CLUB OF THE WEEK by Tom Carmody -Ballylongford GAA Club PRO.

The Ballylongford GAA Club notes contain details of the many players who put on the blue and white jerseys going back long before 1947, with the first North Kerry Championship final being won in 1940 and since this time the Ballylongford players have worn the same colours with Pride and have continued to win many more North Kerry Senior Championships and leagues. In 1947 Ballyongford won the Senior North Kerry Championship again, they beat Listowel, after the game Johnny Walsh had to travel onwards with the Kerry team, he even had to change in the car on the way to Shannon Airport to catch a flight with the rest of the Kerry team on their journey to New York, his commitment to the Ballylongford team was truly outstanding, and this commitment can still be seen in the current players we have playing in the team today. During 1953 it was an outstanding year for the Ballylongford Club, beating Ballydonoghue in an epic clash in the final, the championship team line up was 1 to 15; Billy McDonald, Mossie O’Carroll, Paddy Guerin, Paddy Fitzmaurice, Ned Fitzgerald, Colm Kennedy, John Kennelly, Brendan Kennelly, John Ahern, Tommy Hennessy, Willie Weir, Patrick Creed and Johnny McGrath. In 1968 Ballylongford got through to the Championship and defeated a strong Ballyduff Team in Listowel to win the North Kerry Senior Championship, it had been a welcomed win following a lean number of years for the club.

During 1970 Ballylongford enjoyed a great period of success and this had been unrivaled by the club as they went on to win more North Kerry Championships and Intermediate Championships as well as many numberous tournaments, at this time Ballylongford had a very bright future ahead of itself and competition for places on the senior team was very strong in these triumphant years. In 1971 the Ballylongford team who won the North Kerry Championship were, T McEllistrem, B O’Carroll, J Moroney, P O’Donoghue, J Mulvihill, J Walsh, EJ Mulvihill, J McCarthy, D Bambury, C Donovan, D Kennedy (Selector), M Walsh, J Hennessy, D O’Sullivan, K Kennelly, E O’Donoghue, B O’Connor, M McEllistrem, D Mulvihill, B McCarthy and C. Heaphy. From 1965 to 1977 inclusive, the club contested every North Kerry Championship final in all except two in 1972 and 1976, this is something other clubs have found hard to equal to this day. From the 1980s onwards multiple Ballylongford teams win the North Kerry Championship on numberous occations, in 1986 Ballylongford 0-09 v Castleisland Desmonds 2-02 and in 1993 Ballylongford 1-08 v Ballyduff 1-04 and again in 2000, Ballylongford 4-09 v St Senans 1-09. In 2012 the Ballylongford team defeated Knocknagoshel in the 1 st round of the Championship and played in Division 5, In 2013 Ballylongford won the leaque division 2 v Ballydonoghue. During 2014 Played Division 4 County League and Played Division 1 North Kerry League. In 2016 won the North Kerry league Div 2 vs Ballyduff with the game being played in Finuge. In 2017 Ballylongford gained promotion to Div 4 county League and played in Div 1 North Kerry League. 2018 Ballylongford Won the north Kerry League Div 2 v Duagh played in Moyvane under the management of Eamon McElligott, Ted O’Connor and Nelius O Connor. 2019 Ballylongford played in the North Kerry Championship, the club played in Div 5 County League and also played in Div 2 North Kerry league under the management team of Eamon McElligott, Ted O’Connor and Nelius O Connor.

Ballylongford GAA Club has Won 14 North Kerry Senior Football Championships and at one time the club had ten players on the Shannon Rangers team, there are also a number of Ballylongford players who hold medals for playing at every other level, including the County Kerry Senior and Minor teams, some noteable player involvements include: Jack Walsh, Johnny Walsh, Paud O’Donoghue, Eamonn O’Donoghue, Colm Kennelly, Jackie Walsh, Barry Walsh, Paddy Kennelly, John Flavin, Tomas P.O’Connor, Tom Dee, Tom Sheehy, James Doherty, John Kennelly, Liam Donegan, Kieran Culhane, and Paddy Kelly, to mention but a few names. Ballylongford players have always demonstrated high levels of player quality and pride, this success is evident in the North Kerry Championship Role of Honour, Ballylongford is numbered 3 in the Role of Honour out of the 11 clubs and is just short of one final to that of Listowel Emmets in 2019.

The Ballylongford GAA Club in 2021 retains a large number of senior level players and the outlook for the current Ballylongford senior team remains very positive and with the continued support of a strong team of Players, Management, Officers, Members, Volunteers and Supporters, the club can be assured of even more North Kerry Championship success in the future. The Ballylongford GAA club has more than several projects ongoing at any one time, these include further improvements to the Floodlights, Replacement of Fencing, Club Grounds and Premises Maintenance and Improvements and a New Innovative Club Website, our Facebook Platform continues to be such a great success for everyone in the club as its very popular and easy to navigate and will continue to be the main source of information, the Facebook Platform has recently been updated to make it even easier to use for club lotto and membership, the coninued success of Ballylongford GAA Club shows no sign of a slow down.