| A true exponent of traditional values
 HENRY WYMBS
continues his series on GAA greats with a look back at the career of Kerry
legend Mick O’Connell.
The annals of the GAA hold a special place for players of pure genius. Kerry’s
Mick O’Connell who was one of the greatest players of all time,
certainly fits into this category.
Boyhood heroes are always bound to leave a lasting impression and more
often than not even shape our own future in some way. Such was the great
Mick O’Connell who was born in Valentia Island in Co. Kerry in 1937.
O’Connell said: “I was fortunate in that I had plenty of opportunity
to train in a big field near our house. My father bought a football for
us and we kicked the life out of it. Times were harsh in the ’40s
and ‘50s. My family were fishing folk and my father supplemented
his income by working the family’s small farm. In a way we were
self-sufficient and had a decent life. The island was idyllic and a lovely
place to grow up in.”
There was a great football tradition on the island and O’Connell
was greatly influenced by their team of the ’40s.
He said: “We had two teams on the island and played in the south
Kerry championship. I remember huge celebrations after our team were victorious
in 1945. I have great memories of those days and that is where I got my
first interest. I remember my father took the team to the mainland and
back in his boat. I suppose coming from the storied GAA stronghold of
south Kerry it was second nature to play the game.”
County football soon beckoned for Mick and he made his debut for the green
and gold in 1956. Kerry were in the process of rebuilding at this stage
and his big day came in 1959.
“I was playing pretty well at this time. I played with South Kerry
and won the senior championship, I was selected as Kerry captain in ’59
and played Galway in the All-Ireland final.
“That final in particular should have been the most memorable but
it wasn’t. I got this terrible sore throat and with hindsight should
not have played. To compound the agony, I got injured during the game
and twisted my knee. The team won and I came home that night on my own.”
Before leaving Mick O’Connell collected the Sam Maguire Cup before
a crowd of 80,000 people. He headed for Kerry by train and then rowed
his boat from the mainland to Valentia Island. Back in Dublin the rest
of the team and its supporters were celebrating with the cup long into
the night but to Mick O’Connell the job was done and his thoughts
were on work the following morning.
He said: “I was working with a cable company on the island and all
the other workers were at work on the Monday morning. Why should I because
of my sport get excused? Medals or trophies were never important to me.
I only collected the cup because it was my duty to do so.”
Mick O’Connell grew up in an era when Gaelic football was very different
from the modern game. Over the past 20 years the game of Gaelic football
has undergone profound changes. The game is now faster, more fluid and
the emphasis has switched from high-catching and long-kicking to speed,
fitness and hand-passing
The area of midfield once dominated by O’Connell has now degenerated
into a morass of pushing and spoiling tactics and not surprisingly he
is not an admirer of the modern game
He said: “The game has changed completely as the influence of Australian
football took over. It’s more like basketball than the old traditional
catch-and-kick and its a throw-ball game. The skill is gone out of it
for me. It’s win at any cost and I don’t like it. There were
no coaches or the like in my day. I trained on my own and made sure I
was physically fit for the game.”
The current All-Ireland qualifier system has also come in for some criticism
from the Kerry football legend.
“I accept it has given the public more games and of course it has
generated more revenue for the GAA. But the bite has gone from provincial
finals, apart from the tribal aspect.
“There will always be intense rivalry between neighbouring counties
like Munster finals between Kerry and Cork and folk will always will always
revert back to the parochial ‘will Kerry beat Cork? Or will Galway
beat Mayo?’ The will to win is good but not at the price of the
game.”
O’Connell was coy about making comparisons between current players
and the players of his era.
He said: “It’s very unfair to draw comparisons between the
players of today and the men who played the game 50 or 60 years ago. You
cannot compare Paddy Bawn Brosnan of the ’40s who spent his entire
working life on the sea with, let’s say, Peter Canavan of Tyrone
who is a teacher. Their widely-divergent life-styles must have had a major
influence on the way they acquitted themselves as footballers.”
O’Connell and his wife Rosaleen are the proud parents of three children,
two boys and a girl. One of his sons Diarmuid has Downs Syndrome and is
very special to his family. The mere mention of his name brings joy to
the great man.
He said: “Diamuid is very special. He is now 28-years-old and shares
a house on the island with some others. I can honestly say he is the greatest
gift I was ever given.
“He has brought untold joy into our lives and we love him dearly.
My wife is deeply involved with raising funds for the handicapped on the
island and I support her as much as I can.”
Mick O’Connell became Gaelic football’s first superstar, and
was not too unlike the George Best soccer equivalent of his day. Even
now some 40 years later his name is still spoken with reverence whenever
and wherever Gaelic football is discussed.
O’Connell was the classic Traditional catch-and-kick player and
during his time a brilliant exponent of the Kerry style of football. Being
an islander also gave O’Connell a special status in that he was
sometimes considered to be a modern day Cuchulainn.
To have seen Mick O’Connell in his heyday, with his ability to soar
into the air oblivious of danger and pluck the ball out of the sky was
a real privilege.
For the record, Mick O’Connell won every honour in the game. He
was selected on the Millennium team and played in nine All-Ireland football
finals winning four of them.
Fact file
Born January 4, 1937, played in nine All-Ireland senior football finals
for Kerry and was on the winning side on four occasions.
1959 (when captain); 1962; 1969; 1970.
Other achievements of O’Connell’s include:
Six National Football League medals:
1959; 1961; 1963; 1969; 1971; 1972.
Railway Cup medal in 1972 and an All-Star: 1972 award at midfield.
O’Connell was also named on the Gaelic Athletic Association’s
Gaelic football Team of the Millennium. |
