This article explores the career of Jack O'Connor, a manager who has consistently defied expectations and found success in the intensely competitive world of Kerry football. Despite portraying himself as an outsider, O'Connor has become a trusted figure within the county's establishment, known for his ability to deliver results and navigate the complex dynamics of Gaelic football.
Over the winter there was no heave against him and no clamour for him to stay, but in a wide-open season, his ability to find solutions could prove vital. At the end of August 2013, Jack O’Connor was appointed manager of the Kerry minors on a two-year term. As the candidate recommended by an executive sub-committee of the county board, O’Connor was expected to be ratified on the nod. Instead, there was resistance.
Two club delegates expressed their support for Mickey “Ned” O’Sullivan, the outgoing manager, and their intervention lit a fuse of dissent. The process was queried from the floor of the meeting. Some delegates wanted the appointment paused so they could take guidance from their clubs. According to local reports, the appointment of a minor manager in had never before been put to a vote, but there was no choice. O’Connor was ratified by 44 votes to 28, with 20 delegates abstaining. It was only a year since O’Connor had stepped down after his second spell as manager of the senior team. On his resumé were three senior All-Irelands and one showing as manager of the under-21s. In all, between schools teams and Kerry teams, he had been involved in close to 20 All-Ireland finals as a manager or selector. Over the previous few weeks, he had been heavily linked to the managerial vacancy in Kildare, where his appointment would have been greeted with acclaim if he had chosen that path. Instead, he was dragged into a dogfight for the Kerry minor job. In Kerry football, O’Connor has always portrayed himself as an outsider. In the beginning it was indisputable. He hailed from Dromid, a tiny club in South Kerry, and as a player, he didn’t make it to Broadway. He didn’t have pedigree or political clout. Kerry’s Jack O’Connor: Without breaking into the golden circle of Kerry football, he was embraced by the establishment. Photograph: Lorraine O’Sullivan/Inpho “When you grow up in Toorsaleen you’ll be an outsider everywhere you go except your own parlour,” he wrote in his autobiography, Keys To The Kingdom. “Even within Dromid, our dark mountain of Toorsaleen wouldn’t be football country. We’re the outsiders' outsiders! I nourish myself on that.” Over the course of three decades, though, his status changed, in conflict with his self-image. Along the way, he was anointed as a trusted solution. Without breaking into the golden circle of Kerry football, he was embraced by the establishment. When O’Connor went for the senior manager’s job for the third time in 2021, he was opposed by the outgoing manager Peter Keane and by a glittering ticket assembled by Stephen Stack. Among his proposed selectors were Seamus Moynihan, Dara Ó Cinnéide and Mickey “Ned” O’Sullivan, all of whom had captained Kerry to win All-Irelands; Stack’s coach was Donie Buckley, another All-Ireland winner. But Kerry hadn’t won an All-Ireland in eight years – the third-longest drought in their history. The board had no appetite for risk. Kerry manager Jack O’Connor during last summer's All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Quarter-Final against Derry, at Croke Park, Dublin. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho “There was a lot of pressure on the county board to pick us,” says Ó Cinnéide, “because Moynihan would be so respected and Donie Buckley would have a great reputation, and we thought we had a good ticket. But they gave the job to Jack, and I totally understand it. If you’re in the county board’s shoes, Jack is a proven deliverer. He has the track record.” Kerry is the octagon of Gaelic football. No holds are barred. Everyone bleeds. “I’m not bragging, I’m just giving you facts,” O’Connor said in a 2021 podcast. “In my first four years coaching Kerry – ’04, ’05, ’06, ’09 – I won three leagues, three Munster championships and three All-Irelands. I got the height of abuse. That’s a fact.” O’Connor’s career has been a monument to endurance and nimbleness. It is a staggering 33 years since he first appeared as a selector with Kerry’s under-21s. His sons, Cian and Eanna, used to accompany him to training as toddlers. He was in his early 30s then; he turned 64 in October. Half a lifetime. “Jack was a young hotshot from South Kerry at the time,” says Ó Cinnéide. “He wasn’t a hands-in-the-pocket kind of selector, he would have challenged Páidí a bit. He wouldn’t have been quiet to voice an opinion.” To prosper, he needed a sharp instinct for self-preservation. Experience schooled him. After Ó Sé moved on to the senior job, O’Connor joined him as a selector for a couple of years and he was there when Kerry won the 1997 All-Ireland. But in 1999, he writes in the book, Ó Sé “screwed” hi
JACK O'connor KERRY FOOTBALL GAELIC FOOTBALL ALL-IRELAND MANAGER GAEOLIC FOOTBALL HISTORY
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