1997 Kerry Senior Football Championship

1997 Kerry Senior Football Championship

Dates	24 July - 2 November 1997
Teams	16
Sponsor	Allied Irish Bank
Champions	East Kerry (5th title) John Crowley (captain)
Runners-up	Laune Rangers Tommy Byrne (captain)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	20
Goals scored	27 (1.35 per match)
Points scored	420 (21 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Paud O'Donoghue (1-32)
← 1996 (Previous) (Next) 1998 →

The 1997 Kerry Senior Football Championship was the 97th staging of the Kerry Senior Football Championship since its establishment by the Kerry County Board in 1889. ^[1] The draw for the opening round fixtures took place on 27 February 1997. The championship ran from 24 July to 2 November 1997.

Laune Rangers entered the championship as the defending champions. ^{[2] [3]}

The final was played on 2 November 1997 at Austin Stack Park in Tralee, between East Kerry and Laune Rangers, in what was their first ever meeting in the final. East Kerry won the match by 1-11 to 0-08 to claim their fifth championship title overall and a first title in 27 years. ^{[4] [5]}

East Kerry's Paud O'Donoghue was the championship's top scorer with 1-32.

Results

Round 1

St. Kieran's v John Mitchels

24 July 1997Round 1	St. Kieran's	0-12 - 0-10	John Mitchels	Austin Stack Park
	S McElligott 0-3, D Dennehy 0-2, R O'Rahilly 0-2, G O'Keeffe 0-2, J McGlynn 0-1, P Dennehy 0-1, S O'Connor 0-1.		A Moynihan 0-3, F O'Brien 0-3, G Dennehy 0-2, N Healy 0-1, J Fitzgerald 0-1.

Kerins O'Rahilly's v South Kerry

25 July 1997Round 1	Kerins O'Rahilly's	1-08 - 0-11	South Kerry	Austin Stack Park
	M Fitzgerald 1-1, S Wallace 0-2, V Murphy 0-2, T McCarthy 0-1, P O'Connor 0-1, G O'Brien 0-1.		J O'Shea 0-4, M Fitzgerald 0-3, B O'Connor 0-1, K Dwyer 0-1, J Quirke 0-1, D Lynch 0-1.

Austin Stacks v Feale Rangers

25 July 1997Round 1	Austin Stacks	0-16 - 0-06	Feale Rangers	Austin Stack Park
	D Aherne 0-7, E Moynihan 0-5, D McEvoy 0-2, P Laide 0-1, K Kelleher 0-1.		E Fitzmaurice 0-3, E Galvin 0-1, A O'Brien 0-1, M Kelleher 0-1.

East Kerry v St. Brendan's

26 July 1997Round 1	East Kerry	1-11 - 2-08	St. Brendan's	FitzGerald Stadium
	J Murphy 1-2, P O'Donoghue 0-4, J Crowley 0-2, S Óg O'Leary 0-1, M O'Donoghue 0-1, D Daly 0-1.		T O'Connell 0-5, P Healy 1-0, B Clifford 1-0, E Ferris 0-1, L Harty 0-1, J Murphy 0-1.

Shannon Rangers v Killarney Legion

26 July 1997Round 1	Shannon Rangers	1-10 - 0-13	Killarney Legion	FitzGerald Stadium
	J Kennedy 1-5, M O'Connor 0-2, E Hennessy 0-1, S McGinley 0-1, T Foley 0-1.		C O'Grady 0-6, J McGillycuddy 0-2, D Culloty 0-2, D O'Donoghue 0-1, B McCullagh 0-1, S Culloty 0-1.

Kenmare v Laune Rangers

27 July 1997Round 1	Kenmare	1-11 - 2-15	Laune Rangers	Kenmare Grounds
	K Moriarty 0-5, C McSwiney 1-1, B O'Neill 0-4, T Harrington 0-1.		P O'Sullivan 0-7, B O'Shea 1-1, T Byrne 1-0, G Murphy 0-3, P Griffin 0-2, B Gannon 0-1, L Hassett 0-1.

Dr. Crokes v Mid Kerry

27 July 1997Round 1	Dr. Crokes	1-07 - 2-09	Mid Kerry	FitzGerald Stadium
	P O'Brien 1-0, R Neher 0-3, D Cooper 0-2, P O'Shea 0-2.		G McGrath 2-0, I Twiss 0-6, Martin Burke 0-2, Mike Burke 0-1.

Castleisland Desmonds v West Kerry

27 July 1997Round 1	Castleisland Desmonds	0-08 - 1-11	West Kerry	Castleisland Grounds
	K Lynch 0-4, J Brennan 0-3, S Curtin 0-1.		D Ó Cinnéide 0-6, A Mac Gearailt 1-2, C Geaney 0-1, S Geaney 0-1, M Moynihan 0-1.

East Kerry v St. Brendan's

1 August 1997Round 1 replay	East Kerry	0-15 - 0-09	St. Brendan's	Austin Stack Park
	Donoghue 0-10, D Daly 0-1, S Óg O'Leary 0-1, J Crowley 0-1, S Moynihan 0-1, T O'Sullivan 0-1.		T O'Connell 0-5, L Harty 0-1, A Murphy 0-1, E Ferris 0-1, B Clifford 0-1.

Shannon Rangers v Killarney Legion

1 August 1997Round 1 replay	Shannon Rangers	1-14 - 0-07	Killarney Legion	Stack Park
	T Foley 1-2, J Kennedy 0-5, L Weir 0-4, O Horgan 0-1, D O'Connor 0-1, K Boyle 0-1.		C O'Grady 0-3, S Culloty 0-2, D Culloty 0-1, J Cronin 0-1.

South Kerry v Kerins O'Rahilly's

1 August 1997Round 1 replay	South Kerry	0-08 - 1-09	Kerins O'Rahilly's	Con Keating Park
	M Fitzgerald 0-4, K O'Dwyer 0-2, D Dwyer 0-1, J O'Shea 0-1.		O Molloy 1-1, M Fitzgerald 0-3, V Murphy 0-3, M O'Shea 0-1, C Sheehy 0-1.

Quarter-finals

Laune Rangers v St. Kieran's

30 August 1997Quarter-final	Laune Rangers	1-17 - 2-12	St. Kieran's	FitzGerald Stadium
	P O'Sullivan 0-7, MF Russell 1-1, T Fleming 0-3, B O'Shea 0-2, L Hassett 0-2, B Gannon 0-1, J Sheehan 0-1,		L Brosnan 1-2, S McElligott 0-4, R O'Rahilly 0-4, P Dennehy 1-0, G O'Keeffe 0-2.

West Kerry v Mid Kerry

31 August 1997Quarter-final	West Kerry	1-08 - 0-11	Mid Kerry	FitzGerald Stadium
	S Geaney 1-2, D Ó Cinnéide 0-3, A Mac Gearailt 0-1, JJ Corduff 0-1, B O'Driscoll 0-1.		I Twiss 0-6, K Foley 0-2, G McGrath 0-2, G O'Connor 0-1.

East Kerry v Shannon Rangers

31 August 1997Quarter-final	East Kerry	0-13 - 1-03	Shannon Rangers	Austin Stack Park
	P O'Donoghue 0-4, MD Cahill 0-3, J Murphy 0-2, J Crowley 0-2, S Moynihan 0-1, D Daly 0-1.		J O'Connell 1-1, T Foley 0-1, K Boyle 0-1.

Austin Stacks v Kerisn O'Rahilly's

7 September 1997Quarter-final	Austin Stacks	0-15 - 2-05	Kerisn O'Rahilly's	Austin Stack Park
	D McEvoy 0-4, D Aherne 0-3, E Moynihan 0-3, P Laide 0-2, C Kennedy 0-2, W Kirby 0-1.		V Murphy 1-2, S Wallace 1-1, G O'Brien 0-2.

West Kerry v Mid Kerry

7 September 1997Quarter-final replay	West Kerry	2-11 - 0-08	Mid Kerry	FitzGerald Stadium
	D Ó Cinnéide 1-2, R Mac Gearailt 1-0, B O'Driscoll 0-3, JJ Corduff 0-3, A Mac Gearailt 0-2, F Ashe 0-1.		I Twiss 0-2, G McGrath 0-2, Martin Burke 0-1, Mike Burke 0-1, C O'Shea 0-1, J Daly 0-1.

Semi-finals

Laune Rangers v West Kerry

5 October 1997Semi-final	Laune Rangers	0-17 - 2-09	West Kerry	FitzGerald Stadium
	P O'Sullivan 0-6, G Murphy 0-4, T Fleming 0-3, S O'Sullivan 0-1, P Prendeville 0-1, P Griffin 0-1, M O'Connor 0-1.		S Geaney 2-0, D Ó Cinnéide 0-4, A Mac Gearailt 0-1, JJ Corduff 0-1, D Ó Sé 0-1, G O'Driscoll 0-1, R Mac Gearailt 0-1.

East Kerry v Austin Stacks

5 October 1997Semi-final	East Kerry	0-12 - 0-11	Austin Stacks	FitzGerald Stadium
	MD Cahill 0-4, P O'Donoghue 0-4, J O'Sullivan 0-1, C O'Connor 0-1, M O'Donoghue 0-1, S Moynihan 0-1,.		E Moynihan 0-7, D Aherne 0-2, P Laide 0-1, C Kennedy 0-1.

Final

East Kerry v Laune Rangers

12 October 1997Final	East Kerry	0-12 - 1-09	Laune Rangers	Austin Stack Park
	P O'Donoghue 0-6, D Daly 0-2, MD Cahill 0-1, C O'Connor 0-1, J Crowley 0-1, D Moynihan 0-1.		L Hassett 1-2, P O'Sullivan 0-3, T Fleming 0-2, M Hassett 0-1, MF Russell 0-1.

East Kerry v Laune Rangers

2 November 1997Final replay	East Kerry	1-11 - 0-08	Laune Rangers	Austin Stack Park
	P O'Donoghue 1-4, J Murphy 0-4, D Moynihan 0-1, MD Cahill 0-1, J Crowley 0-1.		P O'Sullivan 0-3, MF Russell 0-2, P Griffin 0-1, A Hassett 0-1, M O'Connor 0-1.

Championship statistics

Top scorers

Overall

Rank	Player	Club	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
1	Paud O'Donoghue	East Kerry	1-32	35	6	5.83
2	Pa O'Sullivan	Laune Rangers	0-26	26	5	5.20
3	Dara Ó Cinnéide	West Kerry	1-15	18	4	4.50
4	Eoin Moynihan	Austin Stacks	0-15	15	3	5.00
5	Ian Twiss	Mid Kerry	0-14	14	3	4.66
6	John Kennedy	Shannon Rangers	1-10	13	3	4.33
7	Seán Geaney	West Kerry	3-03	12	4	3.00
	Darren Aherne	Austin Stacks	0-12	12	3	4.00
9	Jerry Murphy	East Kerry	1-08	11	6	1.83
10	Gary McGrath	Mid Kerry	2-04	10	3	3.33
	Tom O'Connell	Mid Kerry	0-10	10	2	5.00

In a single game

Rank	Player	Club	Tally	Total	Opposition
1	Paud O'Donoghue	East Kerry	0-10	10	St. Brendan's
2	John Kennedy	Shannon Rangers	1-05	8	Killarney Legion
3	Paud O'Donoghue	East Kerry	1-04	7	Laune Rangers
	Eoin Moynihan	Austin Stacks	0-07	7	East Kerry
	Darren Aherne	Austin Stacks	0-07	7	Feale Rangers
	Pa O'Sullivan	Laune Rangers	0-07	7	Kenmare
	Pa O'Sullivan	Laune Rangers	0-07	7	St. Kieran's
8	Gary McGrath	Mid Kerry	2-00	6	Dr. Crokes
	Seán Geaney	West Kerry	2-00	6	Laune Rangers
	Cathal O'Grady	Killarney Legion	0-06	6	Shannon Rangers
	Ian Twiss	Mid Kerry	0-06	6	Dr. Crokes
	Dara Ó Cinnéide	West Kerry	0-06	6	Castleisland Desmonds
	Ian Twiss	Mid Kerry	0-06	6	West Kerry
	Pa O'Sullivan	Laune Rangers	0-06	6	West Kerry
	Paud O'Donoghue	East Kerry	0-06	6	Laune Rangers

Miscellaneous

• East Kerry win the title for the first time in 27 years.
• The final goes to a replay for the first time since 1994.

References

1. "The beginning". Laune Rangers GAA website. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
2. "1996". Laune Rangers GAA website. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
3. "Laune Rangers '96 victory undoubtedly fed into Kerry ending All-Ireland famine in '97". The Kerryman. 17 March 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
4. "1997". Laune Rangers GAA website. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
5. "Four finals to remember". The Kerryman. 19 August 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2022.