Kerry county hurling team

The Kerry county hurling team represents Kerry in hurling and is governed by Kerry GAA, the County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the Joe McDonagh Cup and the National Hurling League.

Kerry's home ground is Austin Stack Park, Tralee. The team's manager is Ciarán Carey.

The team last won the Munster Senior Championship in 1891, the All-Ireland Senior Championship in 1891 and has never won the National League.

History

For many years the senior team played in the Junior and Intermediate Championships and had some success. They won All-Ireland titles at Junior level in 1961 and 1972, and won a Munster Championship at junior level in 1956. At Intermediate level they won Munster titles in 1970 and 1973.

Kerry have played in just one Munster Minor Hurling Championship Final, in 1938, when they lost to a Cork team that included the great Christy Ring. They have, however, won and played in a number of All-Ireland B Finals.

In 2003, team made it to the fourth round of the qualifiers only to go down to Limerick 1–14 to 0–24 in Austin Stack Park in Tralee. Along the way they beat Westmeath, Carlow and beaten Ulster finalists Derry. The wins over Westmeath and Carlow represented the first time a Kerry team strung two consecutive Championship victories together. It also marked the first occasion that the Kerry hurling team played more championship games then the Kerry football team.

Kerry have never won the Munster Under-21 Hurling Championship, their most notable achievement in the championship came in 2004 when they ran Limerick to three points at Austin Stack Park. They have, however, won and played in a number of All-Ireland U21 B Championship Finals.

The advent of the Christy Ring Cup has seen Kerry become very competitive. They first made the semi-finals in 2009 where they lost out to Carlow after a replay. They went a step more in 2010 making the final but losing out to Westmeath. In 2011 they again made the final, but this time won the title with voctory over Wicklow. From 2013 to 2015 they made the final each year, losing to Down in 2013 and Kildare in 2014 before finally getting over the line thanks to victory over Derry.

Kerry won the Division 2A final of the 2015 National Hurling League and advanced to the relegation/promotion match with favorites Antrim, a late point by substitute John Egan saw Kerry advance to Division 1B.[1]

In 2016, Kerry played in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship round robin along with Carlow, Westmeath and Offaly.

Current squad

Team as per Kerry vs Antrim in the NHL 1B relegation play-off, 11 April 2015

No. Player Position Club 1 Stephen Murphy Goalkeeper Causeway 2 Dougie Fitzell Right Corner Back Kilmoyley 3 Paud Costello Full Back Ballyduff 4 Bryan Murphy Left Corner Back Causeway 5 Seán Weir Right Half Back Crotta O'Neill's 6 Darren Dinneen Centre Back St. Brendan's Ardfert 7 Daniel Collins Left Half Back Kilmoyley 8 John Griffin (c) Midfield Lixnaw 9 Patrick Kelly Midfield Clarecastle 10 Michael O'Leary Right Half Forward Abbeydorney 11 Shane Nolan Centre Forward Crotta O'Neill's 12 Colm Harty Left Half Forward Causeway 13 Mikey Boyle Right Corner Forward Ballyduff 14 Pádraig Boyle Full Forward Ballyduff 15 Keith Carmody Left Corner Forward Causeway

No. Player Position Club 16 James Logue Substitute Ballingarry 17 Tommy Casey Substitute Causeway 18 John Egan Substitute St. Brendan's Ardfert 19 James Flaherty Substitute Lixnaw 20 Rory Horgan Substitute St. Brendan's Ardfert 21 Philip Lucid Substitute Ballyheigue 22 Giles O'Grady Substitute Ballyduff 23 Brendan O'Leary Substitute Abbeydorney 24 Adrian Royle Substitute Kilmoyley 25 Darragh Shanahan Substitute Lixnaw 26 David Butler Substitute Knockavilla-Donaskeigh

Current management team

• Manager: Ciarán Carey

Players

Notable players

• Michael ‘Boxer’ Slattery
• Shane Brick
• Brendan O'Sullivan
• John Mike Dooley
• John Healy
• John Mahony
• Tom Collins
• Maurice Leahy
• Christy Walsh

Honours

All-Ireland Titles (27)

• All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championships (1):
  • 1891
• All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championships (3):
  • 1976, 1983, 1986
• Christy Ring Cups (Intermediate Championship) (2):
  • 2011, 2015[2][3]
• All Ireland Under 21 B Championships (9):
  • 2001, 2002, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2018[4]
• All Ireland Minor B Hurling Championships(10):
  • 1997, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2013,[5] 2014, 2015, 2016
• All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championships (2):
  • 1961, 1972

Provincial Titles (6)

• Munster Senior Hurling Championships (1):
  • 1891
• Munster Junior Hurling Championships (1):
  • 1956
• Munster Intermediate Hurling Championships (2):
  • 1970, 1973
• Leinster Minor B Hurling Championships (2):
  • 1987, 1988

League Titles (11)

• National Hurling Leagues Division 2 (7):
  • 1956-57, 1961-62, 1966-67, 1967-68, 1978-79, 1998, 2001
• National Hurling Leagues Division 2A (2):
  • 2014, 2015[6]
• National Hurling Leagues Division 3 (1):
  • 1989-90
• National Hurling Leagues Division 3A (1):
  • 2010

References

1. "Latest Hurling News, Results & Fixtures". RTÉ Sport.
2. Kingdom secure Christy Ring crown RTÉ Sport
3. Derry hurlers beaten by Kerry in Christy Ring Cup final BBC Sport
4. "Boyle's late goal swings it Kerry's way". Irish Examiner. 16 September 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
5. "All-Ireland MHC 'B' final: Kingdom rule the Royals". Hogan Stand. 7 September 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
6. Kerry Hurlers Retain Division 2A Hurling League Title In Style Tralee Today