Kerry and Donegal marriage ‘holding up' as All-Ireland final tension builds

Irish Independent

15 hours ago

And while no one has, as yet, been consigned to the spare bedroom, depending on how the big game pans out it might well have an occupant soon enough!
The north Kerry couple from Lisselton have been here before. They were married prior to the 2014 final between Kerry and Donegal when they held a GAA style wedding. The couple made their grand entrance to the wedding reception on that special day to The Sunday Game theme tune.
Of course, it comes as no surprise when one considers Pauline is part of Kerry football royalty being a niece of the late, great Tim Kennelly and cousin to All-Ireland winners, Noel and Tadgh. It's the kind of famous footballing link that lets Robert know exactly where he is.
The hop ball started the second that Donegal beat Meath in the semi-final knowing Kerry were waiting. The couple attended both semi-finals in a show of solidarity with one another. However, the battle lines have now been drawn as Pauline and Robert retreat to their respective shades of green and gold.
'He is sitting next to me at night playing 'Jimmy's Winning Matches' on TikTok. The slagging has well and truly started but we're holding up,' Pauline told The Kerryman.
'It's so long since we last met in a big game so we're having great craic. It's lovely to see the flags up around the place. At least we can agree on the colour,' she laughs.
Pauline feels Donegal are going to be hard to beat. But on the flip side, an easy semi-final win over Meath won't do them any favours. Robert has been digging Pauline over the fact Kerry always get 'an easy run' to the final every year.
'We'll be absolutely going, 100 per cent. Robert supported me in the semi-final, and I supported him in Donegal's semi-final. We came out on the good side of it. We'll meet up with Robert's family in Dublin before heading to Croker. They're all mad about Michael Murphy, they want it to be his year. If it was any other year I would agree with him,' she said.
Being Tim Kennelly's niece naturally means football is that bit more personal to Pauline. Tim was a member of the star-studded Kerry side of the 1970s and '80s, captaining Kerry to All-Ireland glory in 1979 on an occasion that is still top of the Kennelly family's memory list.
'I would have been younger when he was in his prime. We always knew how famous he was. Even the amount of people that still talk about him today, they idolise him. We would have remembered the great times mom and dad had going to matches. They had great stories from travelling around the country watching Tim.
'I know my late mother and Tim are probably looking down at us and laughing at all this carry on. It's great for the family to have that connection. Hopefully, we can bring back Sam Maguire to Kerry. It's also been a great year for our local club man (Ballydonoghue) Jason Foley. He is having a super year for Kerry,' Pauline said.