3 days ago
Even in rival Youghal they'll belt out the Killeagh song if Cork topple Tipp today
Kingfishr's surprise hit of the summer, Killeagh, will be sung 'everywhere' around Cork if the Rebels win the All-Ireland hurling final today – though one club mainstay has admitted she can't resist 'rubbing it in' over Killeagh's nearest rivals.
The east Cork village and hurling club has been immortalised in Kingfishr's ubiquitous folk track, which has spent the last 18 weeks in the Irish top 10 charts and was used in RTÉ's ads for today's decider against Tipperary.
Written for Kingfishr bass player Eoin Fitzgibbon's home parish and former team, the song features references to local places including Killeagh's GAA grounds, Páirc Uí Chinnéide. Helen Kennedy, at the Pairc Uí Chinnéide, Killeagh GAA Grounds, Killeagh, Co. Cork. Helen Kennedy is the grandmother to Charlotte, 4 years old, Hugo, 6 years old, and Poppy, 2 years old. Pic: Seán Dwyer
Helen Kennedy, whose brother-in-law Robert 'Danno' Kennedy the pitch is named after, said 'everybody's talking about' the song in the village of around 900 people.
'I've seen it everywhere,' she told 'In fact, it's on the television nearly every night. I've seen videos of people singing it…' The veteran club member said locals don't talk about Kingfishr.
'Instead, we say young Fitzgibbons – Ger Fitzgibbons's son,' she explained. 'And his grandfather – I remember the night the cup came to Killeagh, he danced down the street to the bus. These were dedicated GAA people, even with so little.' Kingfishr. Pic: File
The volunteer continued that she 'just can't believe how popular' the song, which has more than 16 million plays on Spotify, has become.
She said: 'I think it's wonderful. And I think there's a lot of credit due to the other boys [in Kingfishr, who are from Limerick] who agreed to play it and it has taken off.'
Ms Kennedy agrees with a take she read online that the song is relatable to 'every village in Ireland'. Helen Kennedy, at the Pairc Uí Chinnéide, Killeagh GAA Grounds, Killeagh, Co. Cork. Pic: Seán Dwyer
'It is, because villages are different from towns and cities,' she explained. 'I suppose we just don't have other facilities like they do, and all the kids go to the hurling field.'
The song has even been readily belted out by supporters from other Cork clubs, possibly helped by Killeagh's underdog status – they have never won a senior championship and are 'not doing very well at the moment'.
But there remains a 'next-door-neighbour hurling rivalry' with nearby Youghal. 'I be saying to my little grandson, 'That's your granduncle [in the song] – Páirc Uí Chinnéide!' Ms Kennedy laughed.
'And of course his father's from Youghal and I know it's driving him simple. I just love rubbing it in. They love to have one up on me whenever they can.'
But even in Youghal, they are singing the catchy ballad, 'and if Cork wins it'll be sung everywhere', Ms Kennedy said.
Killeagh's current home, officially opened in 1996, was named in honour of the man who 'was so dedicated he put his own money in to keep the club going' and offered his own fields as sporting pitches, clearing cattle off before matches'.
'It was usually my late husband and my brother-in-law's land that the matches were played on,' Ms Kennedy recalled. 'I remember when I was a child – nobody told me I was going to be his sister-in-law then – going to a match above in Kennedy field.
'And the older fellas would tell you they'd have to take the cow sh*t off the field and then they'd play the match.'
The long-serving club member continued that the 'proud people' of Killeagh are 'very proud of our youth', who have 'served us well' and kept the GAA grounds busy generation after generation.
'Every kid went to the hurling field, and that's why Páirc Uí Chinnéide means so much to everybody,' she said.
'And now there's children coming in from other countries and going to the schools and learning to hurl and play with the children here, which I think is lovely to see.'
