North Kerry Senior Football Championship

History

The first North Kerry Championship took place in 1925 and was won by Newtownsandes (Moyvane), who defeated Faha. Moyvane, along with Listowel Emmets have been the most successful teams in the Championship with 18 titles each. In 1983, shortly after the death of Asdee native Éamonn O'Donoghue (who won 5 Championships with Ballylongford), Castleisland Desmonds and Ballylongford jointly presented a Cup in his honour to the North Kerry Football Board to be presented to the Championship winners each year. As of 2025 fourteen different clubs have won the Championship.

Format

The Championship is played on a straight knock-out basis. First round games give home advantage to first drawn out in ties following an open draw, with all further round matches being played at neutral venues.

Current format

First round: 12 teams contest this round. The 6 winning teams advance directly to the quarter-final stage. The 6 losing teams are eliminated from the championship.

Quarter-finals: The six first round winners and the two teams given a bye contest this round. The four winners from these four games advance to the semi-finals.

Semi-finals: The four quarter-final winners contest this round. The two winners from these two games advance to the final.

Final: The two semi-final winners contest the final. The winning team are declared champions.

All first round and quarter-final matches are decided on the day, with extra-time and penalties being used if necessary to decide the winner. The semi-finals and final will go to a replay if level at full-time.

Teams

Fourteen clubs compete in the North Kerry Senior Football Championship: five teams from Feale Rangers, three teams from St Kieran's and six teams from Shannon Rangers.

2025 Championship

13 teams entered the 2025 championship, with Asdee dropping out. The draw for the First Round and Quarter-finals took place on 2 October which resulted in 10 teams drawn to play in the first round with 3 teams receiving byes to the quarter-finals.

After victories over Brosna (1st Round), Castleisland Desmonds (Quarter-finals) and St Senan's (Semi-finals), Knocknagoshel played in their first ever North Kerry Championship Final. Their opponents were reigning Champions Listowel Emmets who reached the final with wins over Beale (1st Round), Ballydonoghue (Quarter-finals) and Ballyduff (Semi-finals). They were looking to win a record equalling 18th title.

The final was played on Sunday, 23 November at Páirc na Féile in Brosna and it ended in a draw. The replay, played a week later in Ballylongford was won by Listowel Emmets.

Round 1

Byes: [[File:Colours_of_Kerry.svg|border|20x20px]] Moyvane,

Quarter-Finals

Semi-finals

Final

Roll of honour

By club

List of finals

Notes

Source:

Duagh awarded title as the only team to reach the final. The second semi-final was abandoned and never replayed.

Ballydonoghue awarded title without replay being played.

Championship unfinished, Ballylongford awarded title.

Match was semi-final but the last match to be played in Championship so Moyvane were awarded title.

Records

Most titles (Team)

• 18 – Moyvane, Listowel Emmets

Most titles (Individual)

• 10 – Ger McCarthy (Listowel Emmets)
• 9 – Shane Quinn (Listowel Emmets)

Most Consecutive titles

• 4 – Moyvane (1936-39)
• 3 – Moyvane (1927-30), Beale (1977-79)

Most Final appearances

• 32 – Moyvane
• 29 – Listowel Emmets
• 27 – Ballylongford

Biggest final winning margin

• 16 pts – Ballydonoghue v. St. Senan's, 2016

Longest gaps between titles

• 50 years – Duagh (1962 - 2012)
• 33 years – Ballydonoghue (1959 - 1992)
• 25 years – Beale (1989 - 2014)
• 24 years – Listowel Emmets (1933 - 1957), Ballydonoghue (1992 - 2016)
• 21 years – Tarbert (1948 - 1969)
• 20 years – Finuge (1967 - 1987), Tarbert (1990 - 2010)

Longest time since last title (Current Championship teams)

• 25 years – Ballylongford (last title in 2000)
• 22 years – Moyvane (last title in 2003)
• 19 years – Ballyduff (last title in 2006)

References

References

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