WHEN HAS KENMARE ever had a week like this? It all started last Friday, when America’s number one morning television programme, NBC’s Today Show, did a four-hour live broadcast from the South Kerry town. 

Mickey Ned O’Sullivan was talking to one jewellery producer who reported that his website had gone from an average of 700 views a week to a million in just four days.

On Sunday, the town chases another first-of-its-kind event. In the 138th year of its existence, their club, Kenmare Shamrocks, is eyeing a breakthrough county title when they go up against Dr Crokes.

That said, the Bishop Moynihan Cup has visited Kenmare before, and Mickey Ned has two county medals in his back pocket to prove it. 

Both were earned with the divisional side, Kenmare District, who could mix in players from Templenoe, including the famous Spillane brothers, Kilgarvan, and Tuosist for those 1973 and ‘87 titles.

The scale of the Shamrocks’ accomplishment is underlined by the fact that the club had never before reached a senior semi-final until last week’s victory over North Kerry.

Indeed, they were a junior football club as recently as 2012. Since then, some familiar faces have led their charge. The club’s X account carries the bio: “Home of Kerry’s Seánie O’Shea, Stephen O’Brien, and the great Mickey ‘Ned’ O’Sullivan”.

Mickey Ned O'Sullivan.

The squad can still cite the inspiration of Mickey Ned and his former teammates on Sunday. The District’s second county title, in 1987, was earned with a last-kick winner against Crokes after extra-time in the replayed decider.

It was his last ever game of football, although O’Sullivan had given up before that campaign. He arrived for their championship opener in his civvies, having stepped away from playing commitments.

“Well, I had retired and I turned up for the first round,” O’Sullivan recalls. “Some guy hadn’t turned up and the trainer spotted me on the sideline watching the match.

“He says, ‘Have you gear?’ And he says, ‘We’ll get gear for you.’

“That was the first round, so I played on for the year, but that was my last game then in the final.”

Those medals are precious items in O’Sullivan’s collection. His first, in 1974 against Shannon Rangers, paved the way for O’Sullivan to captain Kerry to the subsequent year’s All-Ireland title.

“The first county championship, at the time, was your greatest enjoyment,” he says.

“You played with guys you grew up with. And it’s very, very personal. To achieve something with the team for the first time ever is a great sense of satisfaction.

“Gaelic football is interwoven into the social fabric of the community. It’s all about a sense of place and identification with place. This is ingrained in it.”

With the Shamrocks and Templenoe both senior clubs these days, Kenmare District no longer fields a team. 

Were the Shamrocks to go alone and deliver a county title, it would be that extra bit special.

“This is just the club, so it’s important,” says O’Sullivan. “There’s probably greater identification with place. It probably means more, because they all played with each other growing up.

“This would have been the objective, the long-term one, and maybe at the time they didn’t think it would be possible, but they have proved themselves wrong.”

Kenmare Shamrocks' Stephen O'Brien. Ken Sutton / INPHO Ken Sutton / INPHO / INPHO

O’Sullivan knows the characters in the camp. He knows the steep development made by their cohort of under-21s, who form half the team, across the past four years.

He knows the lifelong commitment given by former Kerry panellist Paul O’Connor, in his 24th season of senior club football, who has been out injured.

He also acknowledges the devotion of Seán O’Shea’s brother, Dara. Having taken the year out to go travelling and getting married last month, Dara answered the call from Indonesia when full-back James McCarthy broke a bone in his foot.

“That is amazing,” says O’Sullivan. “The phone call was made and he was back within a couple of days. It shows what football means to these lads.

“They’re an exceptional group, committed, and they’re great characters.”

The underage structure has maintained their upward curve. In the Club Championship, which precedes the County Championship, the Shamrocks have lost four finals in the past decade, two of them after extra-time. They have kept progressing and progressing. 

Their icon, Seán O’Shea, has kicked 1-24 in three games. He has also coached a chunk of his teammates through their school days at Pobalscoil Inbhear Scéine. They, too, have gone from the third tier to the top table of Munster football, playing in the prestigious Corn Uí Mhuirí.

Shamrocks’ progression has seen them win the Division 2 league title last year. This year, they won the Division 1 crown. 

Still, Crokes will represent the ultimate test.

“Obviously, we’re not going to be favourites, but football isn’t won on paper,” says O’Sullivan before expanding on the tactical battleground.

“Your style is dictated by the opposition. Against North Kerry, it was a slow build-up because North Kerry didn’t press. They went back and closed down the defence. So they had to play a slow build-up to wait until space opened up. 

“Now it’s going to be totally different Sunday against Crokes. Crokes press. Each line puts in a press and they give the long, quick ball. I think it’ll be a high-scoring game because there’s a different style now. 

“Crokes are going for their 14th title. They have an amazing structure within the club. They play a certain brand of football. It’s economy of possession. They maximise all their possessions. 

“They have an amazing half-back line that will keep coming forward with pace. They give the quick ball in. They have a very strong midfield. Very strong full-forward line. They have so many players that have inter-county experience. 

“So it’s going to be a big, big challenge. But the beauty of it is that Kenmare never feared Crokes psychologically.”