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The Irish Sun
a day ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
From Croke Park to lost luggage and dashed dreams – the painful reality of Donegal's near miss in All-Ireland final
LOSING an All-Ireland final is hard enough without the baggage — literally. As a native, covering Advertisement 2 Patrick McBrearty and Shane O'Donnell of Donegal are left heartbroken after the defeat to Kerry last Sunday 2 Kerry players staff and family celebrate with the Sam Maguire cup after the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship final match win over Donegal at Croke Park There's an emotional attachment that must be put to one side — and that's not always simple — but I think we managed it. After My parents and sisters headed for home but plenty of my friends remained in the capital to drown their sorrows. There was a lot to digest. Advertisement read more on gaa Kerry were the better team, no doubt, but Donegal's call to leave Hugh McFadden on the bench was a head-scratcher. Meeting old friends and just chatting nonsense at the Harcourt Hotel — which was the hub for Donegal folk in the big smoke — certainly helped our mood. But the morning after the night before came with all sorts of horrors. My professional hat had to go back on to conduct interviews at the victorious Kerry team hotel. Advertisement Most read in GAA Football My little silver suitcase had been giddily packed in anticipation for a victorious trip back to the hills. But the result meant I was off to the Burlington Road with my luggage and laptop before the onward, unwanted journey to Heuston Station and Athlone, where I live. 'Sad to see him go' - GAA fans emotional seeing Michael D Higgins attend last men's All-Ireland final as President This was like taking a child to the world's greatest amusement park and not allowing them to go on any of the rides. Look, but don't touch. Weary but happy Kerry heads thronged the lobby as Sam Maguire sat proudly among them — and I tried to ignore the glare off the iconic cup. Advertisement I located some of my colleagues who were in somewhat brighter form than I was and left my case and laptop bag where they were stationed before we sat down with Jack O'Connor. When we returned from this engaging conversation which featured in yesterday's paper, my belongings were gone. Suitcase, laptop — the whole lot. This felt like a sick joke from some cute Kerry hoor as I prowled the place looking for my stuff while David Clifford posed for selfies and O'Connor's players began to load up the bus. I rooted through that Kerry boot like nobody ever has before but only found O'Neill's gearbags and nothing belonging to me. Advertisement The hotel staff were alerted and a very helpful manager checked the cameras. It turned out a chauffeur driver had taken my luggage by mistake while we spoke to O'Connor, and everything from my toothbrush and clean undies to my laptop were on their way to Tralee. The driver's phone number was retrieved but he would not answer the phone, while another member of staff was reluctant to divulge any more details about the driver due to GDPR as my belongings tore down the M7. Just in time, the manager returned, the driver phoned back and my luggage would be left at Barack Obama Plaza on the Tipperary-Offaly border. Advertisement Always there in times of need, my good wife contacted someone she knew at Roscrea Garda station to retrieve my things. Getting them back to Athlone was the next job. My brother-in-law, Gerard, is from Templetuohy in Tipperary and even though he doesn't like hurling — those people exist — he was on the road in the Premier County to retrieve the stricken luggage. Just to cap off the day, enter Irish Rail. Advertisement They clearly didn't feel Donegal's pain as there are no trains there and with my phone battery about to die — like myself inside — I managed to scan my ticket at Heuston. Ciarán — the captain of the good ship here at SunSport — could only see the funny side of this predicament and the O'Connor copy would have to wait until I got home. A young group of loud, enthusiastic Americans failed to help my head or mood before I promptly moved to the back of the carriage to wallow in my own self pity. We sat on the tracks for a solid 20 minutes outside Tullamore for good measure before the smiles of my daughter Cara at Athlone Station cleared the clouds. Advertisement It could have all been so different but as Mike Tyson once said — everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
David Clifford profile: All you need to know about Kerry's star forward
On Sunday afternoon David Clifford strengthened his case to be recognised as the greatest Gaelic footballer player of all time. On Sunday afternoon, David Clifford kicked nine points in total to help Kerry claim their 39th All Ireland Senior Football title with a ten-point victory over Donegal at Croke Park. But what else do we know about the great David Clifford. Here we take a closer look at his career on the football pitch, as well as his life away from the limelight. Who is David Clifford? Well, he is certainly one of the greatest Gaelic Footballer ever. Whether he is THE greatest of all time or not is up for discussion. But the scary thing for other counties is he still has plenty of years left to enhance his legacy. He may not have even reached his peak yet. What age is David Clifford? David Clifford was born on the 22nd of January 1999, making him 26 years old. What club does David Clifford play for? David plays for Fossa and the divisional side East Kerry. What has David Clifford won at club level? He helped Fossa win the Kerry Premier Junior Football and Munster Junior club football titles in 2022 before winning the All-Ireland Junior Club football championship in 2023. He has also won four Kerry senior football titles with East Kerry. David Clifford is congratulated by family after the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship final. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile. Is David Clifford married? No but David has been with his long-term partner Shauna O'Connor since they were teenagers. Does David Clifford have kids? Yes. David and Shauna have a son named Ógie, who will turn four in September. What does David Clifford do for work? David graduated from the University of Limerick with a Masters in Education before becoming a Physical Education teacher at his former school St Brendan's College in Killarney. How many All-Ireland football titles has David Clifford won? On Sunday afternoon, David Clifford won his second All-Ireland Senior Football title with the Kingdom. He has also won seven Munster titles, four league titles, as well as two minor All-Ireland and Munster titles. How many All-Stars and Footballer of the Year awards has David Clifford won? David Clifford has won five All-Stars at the time of writing, but that will surely become six in the near future. He has also been named footballer of the year twice, but a third may also be on the way. Earlier in his career he won the young footballer of the year and minor star footballer of the year.
The Irish Sun
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Jack O'Connor roars back from Meath meltdown to guide Kerry to Sam as doubters eat their words
JACK O'CONNOR capped his toughest year as Kerry manager with All-Ireland glory. Advertisement 2 Kerry manager Jack O'Connor, and his backroom staff, celebrate after the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship final win over Donegal 2 Kerry bagged their 39th Sam Maguire cup with Sunday's win at GAA HQ The Royals stunned O'Connor was furious with He said: 'They're all hard-earned, but this one, I suppose, in particular, was hard-earned because we had a world of setbacks all the year, starting with the league. Advertisement READ MORE ON GAA 'An awful lot of injuries, lost a lot of good men. "There's some credit due to our medical team that got bodies patched up and back on the field. For Diarmuid O'Connor to play out there was a minor miracle. So, huge credit to everybody. 'It's a massive panel effort and a backroom team effort. Delighted for the people that were with me as much as myself. "Obviously, delighted for myself because it was a tough old year. I found this a tough year. Advertisement Most read in GAA Football Video Live Blog 'I was inside here a month ago (against Armagh) and there was a lot of steam coming out of my ears. It wasn't faked or it wasn't put on. 'There was a lot of fall-out from the Meath game and life wasn't pleasant for me for a couple of weeks there. And maybe that was behind the bit of steam I left off here a month ago. RTE GAA pundit embrace Tipperary captain Ronan Maher after his epic display toppled Cork in All-Ireland final 'It was authentic because I felt that we were getting a lot of unfair stick and we were trying our butts off and have been from the start of the year. So, for us to finally get the reward is great.' Kerry delivered a phenomenal performance to blow Donegal away. The two-point kings reined supreme again at Croke Park as they fired four in the first half to take control of the game straight away. Advertisement Donegal clinged for life when Kerry raced 0-13 to 0-4 in front, as David Clifford's third orange flag of the game made it 0-17 to 0-10 at the break. But Paudie Clifford, David Clifford and the excellent Joe O'Connor - who the hit late on - steered them home. And boss Advertisement He said: 'Yeah, we were very determined leaving the hotel this morning.I had a few words with them just before we got on the bus that we were going to take the game to Donegal. 'We weren't going to sit back and just see what they had to offer. We were really going after them. We were going after Shaun Patton's kickouts, we were going to drive on. 'I thought Gavin White was sensational in the first quarter. A real captain's example. There were a few pivotal moments. I thought David's two pointer on the stroke of halftime was a big, big score. 'Just gave us a cushion going in at halftime and just gave the lads a lot of belief. Paudie's just coming back to himself after a long injury and we felt that he was coming good. Advertisement 'He handled some amount of ball out there and he just calmed things down and a big part of playing Donegal is getting value out of your attacks and don't turn it over.' RUTHLESS KINGDOM And O'Connor knew Kerry could not sit on their seven-point cushion at the break - especially when he saw what happened to the Cork hurlers a week beforehand. The But Kerry refused to let that happen as they kept Donegal at arms' length and made hay on breaking ball and turnovers. Advertisement He said: 'Our mantra at halftime was we weren't going to collapse like you saw probably with the Cork hurlers maybe last week. We were going to go out and try and win the second half. 'There were times, I mean, Donegal didn't wave any white flags out there. They brought that back from, I'd say, nine points back to four points and they were still highly dangerous. 'Massive effort. Massive effort. Big contribution from an awful lot of players. 'Just thrilled for them because, as I said, we had a rough all year and it's nice to see it coming together in the end.' Advertisement CLIFF HANGER And Jack saved the last word for hero David Clifford - who played with the world at hos feet once more to bag his second Sam Maguire. He said: 'David has a unique temperament, you know. He just takes it on the stride. Of course he must have felt pressure and he knew he was going to get a lot of heat. 'But you know, when we spoke about it during the week and he said, look, if I'm double marked and triple marked, he said, I just, I'll just win it and slip it. 'And he's humble enough to create scores for other people and he was a massive part of all we done there, because he kicked three two-pointers and particularly the one on the stroke of halftime was just inspirational for us going in, just get an extra zip ourselves. Advertisement ' It's his unique temperament. But yeah, how he deals with the weight of expectation, I have no idea.'
Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
'I'm in shock': Kerry supporters roar their footballers on to All-Ireland football final glory
Kerry fans declared themselves 'shocked, and speechless' as they streamed out of Croke Park following their side's victory over Donegal in the All-Ireland football final, having roared their team to victory over 70 minutes. 'I did all my screaming in there, I think I'm in shock, I can barely take it in, it's shocked faces you're looking at' said Ian Mac Giolla Chuda from Beaufort. He added: "Honestly, it was unreal." It was easy to tell the fans sporting the green and gold jerseys apart as they made their way home afterwards — but the ones will the glum faces admitted they were happy for Kerry with many saying, 'the best team won'. Kerry and Donegal played the All-Ireland final in their alternate kits, but many supporters in Croke Park wore the green and gold of both counties —including Kerry supporter Éadaoin McGinley, from Tralee, left, and Donegal supporter Shannon Friel from Castlefin. Picture: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile Disappointed Donegal fans were the first to leave — many spilling out to Jones's Rd before the game even finished while the Kerry fans could be heard all over Dublin from the stadium during the celebrations. After the final whistle many paid also tribute to the Donegal team saying, 'we weren't sure how this would go'. A supporter urging Kerry on during the GAA Football All-Ireland final against Donegal at Croke Park in Dublin. Picture: Seb Daly/Sportsfile Sadbh O'Shea from Caherciveen told the Irish Examiner: 'I feel amazing, they played absolutely amazing. 'People were going mad inside, the atmosphere inside was unbelievable. I think people are just wrecked now after all the screaming'. Conor Linehan, Shane O'Connor, and Conor Murphy heading to Croke Park ahead of the 2025 GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. Picture: Dan Clohessy/Inpho Sadbh added that she was going to 'make a Kerry man" out of her Carlow boyfriend Fiach O'Byrne who was joining her in the celebrations. Wearing a Kerry jersey, Fiach said: 'Carlow doesn't get to the final too often so the Carlow people will let me away with it for the day'. Odhran O'Shea, Sadbh's younger brother, was envious of his parents who he said were still inside because they had 'the good tickets' at the Hogan stand. 'They're still in there celebrating they didn't give their tickets to the children' he joked. Conall Shanahan from Mayo was backing Kerry against Donegal in the 2025 GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. Picture: Morgan Treacy/Inpho "It was fantastic in there, we won in 2023, so we just came up to bring the trophy back." Darragh O'Connor from Beaufort said Kerry 'fought so hard and never let up, they totally deserved that, we are going to hit the town now'. His friend Jack O'Connor 'It was tough. We were in the heart of Donegal, we had to stand up for themselves. Supporters on Hill 16 in Croke Park before the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship final between Kerry and Donegal. Picture: Ray McManus/Sportsfile 'It was hard; some lads had to go home because it was too much for them. "But it was electrifying when Mike Breen had the ball. He is a tantalising player. The whole place stopped to watch him when he had the ball'. Michael O'Donohue, and his friends Adam O'Donoghue, Cian O'Connor, Ned O'Connor, and Katie Walshe travelled up from Castleisland for the game. Kerry supporter Mary Ferris from Killorglin, Co Kerry, before the All-Ireland Football final against Donegal. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile Katie Walshe said 'We were all bawling, I was screaming and roaring at the same time. "It was the most amazing thing ever, the cheering and going on was unbelievable. I will never forget it'. Dejected Donegal supporters watched as Kerry surged to a victory by a margin of 1-26 to 0-19 in the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship final at Croke Park. Picture: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile Meanwhile Donegal supporters Mary Kate McCormack, Oscar Reid, Andrea Reid, Mia Fallon, Ollie Reid, Sharon Cahill, and Debbie McNulty had travelled from Ballybofey for the day. Debbie said: 'We are very disappointed, but we are proud of Donegal. We missed a lot and Kerry stepped up every time we tried to go at them. We are going home tonight. An Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD arriving for the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship final between Kerry and Donegal at Croke Park in Dublin. Picture: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile 'We will get them yet; we'll wait in the long grass' she laughed. Ollie Reid said: 'We are very disappointed, but the best team won. We'll be back.'
Irish Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Inside GAA star Joe O'Connor's life: Day job and rugby career
Joe O'Connor has become the talk of the town after a sensational 2025 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship season with Kerry, dominating the midfield and emerging as the key player for the Kingdom on their journey to the final. The Tralee native's leadership on the field has seen him rise quietly but swiftly to prominence, and we're delving into his ascent to stardom and life beyond the GAA pitch. Kerry Career Joe was named as captain of the Kerry senior football team ahead of the 2022 season despite having not started a game for the team His appointment came after Austin Stacks won the Kerry Senior Football Championship. Club Chairman Shane Lynch said; "There is no greater privilege for a club than to nominate one of its own to be the Kerry Captain. This is a very special moment for all in Austin Stacks and of course most especially for Joe, his parents Jim and Helen and family. "Joe has developed into a natural leader on the pitch in the way he drives the team forward at critical moments and everyone on the Rock can't wait to see Joe lead out the men in green and gold and drive the Kingdom on to glory this season. "On behalf of all in the club, I would like to wish him, Dylan, Greg and Jack and all involved with the Kerry Senior Team the very best for the season ahead." Kerry's Joe O'Connor during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship (Image: ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo) During his captaincy Kerry were crowned All-Ireland Senior Football Championship winners, beating Galway in a tough final in Croke Park. Joe collected the famous Sam Maguire alongside Seánie O'Shea in the Hogan Stand. "It was a great honour," he told told the Irish Independent. "We had a great year last year [with Austin Stacks] and when I got nominated it was a proud moment for me and the family. Just to go up the steps with Seánie [O'Shea] then was just the icing on the cake. "Delighted to get over the line with the boys in Kerry. It's unreal to win the All Ireland, a great experience for me and all the team." Injury After captaining Kerry to All-Ireland success in 2022, Joe was dealt a big blow when he suffered a tear to his ACL when playing for his club, ruling him out of competitive action for a number of months. Day Job Away From Football Joe studied in the University of Limerick and he works as Munster Area Development Manager with MFC Sports. He is also a brand ambassador with Audi in Kerry. Kerry's Joe O'Connor celebrates scoring a point (Image: ©INPHO/James Crombie) Announcing the news, they said: "Here at Audi Approved Kerry we are delighted to welcome Kerry and Austin Stacks footballer, Joe O'Connor as our Brand Ambassador for 2025. "Joe collected his A5 from our Sales Manager, Emmet O'Grady at our dealership located in Tralee. "From all the team at Audi Approved Kerry we would like to wish Joe and all his team the best of luck for the upcoming Munster and All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Campaign." Rugby Career Before becoming an intercounty footballer with Kerry Joe played underage rugby with Munster. He was part of a successful Munster Under-18s team back in 2016 before focusing on GAA.
