Dr Crokes players and supporters celebrate after their side's victory in the AIB Munster GAA Senior Club Football Championship final match between Dr Crokes of Kerry and Loughmore Castleiney of Tipperary at Mallow GAA Grounds in Cork. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
Dr. Crokes have earned national renown for their achievements on the pitch.
Two All-Ireland senior championships, nine Munster senior championships, and 14 Kerry senior championships puts them very much in an elite bracket when it comes to winning silverware.
The GAA is a community organisation as much as a sporting one, and Dr. Crokes score very highly in this regard too.
These past few days have nicely summed up what they’re all about.
Last Saturday around 200 club members walked around the town in memory of the late Amy O’Connor and then returned to the clubhouse for hot drinks and cakes and to reminisce about Amy who meant so much to so many.
You might remember Amy yourself. At the age of 10 she helped Johnny Buckley lift the Andy Merrigan Cup when Dr. Crokes defeated Slaughtneil in the All-Ireland Final.
The following year she tragically passed away after losing her brave battle with cancer. Saturday would have been her 18th birthday, so the club came out to remember her.
Dr. Crokes supporter Amy O'Connor lifts the Andy Merrigan Cup with captain Johnny Buckley after the 2017 AIB GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Club Championship Final match between Dr. Crokes and Slaughtneil at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Today came another powerful example of the community spirit that makes Dr. Crokes a special club when a large number of volunteers cleared their pitch of snow so their club’s footballers could train ahead of Saturday’s All-Ireland SFC semi-final against Errigal Ciaran.
When you talk to club chairperson, Eoin Brosnan, about Dr. Crokes it’s this sense of community he takes as much pride in as all they have won over the years.
That’s saying something, because over the course of his own 22-year senior club career he won one All-Ireland title, six Munster titles, and eight county titles.
As soon as he hung up his playing boots following Dr. Crokes’ 2019 All-Ireland Final defeat to Corofin, the former Kerry star immediately immersed himself in off-pitch activities in the club.
“When I finished football I gave a couple of years underage coaching with the boys," he told GAA.ie. "Then my daughters were getting to the age where they were starting to play at a competitive level from U12 up so I got involved there and was with the U-14 and U-15 girls for a couple of years.
“I got properly involved then in the running of the club and was vice-chairperson for a year before becoming chairperson and I'm in my second year of that.
“It’s been an eye-opener really. When you're playing you turn up on a Tuesday, Thursday, and at the weekend and you do your gym sessions and whatever. But when you're involved at committee level you realise there's so much more to a GAA club.
“There’s obviously a huge amount to it, starting with the finance point of view because every club needs finance and there's a lot of fundraising and grant applications to develop the grounds.
“And when it comes to the games you've football, hurling, and ladies football in the club so a lot of teams, and you'd also have Scór and many healthy club and green club initiatives. We've a great committee and a great work ethic within the club.
“It’s a challenge but it’s fulfilling because the club is the hub of most members' lives. We have barbecues, Christmas parties, Easter parties, summer camps, and whatnot. There's always something happening in the club and it's an integral part of all our lives really here on the black and amber side of Killarney town.”
Dr. Crokes GAA club members pictured on the walk in memory of Amy O'Connor last Saturday.
Their tradition of success has never led to complacency in Dr. Crokes. A big emphasis is placed on encouraging people to join their community rather than hoping they’ll simply turn up on the door-step uninvited.
“Obviously we're in Killarney town and there are three clubs in Killarney town so recruitment is a challenge for everyone,” says Brosnan.
“A lot of what are called the new Irish have moved in to Killarney who would traditionally be difficult to attract to Gaelic games and that's a challenge that we've embraced and we're meeting head on.
“Last year we started a new initiative called the Crokes Cubs which is basically an introduction to Gaelic games for six-year-old boys and girls, football and hurling. We coach them indoors for six weeks and that was a big success last year and got a lot of new people involved in the club.
“We also have a great set of teachers within the local schools who help us out in our recruitment too.”
After recruitment comes coaching, something that Dr. Crokes do very well. Their teams at all levels have a very identifiable, attacking style of play that’s only possible because such a premium is placed on drilling the skills of the game from a young age.
Former Dr. Crokes star, Eoin Brosnan, is now club chairperson.
By their own very high standards recent seasons had been hungry ones from a silverware point of view, but that was corrected last year when they won both the club and county championships as well as the county league shield.
Were they to beat Errigal Ciaran on Saturday and go on from there to win the club’s third All-Ireland title, they’d complete a remarkable clean sweep.
“2024 was a super year altogether and we're not finished yet," says Brosnan. "We have a semi-final and possibly a final to come, hopefully.
“The club was at a bit of a crossroads at the start of last year. The previous management team had stepped down and we know that there was a nucleus of a good team there and it took the likes of Pat O'Shea, Denis Coleman, Luke Quinn, and Andrew Kennelly to come on board and they have brought it back up to the level where we wanted to be.
“Pat is in his third stint as manager and he has won Munster Club championships in all three of his different stints so it just shows he knows how to put a team together.
“Last year we had a good bit of luck in so far as we didn't have any serious injuries whereas for the previous few years we had a lot of injuries which curtailed us. Hopefully that will continue for the next few weeks.
“There’s a good core of experienced players there along with an influx of younger talent.
“I think we have the Munster U20 footballer of the year for the last three years in the team. We have good players coming through in the club at the moment and that should continue because we had a very good minor team last year so we should get a couple of players from that in the coming years as well.”
Both on and off the pitch, Dr. Crokes of Killarney are in rude health.
