
For those that missed it its here



Sorry about the audio not being great, oh and the camera really does add 10 pounds

[falveyb2k]

Good man Jimmy, your enthusiasm really bodes well! And well done too Botty, a journalist and the most famous logistics man in Irish sport amongst us!

[dano]

Congratulations Himself on the book, saw the interview on Crokes GAA, Pure Kerry, looking forward to reading it over this short Winter

[longball2]

Best of luck to Jimmy on this publication it sounds like it will be an invaluable addition to any
Kerry supporters collection.

I think the book will get away from the usual pure facts and figures and will add in items of anecdotes and folklore.

Anything that puts flesh on the history of Kerry can only be welcomed.

[riverfeale]

Well done Jimmy, Great stuff should make an intresting read and reference point over the years, Congrats.

[himself]

Have to say thanks for the messages. I was half petrified during that interview. Myself and Botty know each other well and in fairness he was really good to carry me through. I was on Alan Cantwell's preview of the All Ireland as well, my first ever radio interview, and I babbled no-stop.
Got the score right, though!
The book definitely includes the folklore and tradition, and I have a few opinions of my own laid out in it too - not because I'm an egoist, but because I wanted it to be easily readable. It's written as if I was actually talking to the reader. I'm going to post up one of the more colloquially written folklore pieces (one that I was surprised to find that very few people actually knew about) so ye get the style.
Incidentally, the founding of the Kerry GAA website and the huge contribution of the Forum are mentioned - I named some posters purely at random selection, not based on preference or anything. I did deliberately include Dermot and mrrasherstoyou, I've always thought that measured and friendly tongue-in-cheek posts from knowledgeable outside sources add a huge amount to this forum

[himself]

"The Kingdom
It has often been suggested by supporters of other counties that Kerry’s adoption of the nickname “The Kingdom” is proof of our overweening arrogance. Not at all. It’s not even symptomatic of it.
Fado fado, as the old stories were wont to start, Fergus Mac Roi had a big fight with his kinsman King Conor Mac Nessa of Ulster. He went to Connaught, where he became the lover of Queen Maeve, wife of Ailill. She was the Cleopatra or the Angelina Jolie of the day, and a tough nail to go with it. She had an argument with her husband over who had the finest possessions. They compared everything, and it transpired that Ailill had a better bull than Maeve (there are those who will tell you that I couldn’t tell a story without some bull in it somewhere). Gentle soul that she was, off Maeve went to steal the only bull in Ireland that was better than Ailill’s, the Brown Bull of Cooley.
Negotiations did not go well. The story goes that all was fine and a deal settled until one of Meave’s men said that Conor was lucky to have acquiesced or they would have taken the bull. Now Conor was prideful and Maeve was a nutter, so you can imagine the result as blades were drawn. Cuchulainn, a noted hurler in his day, held Ulster against all of Connaught and eventually Conor MacNessa triumphed, but at enormous cost. The bulls fought throughout Ireland and tore each other to pieces.
In the circumstances, Fergus’ sons did not feel particularly welcome in either Ulster or Connaught, and scattered to make their lives elsewhere. The third son of Fergus, Ciar, made his way to the South West and founded a settlement there. A Kingdom, if you will.
The kingdom of Ciar, son of Fergus. Ciar-riocht. Ciarrai. "

[riverfeale]

Lovely story, Like your style, should make a great read well done.

[himself]

Weeshie Fogarty is going to be MC on the night of the launch.