ONE KERRY CLUB will have eyes across the Irish Sea and the Atlantic this weekend as London and New York head into Connacht championship action.
Spa are best known these days for producing Kerry All-Ireland-winner Dara Moynihan but now they have three more inter-county footballers on either side of the pond.
Dara’s cousin Matthew Moynihan will lynchpin the London team to take on Galway at Ruislip on Saturday (3pm). And then Sunday evening at Gaelic Park will see Liam Kearney and Niall McCarthy in New York colours as they tackle Mayo (8pm Irish time).
“We’ve players all over the world,” chuckles Patrick Cronin, who managed the club’s senior team last year. “Like every other club, we could do with a few more back with Spa though!
“What is London’s gain is Spa’s loss and the same with the two boys in New York. They would be three big additions to the current setup but you just drive on.
“For three players, one to go to London and two to go to New York, and they all playing with London and New York, it’s unbelievable for the club.
“It shows how dedicated the three boys are to football and when they put their mind to something, how they can achieve these things.”
Kearney is the highest profile of the trio given his pedigree as captain of the Kerry minor football team that ended the Kingdom’s 20-year All-Ireland drought in 2014; the first of their five-in-a-row streak.
He was back lifting silverware at Croke Park within a year as part of the Kerry junior team that defeated Mayo.
Of those teams, nine have gone on to tog out for Kerry on All-Ireland final day. It could have easily been more but for Mark O’Connor pursuing an AFL career and Kearney’s bad luck with injuries.
He played in Kerry’s first five games on their way to the 2020 League title but just as the momentum was building behind his inter-county career, Covid intervened and those foot problems resurfaced. He opted out of the panel the following summer.
“I would nearly be 100% sure he’d still be playing with Kerry or around the panel only for injuries,” says Cronin. “Frustration was probably the biggest problem with the injuries.
“In ’22, he had an excellent year with Spa. He was top class all year long. He just made the decision it (travelling) was something he’d wanted to try.
“With football underage, he never got the opportunity to travel and from what I’ve heard, he seems to be enjoying life in New York.”
He travelled out with his lifelong pal McCarthy last April, the same month New York produced their penalty shoot-out shock against Leitrim.
Within two months of his arrival, Kearney had elbowed into the team for their Tailteann Cup trip to face Carlow, playing alongside Johnny Glynn in midfield. He’ll tear into Mayo with relish. “The bigger the challenge, the better for him,” reckons Cronin.
Kearney and McCarthy won the New York Intermediate Championship with Kerry NY that September – matching their achievement of winning the Kerry Intermediate title with Spa in 2020.
Niall’s brother Mike has joined them on Stateside since January. He was on the East Kerry panel for their county titles in 2019 and ’20, while Niall adds a Hogan Cup with St Brendan’s College to the family roll of honour.
“If you could get 15 Niall McCarthys, you’d be going a long way,” says Cronin. “He’d never miss a training session, gym session, nothing.
“He’s always been a very good footballer but he’s always trying to better himself. You could play him from number 8 up to 15 and he’d do a job for you.
“He’s about six foot but he’s got a serious leap, a big spring in his step, and he’s a good finisher.
“There’s mention that he’s coming back to Spa around September so hopefully that will happen.”
Kearney and McCarthy were a “humongous loss” when they revealed their plans to Cronin but he would never stand in their way either. “People need to live their lives and try these things,” he says. “I wish them the best and I’m glad they’re getting on well and they’re going playing Connacht Championship.”
As for Matthew Moynihan, he’s been settled in London working as an accountant with a construction company since 2017. He later told The 42 of his job interview, “The first five minutes was about the job and the next 30 minutes we talked about football.”
On 27 January 2019, first cousins Matthew and Dara Moynihan both made their senior inter-county debuts at the exact same time on either side of the Irish Sea.
“They’re two different types of players altogether,” says Cronin when asked if there’s any resemblance between their styles. “Matthew is a big six-foot-two-or-three guy. He has a great pair of hands. He’s a lovely footballer and a great defender.
“He comes back for games the club are playing. For the senior club semi-final last year, he was back and you’d often see him back around the place with a big smile on his face.”
He’s now vice-captain of the London team, where he also lines out with another cousin, albeit from the Cork side of the border, Stephen Dornan.
In their absence, Spa continue to compete among the eight senior clubs at the top end of Kerry football, reaching the knockout stages of the club and county championships last autumn. One of three clubs in Killarney, they are constantly battling for players with their crosstown rivals Dr Crokes and Legion.
They’re a truly international club in more than one sense of the word, too, with teams from Birmingham, Dubai, and all across Ireland travelling for the Killarney Club 7s tournament on the June bank holiday weekend.
Cronin is hoping to see Moynihan, Kearney, and McCarthy there too. Who knows, they might even be over on duty with their overseas counties that weekend.