Bord na nOg formed in 1967

In 1967 Kerry County Convention decided to set up a Board to look after juveniles and the first meeting of this Board was held on 18th April 1967 with the ‘Great’Johnny Walsh of Ballylongford in the chair. The face of Kerry football was about to change.

This was primarily at the instigation of the then County Chairman Dr. Jim Brosnan who saw the need for a dedicated competition for underage footballers, outside of school competition. It was to lay down a solid foundation for future generations of underage footballers in the barony.

South Kerry set up its own juvenile board in 1969 under the chairmanship of Fr. Sean McSweeney. The history of South Kerry Bord na n-Og is dealt with in detail elsewhere in this publication. South Kerry won the County U-16 title in 1969 and many of these players went on to form the nucleus of the South Kerry teams which won back to back County Minor titles in 1970 and 1971.

At senior level in 1968 Waterville made the decision to enter the County Championship on their own. Bolstered by the addition of Mick O’Connell they were to make a big impression on the Kerry County championship in subsequent years. They started in great style humbling the mighty John Mitchels by 2-12 to 1-9 in their first ever senior game. They went on to contest the 1968 county final against East Kerry but were to end up on the losing side. unfortunately, for the seasiders it set a pattern that was to repeat itself as in both 1969 and 1970 they reached the county final against East Kerry only to be defeated on each occasion. It was heartbreak for theFrank Caseys who achieved marvels for a small village but were unlucky to come up against a power paked East Kerry side which went on to win the first All-Ireland Club Championship title in 1971.

At local level Waterville completed a three in a row 1967. They would not have it all their own way in sequent years. Skellig Rangers emerged victorious in 1968 over St.Mary’s on a scoreline of O-11 to 0-4 for only their second title.

1969 saw a shock as St.Mary’s defeated Waterville in the semi final. 1971 saw a repeat with Waterville winning in between in the 1970 final.

Sneem were to get off the mark in 1972 when they won the first of their four titles. It will be remembered as an era when Valentia lost five finals in a row from 1973 to 1977. They were now back on the road and had a young squad, most of whom had won minor South Kerry Championship medals in 1972.

One of their defeats came in 1974 at the hands of Renard-Foilmore when the Jack Murphy Cup was presented for the first time to Joe Joe 0′ Sullivan, captain of the winning team by the losing captain, Micheal Lyne, who was then Chairman of the District Board.

At county level a new dawn was breaking. Kerry, under the guidance of new trainer Mick O’Dwyer, blew away the reigning champions Dublin in a powerful display in September 1975. On the same day Kerry minors were victorious over Tyrone with three Caherciveen men on the starting fifteen-Jack O’Shea, Joe Joe O’Connor and Paudie Sheehan. A month later the treble was completed as Kerry U-21 ‘s defeated Dublin in Tipperary Town with Gel’ O’Driscoll outplaying Brian Mullins at centre-field.

Kerry were entering a golden era at senior level. They won eight All-Ireland’s between 1975 and 1986 and contested ten finals in that period.

The Kerry team had a strong South Kerry representation over the period and these players were to play a major role in the regaining of the County Championship.

Progress was made in 1975 as South Kerry won the County Minor title with a good win over St. Brendans. Waterville had rejoined the fold in 1974 but South Kerry never really threatened to win the County Championship despite reaching semi-finals in 1977 and 1978.

1979 again saw the barony divide into two teams for the County Championship -Iveragh representing the Northern half and Southern Gaels who were made up of Sneem, Waterville, Ballinskelligs and Derrynane. As luck would have it, the teams clashed in the second round of the Championship but it was a poor, if sporting, encounter. Iveragh triumphed on a scoreline of 1-11 to 3-1. They were hammered in the next round by Castleisland.