North Kerry Senior Football Championship

The Bernard O'Callaghan Memorial North Kerry Senior Football Championship
Irish	Craobh Sinsear Peile Chiarraí Thuaidh
Code	Gaelic football
Founded	1925
Region	North Kerry (GAA)
Trophy	Éamonn O'Donoghue Memorial Cup
No. of teams	14
Title holders	Ballydonoghue (10th title)
First winner	Moyvane
Most titles	Moyvane (18 titles)
Sponsors	McMunn's Bar and Restaurant, Ballybunion
Official website	www.northkerryfootball.com

The North Kerry Senior Football Championship is a Gaelic football competition for GAA clubs affiliated to the North Kerry Football Board, a division of Kerry GAA. The official name of the competition became The Bernard O'Callaghan Memorial North Kerry Senior Football Championship in 2000, in honour of the late Bernie O'Callaghan (Beale) who was Chairman of the North Kerry GAA Board for 25 years (1974 to 1998) and did a huge amount of work for North Kerry football.^[1]

The Championship runs from October to December each year but has on occasion continued into the New Year due to replays and postponements. It is currently sponsored by McMunn's Bar and Restaurant, Ballybunion.^[2] The current champions are Ballydonoughue, who defeated St. Senan's in the 2023 final, winning the competition for the 10th time in the club’s history.^[3]

History

The first North Kerry Championship took place in 1925 and was won by Newtownsandes(Moyvane), who defeated Faha. Moyvane have been the most successful team in the Championship with 18 titles. ^[4] In 1983, shortly after the death of Asdee native Éamonn O'Donoghue (who won 5 Championships with Ballylongford), Castleisland Desmonds and Ballylongford jointly presented a Cup in his honour to the North Kerry Football Board to be presented to the Championship winners each year.^[5] As of 2023 fourteen different clubs have won the Championship.

Format

The Championship is played on a straight knock-out basis. First round games give home advantage to first drawn out in ties following an open draw, with all further round matches being played at neutral venues.

Current format

First round: 12 teams contest this round. The 6 winning teams advance directly to the quarter-final stage. The 6 losing teams are eliminated from the championship.

Quarter-finals: The six first round winners and the two teams given a bye contest this round. The four winners from these four games advance to the semi-finals.

Semi-finals: The four quarter-final winners contest this round. The two winners from these two games advance to the final.

Final: The two semi-final winners contest the final. The winning team are declared champions.

Teams

2024 Championship

Fourteen clubs compete in the 2024 North Kerry Senior Football Championship: five teams from Feale Rangers, three teams from St Kieran's and six teams from Shannon Rangers.^[6]

Team	Home Ground	Divisional Side	Founded
Asdee	Jack Walsh Park, Tullahennel[7]	Shannon Rangers	1986[8]
Ballydonoghue	Denis Dowling Park, Coolard[9]	Shannon Rangers	1930s[10]
Ballyduff	Ballyduff Sportsfield, Ballyduff[11]	Shannon Rangers	1911[12]
Ballylongford	O'Rahilly Park, Ballylongford[13]	Shannon Rangers
Beale	Bob Stack Park, Ballybunion[14]	Shannon Rangers	1972[15]
Brosna	Páirc na Féile, Brosna[16]	St. Kieran's	1970s[16]
Castleisland Desmonds	Moanmore, Castleisland[17]	St. Kieran's	1885[18]
Duagh	Duagh GAA Field, Duagh	Feale Rangers	1891[19]
Finuge	James O’Sullivan Park, Finuge[20]	Feale Rangers	1961[21]
Knocknagoshel	Willie Walsh Park, Knocknagoshel[22]	St. Kieran's	1932[23]
Listowel Emmets	Frank Sheehy Park, Listowel[24]	Feale Rangers	1885[24]
Moyvane	Con Brosnan Park, Moyvane[25]	Feale Rangers	1900[26]
St Senan's	Jackie Finnerty Park, Mountcoal[27]	Feale Rangers	1934[28]
Tarbert	Shannon Park, Tarbert[29]	Shannon Rangers	1904[30]

Roll of honour

By club

#	Team	Titles	Runners-Up	Winning years	Losing years
1	Moyvane	18	15	1925, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1958, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1983, 1995, 1999, 2003	1926, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1960, 1970, 1971, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1996
2	Listowel Emmets	16	12	1926, 1931, 1933, 1957, 1965, 1972, 1976, 1991, 1997, 1998, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2022	1927, 1928, 1946, 1962, 1975, 1985, 1992, 1995, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2014
3	Ballylongford	13	14	1940, 1941, 1943, 1947, 1953, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1986, 1993, 2000	1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1950, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1973, 1977, 1982, 1983
4	Ballydonoghue	10	7	1945, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1959, 1992, 2016, 2017, 2023	1944, 1951, 1953, 1961, 1994, 2018, 2020
5	Beale	8	4	1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1989, 2014	1988, 1997, 2011, 2012
6	Tarbert	7	11	1942, 1948, 1969, 1973, 1985, 1990, 2010	1930, 1931, 1932, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1959, 1964, 1974, 1976, 1999
7	Castleisland Desmonds	6	6	1980, 1988, 2002, 2007, 2020, 2021	1986, 1991, 2001, 2003, 2013, 2022
	Duagh	6	5	1951, 1955, 1956, 1960, 1962, 2012	1947, 1949, 1952, 2002, 2008
9	Finuge	5	6	1967, 1987, 1996, 2001, 2011	1945, 1972, 1998, 2004, 2007, 2009
10	Ballyduff	3	6	1994, 2005, 2006	1948, 1963, 1968, 1993, 2017, 2021
11	St. Senan's	2	4	2018, 2019	1980, 2000, 2016, 2023
12	Clounmacon	1	2	1954	1955, 1957
	Craughdarrig	1	0	1934	—
	An tArm	1	0	1944	—
15	Brosna	0	2	—	2015, 2019
	Faha	0	1	—	1925

List of finals

Year	Winners		Runners-up
	Club	Score	Club	Score
2024
2023 [3]	Ballydonoghue	2-06	St. Senan's	1-06
2022 [31]	Listowel Emmets	0-13	Castleisland Desmonds	0-07
2021 [32][33]	Castleisland Desmonds	(1-11) 3-14 (R)	Ballyduff	(1-11) 1-05 (R)
2020 [34]	Castleisland Desmonds	1-14	Ballydonoghue	1-07
2019 [35]	St. Senan's	2-06	Brosna	0-06
2018 [36]	St. Senan's	1-12	Ballydonoghue	1-06
2017 [37]	Ballydonoghue	1-13	Ballyduff	1-04
2016 [38]	Ballydonoghue	5-09	St. Senan's	0-08
2015 [39][40]	Listowel Emmets	(0-09) 0-09 (R)	Brosna	(1-06) 0-06 (R)
2014 [41]	Beale	0-11	Listowel Emmets	0-10
2013 [42]	Listowel Emmets	1-08	Castleisland Desmonds	0-10
2012 [43][44]	Duagh	(0-07) 0-09 (R)	Beale	(1-04) 0-06 (R)
2011 [45]	Finuge	1-09	Beale	0-11
2010 [46][47]	Tarbert	(2-04) 2-12 (R)	Listowel Emmets	(1-07) 1-14 (R)
2009[48]	Listowel Emmets	0-12	Finuge	0-11
2008[49]	Listowel Emmets	0-10	Duagh	0-07
2007[50]	Castleisland Desmonds	1-13	Finuge	1-06
2006[51]	Ballyduff	1-12	Listowel Emmets	0-14
2005[52]	Ballyduff	2-06	Listowel Emmets	0-07
2004[53]	Listowel Emmets	0-12	Finuge	0-05
2003[54]	Moyvane	0-10	Castleisland Desmonds	0-08
2002[55]	Castleisland Desmonds	0-10	Duagh	0-06
2001	Finuge	1-09	Castleisland Desmonds	1-07
2000[56]	Ballylongford	4-09	St. Senan's	1-09
1999[57]	Moyvane	0-10	Tarbert	0-06
1998	Listowel Emmets	3-12	Finuge	2-08
1997	Listowel Emmets	1-09	Beale	0-09
1996	Finuge	1-07	Moyvane	0-04
1995	Moyvane	1-11	Listowel Emmets	0-06
1994	Ballyduff	0-05	Ballydonoghue	1-01
1993	Ballylongford	1-08	Ballyduff	1-04
1992	Ballydonoghue	0-08	Listowel Emmets	0-03
1991	Listowel Emmets	0-09	Castleisland Desmonds	0-04
1990	Tarbert	3-04	Moyvane	1-07
1989	Beale	(2-03) 0-06 (R)	Moyvane	(1-06) 0-05 (R)
1988	Castleisland Desmonds	(1-07) 1-05 (R)	Beale	(1-07) 0-05 (R)
1987	Finuge	1-07	Moyvane	1-06
1986	Ballylongford	0-09	Castleisland Desmonds	2-02
1985	Tarbert	1-04	Listowel Emmets	0-04
1984	Beale	2-10	Moyvane	2-08
1983	Moyvane	0-08	Ballylongford	0-04
1982	Beale	0-09	Ballylongford	1-05
1981	Beale	2-11	Moyvane	2-10
1980	Castleisland Desmonds	3-10	St. Senan's	1-04
1979	Beale	4-08	Moyvane	2-03
1978	Beale	1-09	Moyvane	0-07
1977	Beale	1-11	Ballylongford	0-07
1976	Listowel Emmets	2-09	Tarbert	0-09
1975	Ballylongford	1-08	Listowel Emmets	1-05
1974	Ballylongford	2-05	Tarbert	1-07
1973	Tarbert	3-07	Ballylongford	2-03
1972	Listowel Emmets	1-07	Finuge	1-05
1971	Ballylongford	0-13	Moyvane	2-01
1970	Ballylongford	3-16	Moyvane	3-05
1969	Tarbert	1-07	Ballylongford	0-08
1968	Ballylongford	2-12	Ballyduff	0-03
1967	Finuge	1-08	Ballylongford	0-08
1966	Moyvane	3-06	Ballylongford	1-05
1965	Listowel Emmets	0-12	Ballylongford	1-08
1964	Moyvane	1-10	Tarbert	0-05
1963	Moyvane		Ballyduff
1962	Duagh	0-07	Listowel Emmets	1-00
1961	Moyvane		Ballydonoghue
1960	Duagh	4-07	Moyvane	1-04
1959	Ballydonoghue	3-06	Tarbert	1-02
1958	Moyvane	2-03	Tarbert	0-06
1957	Listowel Emmets	2-03	Clounmacon	0-06
1956	Duagh^1	No final played
1955	Duagh		Clounmacon
1954	Clounmacon		Tarbert
1953	Ballylongford	2-09	Ballydonoghue	0-02
1952	Ballydonoghue^2	2-01	Duagh	0-07
1951	Duagh	3-01	Ballydonoghue	0-01
1950	Ballydonoghue	3-04	Ballylongford	2-05
1949	Ballydonoghue	2-05	Duagh	0-03
1948	Tarbert	4-02	Ballyduff	1-04
1947	Ballylongford	2-00	Duagh	1-02
1946	Ballydonoghue	0-09	Listowel Emmets	1-05
1945	Ballydonoghue	1-08	Finuge	0-02
1944	An tArm (Fort Shannon)	1-06	Ballydonoghue	1-01
1943	Ballylongford^3	Championship unfinished
1942	Tarbert	5-03	Moyvane	1-03
1941	Ballylongford	2-05	Moyvane	0-05
1940	Ballylongford	0-03	Moyvane	0-02
1939	Moyvane	2-05	Ballylongford	0-04
1938	Moyvane	3-05	Tarbert	0-08
1937	Moyvane		Ballylongford
1936	Moyvane	3-04	Ballylongford	1-03
1935	No Final played
1934	Craughdarrig		Ballylongford
1933	Listowel Emmets	2-08	Ballylongford	1-05
1932	Moyvane (Newtownsandes)	2-08	Tarbert	0-03
1931	Listowel Emmets	2-04	Tarbert	1-03
1930	Moyvane (Newtownsandes)	5-04	Tarbert	3-03
1929	No Championship held
1928	Moyvane (Newtownsandes)^4	2-03	Listowel Emmets	0-01
1927	Moyvane (Newtownsandes)	1-08	Listowel Emmets	1-01
1926	Listowel Emmets	2-05	Moyvane (Newtownsandes)	0-03
1925	Moyvane (Newtownsandes)	2-05	Faha	1-02

Notes^[58]

¹ Duagh awarded title as the only team to reach the final. The second semi-final was abandoned and never replayed.
² Ballydonoghue awarded title without replay being played.
³ Championship unfinished, Ballylongford awarded title.^[59]
4 Match was semi-final but the last match to be played in Championship so Moyvane were awarded title.^[60]

See also

• Kerry Senior Football Championship
• Divisional Championships:
  • East Kerry Senior Football Championship
  • Mid Kerry Senior Football Championship
  • West Kerry Senior Football Championship

References

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