Latest news with #ÓSé
Extra.ie
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Dáithí Ó Sé loves all things Donegal
TV presenter Dáithí Ó Sé has spoken of the natural kinship between Kerry and Donegal folk, as the two Gaeltacht strongholds do battle in the All-Ireland Final today. And the Kerry native said he can only dream of being as popular as one of Donegal's most famous sons. Ó Sé told he has 'always had a soft spot for Donegal and the people of Donegal', and recalled the last championship final involving the counties in 2014, when they both contested the minor final too. 'There were people from Donegal next to me and a Kerry friend of mine [in Croke Park],' the broadcaster remembered. 'But we had a few pints together after the minor match we had a few pints at half time in the senior game, and we had a few pints after as well. 2014 GAA Football All Ireland Senior Championship Final, Kerry v Donegal. Pic: Pat Murphy / SPORTSFILE 'So the two bunches of supporters, they're probably unique in that they really get on well together and there's a huge amount of respect between the two teams and their supporters.' Kerry came out on top in both games that day, the Donegal seniors unable to reproduce the heroics that had brought them a second-ever All-Ireland title two years earlier. Ó Sé said his wife Rita once asked him, as he set off to an event in Tír Chonaill, if 'people in Donegal love you the way people in Kerry love Daniel [O'Donnell]?' The Rose of Tralee host laughed that his answer was: 'I would love to think someday that I'd reach that level of admiration – in any county.' While the 'final that loads of people have been waiting for' is too tight to call, Dáithí is predicting a 39th title for Kerry after a 'cracker' of a game. 'I think Kerry's last two games [convincing wins over old foes Armagh and Tyrone] will really stand to them,' he reasoned. Pic: Instagram/ Daithi O'Se 'What I was really impressed with after two really, really hard games was that they were still full of energy. There was no one cramping. 'They're a very slick-looking outfit at the moment. Now, Donegal are exactly the same, but I just think Kerry will have an edge on them.' The presenter is no relation to his county men Páidí, Darragh, Tomás and Marc Ó Sé, the An Ghaeltacht dynasty with 24 All-Ireland inter county medals between them. But he is related to another An Ghaeltacht man who starts for Kerry today. Half-back Brian Ó Beaglaoich – who was full-back during that 2014 minor final against Donegal – is Ó Sé's second cousin once removed. Croke Park. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile He said of Ó Beaglaoich: 'He'll go at it all day long. He's not afraid to go forward as well and break through. Just a fantastic footballer.' And the 49-year-old Today presenter said recent talk of Kerry pundits – and their famously demanding supporters – being too quick to get on the team's back is just 'par for the course'. He said: 'People have opinions, and they have opinions because they love it. 'Darragh Ó Sé [who criticised manager Jack O'Connor for not developing the squad] loves Kerry football. 'Jack O'Connor [who shot back that the former midfielder would 'be better off doing a bit of coaching himself'] loves Kerry football. And the love for Kerry football is what unites people at the end of it. 'But I think that has shown Kerry's strength this year – that [criticism] has been happening in the background, people were unhappy with the way they were playing, and then they come out and they blow Armagh and Tyrone out of the water.' Aside from their similarly rugged coastlines, strong Gaeltacht traditions and long journeys to Croke Park, Kerry and Donegal even have the same flag, and their strip was virtually identical for most of the GAA's history. Donegal favoured a mostly green jersey with a gold hoop in the centre right up to the 1990s. After beating Mayo in the 1992 All-Ireland semi-final in a mostly yellow strip – worn to avoid a colour clash – Donegal decided to stick with that winning kit in their first-ever final, against Dublin. Since then they have favoured a mainly yellow jersey with green sleeves and trim.
Irish Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Kerry v Donegal: betting odds for 2025 All Ireland football final
Kerry and Donegal clash this afternoon in the final of the 2025 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. Today's game is something of a dream pairing for fans as it pits the two undisputed best teams in the country this Summer against each other in what could be a barnstormer of a final. Kerry have played some majestic stuff at times this year and if they replicate their quarter-final form when they breezed past defending champions Armagh. Donegal have had to grit their teeth at times this year, but they showcased their own attacking flair in the semi-final when they put Meath to the sword at Croke Park. An epic is expected and the bookies think this one is going to go down to the wire. Per Paddy Power, Kerry can be backed at Evens and are slight favourites to take home the title ahead of Donegal (6/5). Kingdom legend Marc O'Sé is of the opinion that Joe O'Connor will be crucial if Kerry are to win the match. 'Technically he's become a vital cog in this Kerry team,' says Ó Sé. 'You cast your mind back to 2022 when he was only coming in as a cameo role, but you see the way he goes at the opposition now. He's been outstanding.' 'If we get a big game out of Joe it'll be huge for Kerry getting over the line,' Ó Sé insists. 'I have nothing but great things to say about that man. He's a lovely man off the field, an absolute gentleman, and he's doing his stuff on the field and he's making what was a needy area for Kerry in the middle of the park seem as though it was a distant memory.'
Irish Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Kerry v Donegal: Páidí, piseogs and blue jersey talk ahead of the All-Ireland
Páidí Ó Sé was definitely a man for piseogs - on the eve of the 1985 All-Ireland final he was horrified to discover that he hadn't packed his lucky underpants. Having worn them in his previous six All-Ireland final victories, he was adamant that if he didn't wear them against Dublin then Kerry wouldn't lift Sam. So he rang his mother, who arranged with Charlie Haughey to have Ó Sé's prized package transported from Heuston Station to Croke Park ahead of the game. Kerry won. The late, great Ó Sé had plenty more piseogs, or superstitions in English, which he believed influenced how a game might go. His nephew Marc, whose last of five All-Ireland wins with the Kingdom came against Sunday's opponents Donegal in 2014, had his own piseogs - but then he says many players do. "Oh yeah, for sure," said the 45-year-old. "I mean, there's very few Gaelic Footballers that don't have something. It could be something so silly that you just have to have, 'where's that thing I always have in my bag' or whatever. "We all have them. I used to have the same towel, I'd nearly had it for 16 years. You always had to have something, but then you lose an All-Ireland and you just nearly throw the towel into the bin!"We all believe in them but at the end of the day I think it's about just two teams going out giving their best and whichever team out-works the other team, they're nearly going to do it. "Do you know what, when I saw the blue jerseys coming out it wasn't something that really bothered me because I saw Kerry winning big games (wearing blue) down through the years." Maurice Fitzgerald of Kerry and Hank Traynor of Meath in the 2001 All-Ireland SFC semi-final (Image: ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy) It was announced early in the week that, due to the colour clash, Kerry will be wearing blue in an All-Ireland final for the first time in over 50 years. Donegal will also be changing to their predominantly white jersey. Plenty in the Kingdom will be a little uneasy about the change but then switching to white, green and gold has been out of fashion since the 2-14 to 0-5 hammering dished out by Meath in the 2001 All-Ireland semi-final. Kerry have had a very good record in the modern era when wearing the blue of Munster at that last four stage in the championship, ever since they lost to Offaly in the 1972 All-Ireland final replay after the late Mick O'Dwyer levelled late to earn the Kingdom a second chance. They wore blue again when they beat Offaly in the 1980 semi-final. It was the same outcome against Mayo at the same stage the following year and against Meath in '86. Then came that Meath loss in 2001 before they wore blue against the Royals in 2009, this time winning in the last four of the championship, and also at the same stage against Mayo in 2011, 2014 and '17 against Mayo. Donegal's Anthony Thompson is tackled by Marc Ó'Se of Kerry in the 2012 All-Ireland SFC quarter-final (Image: ©INPHO/Colm O'Neill) Of course the most famous All-Ireland final defeat came against Offaly courtesy of Seamus Lowry's late goal in 1982, when Kerry wore that lime green adidas jersey. The year before, when the same counties also met in the final, Kerry wore a half yellow, half green top on their way to lifting Sam. Interestingly, Kerry wore blue jerseys and Donegal wore white when the Tir Chonaill men prevailed in their 2012 All-Ireland quarter-final meeting. But this is the blue jersey's first final outing for the Kingdom since that Offaly's triumph 53 years ago. "I remember putting on Páidí's jersey, the 1986 blue number 2 jersey," recalled Marc Ó Sé this week. "I remember going into his chest of all the gear and putting that on and I was swimming in it. "But any time Kerry wore blue they seemed to do well. I remember watching Kerry's Golden Years - '80, I think, against Mayo in the semi-final. So, like, it was a jersey I used to love to see Kerry wear and it doesn't really bother me that they're wearing blue. "Obviously we're green and gold but, look, Donegal are green and gold as well, so it'll be a colourful day anyway if anything else. Of course piseogs come into it but at the end of the day it's who works the hardest." Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts.
RTÉ News
4 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
'Outsider' Jack O'Connor looks to firmly cement place amongst footballing royalty
Donegal and Kerry lie at opposite ends of the country. Both share a picturesque countryside, made up of rugged headlands and imposing mountains, a vista that for centuries has stood up against the ravages of Atlantic storms. Different forms of the Irish language are spoken in each county, both possessing a lyrical lilt, a soothing quality. Two proud counties. In a sporting context, Kerry are certainly the standard-bearers when it comes to Gaelic football. Donegal's emergence, you would have to say, is a more latter-day occurrence. It was 1963 before Tír Chonaill contested a first Ulster final. A maiden title arrived in 1972, with a second success coming in 1974. Brian McEniff, a revered figure well before silverware was landed, was now directing operations as player-manager. A successful hotelier, McEniff was, quite simply, 'Mr Football' in Donegal. With his playing days over, he would eventually oversee Donegal's first All-Ireland triumph in 1992. His place in the annals of GAA within the county and beyond was assured. All told, McEniff had six spells guiding the fortunes of the green and gold. In 2003, he reluctantly took on the role for what would be the last time. He started the year as county chairman and was tasked with finding a replacement for Mickey Moran, who stood down after Donegal's loss to Dublin in the All-Ireland quarter-final replay the previous August amid rumours of player misbehaviour following the draw. McEniff wanted Martin McHugh to take on the job, but the Kilcar clubman could not be persuaded. Other names were also touted but in the end it was a case of McEniff being the last one standing. Donegal's championship campaign started slowly but they found renewed oxygen through the qualifiers. They would eventually reach the All-Ireland semi-final, where they lost narrowly to the reigning champions Armagh. No shame in that. McEniff was still having an impact, still sprinkling the gold dust. Footballing royalty. Jim McGuinness's arrival as coach would add a new layer to the Donegal story. In 2003, Kerry could not cope with the Tyrone swarm in the All-Ireland semi-final. Páidí Ó Sé's time as manager was up, the loss to the Red Hand following on from an ignominious defeat to Meath and the frustration of being pipped by Armagh in the previous year's decider. Yes, Páidí did oversee two All-Ireland wins but he had run out of road after Tyrone left him and his players in a daze on that August Sunday. The previous autumn, while on a team holiday in Cape Town, Ó Sé told journalist Paul Kimmage: "Being a Kerry manager is probably the hardest job in the world because Kerry people, I'd say, are the roughest type of f****** animals you could ever deal with". A subsequent interview with RTÉ's Marty Morrissey, who coincidentally happened to be in South Africa at the same team, was an attempt to smooth things over. The autumn of 2003 saw Jack O'Connor take over. Unlike Ó Sé and McEniff, O'Connor would not have been perceived as football royalty. The Dromid native saw himself as the 'outsider' in the Kingdom fraternity. He never got to wear the county jersey and never played for one of the county's top clubs. Yet he was always an astute observer of the game. He made his name coaching schools and colleges, before working alongside Ó Sé as Kerry ended an 11-year-wait, a famine in the Kingdom, when winning back Sam Maguire in 1997. Not many of the revered squad that conquered all under Mick O'Dwyer were on hand to wish Jack well. And as for the now departed Waterville maestro, O'Connor, when writing in his autobiography 'Keys to the Kingdom' spoke of how O'Dwyer "blanked" him prior to a match when he was Kerry selector. Also highlighted was when Páidí Ó Sé, via one of his newspaper columns, criticised the style of football Kerry were playing under O'Connor's stewardship. At an awards dinner attended by former Kerry greats, Jimmy Deenihan told the assembled crowd that he hoped Mick O'Dwyer would have another go at managing Kerry. That certainly angered O'Connor, who was present with his wife and family. Perhaps it was no surprise that O'Connor's late mother Sheila pleaded with him not to take the Kerry job. She passed away on the day he was appointed in October 2003. She told him: "Don't take it John". But it was something her son felt he had to do. His first year at the helm yielded a league and All-Ireland double, so starting a trend. After a similar haul was netted in 2006, O'Connor was told by some of the natives that he managed the team to "soft" All-Irelands. Mayo were cast aside easily on both occasions. There were some players on the panel that O'Connor felt he couldn't get through to; and others, like Darragh Ó Sé, who would question the manager's new-found methods. Some others were not prepared to give that little bit more in training. And there was one player, Tom O'Sullivan, who skipped training one night. He did not return O'Connor's text as to his whereabouts. Thick skin is required. And O'Connor does not lack confidence. He can be stubborn, has fallen out with many, yet is steadfast in believing his methods are right. There was talk of mid-season disharmony in the Kerry camp in '06, as was the case in 2009, with O'Connor into his second coming as manager at that point. Come the end of it all Kerry were champions, the manager basking in the glory again, while having a pop at the "supposed aura of this great Armagh side" and the "phoney and orchestrated" way Dublin march down to the Hill before the start of their games. In 2012, O'Connor ended his second spell at the helm, this after defeat to Donegal in an All-Ireland quarter-final. That reverse came after the Dubs struck late, by way of that Cluxton kick into the Hill, to land the ultimate prize a year previously and a surprise defeat to Down in the season before that. We thought that would be it. But within a year O'Connor was back on the sideline, overseeing the Kerry minors. Successive All-Irelands would follow under his stewardship before he took over the U-21s. And then a call came from beyond the Kingdom. The wheels of the car pointed towards Kildare. In a tenure interrupted by Covid, O'Connor oversaw promotion to Division 1 for the Lilies and a Leinster final appearance. It was the autumn of 2021 and much anger was being vented in Kerry by the manner in which they lost the All-Ireland semi-final to Tyrone. Then boss Peter Keane was under pressure. O'Connor, speaking on a podcast, admitted to "an allure" to taking the Kerry role once again. A case of Jack jumping the gun! "Who doesn't want to coach Man United?," he added. Keane was still manager of Kerry, however, while O'Connor had not yet vacated the Kildare hotseat. It was all a bit messy, an unsatisfactory crossover in the way O'Connor's third stint would come about. "A bit of a public grab" and "a little bit ugly" was how Kevin McStay described it at the time. On the back of Kerry's phenomenal run of minor success and with David Clifford standing out as a generational talent, the omens were looking good for the Kingdom again. And in his first year back, O'Connor duly delivered league and All-Ireland triumphs. Tyrone man Paddy Tally was part of the set-up; a Kerry ticket that welcomed some Ulster influence. Winning back-to-back Sam Maguires has so far eluded the manager, a blot that does standout on O'Connor's CV. The nature of the defeats to Dublin and Armagh in '23 and '24 respectively underlined a brittleness in the Kerry psyche at the business end of both games. This Sunday's showdown with Donegal is likely to be just as tight, the first All-Ireland final played under new rules where players can really express themselves. In a campaign where Kerry certainly hit the high note in that second half against Armagh and O'Connor subsequently faced down the critics, this would be a sweet All-Ireland for the 'outsider' to win. There won't be anything soft won at Croker. The chance then for Jack O'Connor to finally discard the self-styled outsider tag. Time then to take your place amongst the footballing royalty.
RTÉ News
5 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Marc Ó Sé expecting some Jim McGuinness 'magic dust' for decider
Marc Ó Sé expects Jim McGuinness to have "something up his sleeve" when Donegal take on Kerry in Sunday's All-Ireland SFC final. Ó Sé was on the winning side in the counties' most recent final meeting 11 years ago, and knows that the desire for revenge can be a powerful motivating factor. "I'd imagine Jim was fairly hurt after the 2014 All-Ireland, having done so well in the semi-final against Dublin upsetting the odds," the five-time All-Ireland winner tells RTÉ Sport. "The Jimmy Guinness factor, and I suppose the Michael Murphy and Patrick McBrearty factor, it's huge because we've all been involved in games before in the past where a team has beaten you and you want to get one back on them. "I see [Colm] McFadden on the sideline with Donegal. He was a player that I was marking that day. He gave me a right roasting in 2012 [in the quarter-final], two years previous. So I was trying to get a bit of revenge in 2014 "I always think that with Jim there will be something up his sleeve that he will come up with. "He'll probably look at the semi-final and see the way Malachy [O'Rourke, Tyrone manager] went about his business. Malachy spoke about it afterwards in terms of keeping close tabs on Seán O'Shea and Paudie Clifford but then obviously David still runs riot inside so trying to keep tabs on all three is a huge thing. Is he going to lay off a player like Mark O'Shea or a Sean O'Brien or a Graham O'Sullivan and get those players who are marking them back covering David Clifford?" Ó Sé has been hugely impressed by the Ulster champions' rejuvenation since McGuinness returned as manager for last season. "He has been so innovative in the way he goes about it. He's got a complete buy-in from these players. These fellas are just eating out of the palm of his hand. "Just look at where Donegal were two years ago under Paddy Carr. It was as though Donegal were going to go into the doldrums. "All of a sudden, they get to an All-Ireland semi-final last year, you've Michael Murphy back in the fold, they're in an All-Ireland final now this year. It's been incredible what he's achieved in this short space of time. "You would have to say with an incredible bunch of players. But he has also brought players through, the likes of [Finbarr] Roarty. Look what he has done. Man of the match in the last game, he's had an incredible season. They're all playing outstanding stuff and he has fellas really playing at the peak of their powers at the moment. "He has the magic dust up there I think, there is no doubt about that. From a Kerry point of view, we know he's a serious manager. So we'll have to have our homework done in terms of like the different threats that they pose." Their man on the line is no slouch himself: Jack O'Connor is leading them into an eighth final, having won four of the previous seven. And another wizard is Kerry's championship top-scorer David Clifford. Does Ó Sé agree with McGuinness that the Fossa forward is potentially the best ever Gaelic footballer? "He's certainly going in the right direction. It's an incredible season yes, but probably you can't form those opinions until a player has finished their career. "He's an old head on mature shoulders at this stage. He was a young lad winning Player of the Year [in 2022] but he replicated that then winning another one [in '23] and and he's going for a third if Kerry get over the line. "One thing we have to get right is to track those Donegal runners from defence and not let them build momentum. From our own point of view, move the ball quickly into the inside line, get our kick outs off, move the ball quickly into our danger-man David." For a team that is often accused of struggling against Ulster counties, Kerry have beaten a lot of them in the knockout stages this year. Cavan, Armagh, Tyrone all fell and now only Donegal, for just the fourth time in championship, stand in their way. "We just hit the ground running in terms of the quarter-final [ against Armagh ] and the momentum that Kerry have had has been huge," says Ó Sé. "I think that has lent itself to the performances that we've given and players having that confidence. "I still think Donegal have been the best team in Ulster, they're the Ulster champions, so this game has the ingredients to be a fantastic battle. "Monaghan did put it up to them in the first half, but they would have preferred maybe stronger opposition. Kerry probably did get stronger opposition although they still blitzed both Armagh and Tyrone." He believes that the key to victory for the Kingdom will be "Winning the midfield battle again, like we've done in the last two games. That said, it's going to be a lot tougher this time with the likes of Michael Langan and Ciarán Thompson. "We will again have to be on top of the opposition's kick out, like we were in the last two games. And if we can do that again, I think we have a great chance." Regardless, Ó Sé doesn't expecting returning midfielder Diarmuid O'Connor to start - "How can we expect a fellow to go from zero to 80 or 90 in the space of a couple of weeks when he's been out injured?" - but is hoping for an impact off the bench from him or one of the other walking wounded. "Not sure what way Tom O'Sullivan or Paul Geaney are, but if you could get two of those three players fighting for maybe 25 minutes on Sunday that would be incredible."
