The KerrymanWednesday, February 16, 201126 CASTLEISLAND

JohnReidy’s Castleisland Contact John Reidy

Phone: 066 7142310/087 2359467email: mreidy@eircom.net

website: www.reidypix.com

C A S T L E I S L A N DDesmonds GAA Clubrounded off what canonly be described as aremarkable year forthem at the River IslandHotel here on Saturdaynight.

There was a limberingup preamble at the localcivic offices onWednesday.

There, their finestachievement in manyyears was honouredwith a civic receptionhosted by Kerry CountyCouncil.

In the course of thepast 12 months the clubhas celebrated the 25thanniversary of its All-Ireland Senior ClubChampionship win in1985. They did this witha gala dinner at whichthe legendary andrecently retired com-mentator, Micheal OMuircheartaigh officiat-ed. A memorable nightwas duly recorded in theannals of club history.That was on April 10 oflast spring.

They hoped, back then,for a good run over thesummer months. Littledid they realise thatthey would spend therest of the summer cele-brating a string of highprofile successes – witha remarkable finale inmid autumn.

The club’s guidinglights couldn’t even dareto dream of a better sea-son as the seniors wereinvited to take part inthe hugely popular RTE1 Celebrity Bainisteoirseries.

To state that the cluband its communityembraced the notion is awoeful understatement.

This universal partici-pation was driven in nosmall way by the arrivalof a remarkable youngman from Cork in theform of Derek Burke ofCrystal Swing fame.

He was the club’s allot-ted ‘CelebrityBainisteoir’ and heformed an instant bondwith the players, thementors and the commu-nity. The children (of allages) of the parish sim-ply adored him as hebrought the team to theglory they began todream of as the summerwore on.

Derek’s contributionto the club and commu-nity was pithily summed

up by one young, femalefan on a concrete postnear the Desmonds pitchduring the height of thefever and it survived thewinter.

He visited schools withhis players and spentwhatever time the teach-ers could give him ineach one. The childrenhad easy access to himand he signed jerseys,books heads and handsand was the nearestwe’ll ever see to thefamed Pied Piper.

Derek’s job was welldone and it all culminat-ed in a trip to ParnellPark and a glorious finalvictory over BallymunKickhams.

The return of the teamto the celebrations athome on the last eveningof September will bespoken of for years.

There was an historicangle to another finehonour bestowed on theclub just as the dust ofthe ‘Bainisteoir’ victorywas beginning to settle –if it ever will.

Divane’s annual calen-dar provided furtherassurance of the club’simportance to the com-munity it has serveddown through the years.

A copy of the calendar– which has found itsway to Castleislandhearts and homesthroughout the world

since its launch inNovember – was pre-sented to Cllr. MichaelGleeson at the civicreception on Wednesday.Cllr. Gleeson againproved what a finespeaker he is and hehonoured the occasionin his own inimitableand to the point manner.

The following is Cllr.Gleeson’s contributionto the historic occasionin the history of theclub.

“Ladies andGentlemen it is my greatprivilege to welcome youto this joyous occasionwhere we celebrate agreat achievement andhonour the victorious.

Gaelic football is ourrich inheritance and ithas shaped our historyand moulded our com-munities. We are aproud and richly privi-leged to live in a countywhere sporting excel-lence has become syn-onymous with all thatwe are and with all thatwe do.

Each of us is imbuedwith a deep pride in andpassion for the commu-nity that begot us andnurtured us. We arealways supremely happyto proclaim our countyof origin and our birthcommunity. It is rightand proper that it isthus. Right and proper

because bereft of com-munity we are merestraws blowing aimless-ly in the wind.

Castleisland has deepand rich history ofG.A.A. involvement andit has played a centralrole in very many of theKerry’s great achieve-ments.

The county’s first AllIreland title was won in1903 and the title wasretained in 1904. Centralto those historic tri-umphs was DinnyBreen, whose name andfame inspired many.

Ever since those tri-umphs Castleisland hasbeen to the forefront ofall that is best in Kerryfootball both on and offthe field of play.

Mundy Prendivillelater Archbishop ofPerth in WesternAustralia created hisown bit of history whenhe proclaimed his lovefor the game by elopingover the seminary wallin order to play in the1924 All Ireland.

His reward wastwofold, a prized AllIreland medal and expul-sion from the seminary.He eventually succeededin being ordained inanother college and thusbegan his remarkablelife as a churchman,whereby he was an arch-bishop by the age of 35.

Many years after hisleap over the wall,indeed when that exploithad been almost forgot-ten, he was invited backto be the ordainingprelate in the collegethat had expelled him.

Having duly raised anumber of young men tothe priesthood hecleared his throat andcommenced his homilywith the following dou-bly apt Biblical quote:

“And the stone whichthe builder rejected hasbecome the corner-stone.”

There have been othergreat names fromCatleisland and sur-rounding area that worethat hallowed Green andGold and each boughthonour and glory to theplace they deeply loved.The Geaneys : Con andDave, TimmyO’Sullivan, John JoeSheehan, The Hannafinsand a particular hero ofmine the powerful andrugged Tim ‘the Tiger’Lyons. More recentlythere have been otherswho proudly began theircareers in the Blue andWhite - the legendaryCharlie Nelligan and theelegant Mossie Lyons.

1950 will always befondly remembered asthe ‘Island won theCounty Championship,defeating in a replay a

powerful Killarney 15.Your glory year of ’85

raised your Club tomembership of the pan-theon of giants of thegame. Being All IrelandClub Championsbrought the assuranceof immortality and theguarantee of being for-ever mentioned amongthe giants of what con-stitutes the organisa-tion’s essence —TheClub.

Your triumph in lastyear’s CelebrityBainisteoir proved thatyou are still a powerfuland dynamic club, forev-er pursuing excellence,forever setting stan-dards for other club andmost importantly inspir-ing the youth of yourarea.

The pride that youhave in your Club andpassion that you havefor its jersey was etchedin every television face.The joy of your triumphin that exciting final inParnell Park recalled formany the thrill that isvictory.

I’m ill-qualified tospeak about the valuethat the Hucklebuck wasto your successful jour-ney but I certainly recallthat even attempting tomaster it as BrendanBowyer gyrated was fartoo much for my achinglimbs and gasping lungs.

Jack O’Connor mayhave some interest inadopting and adaptingits more demandingmoves.

I congratulate you,Derek, on transmittingyour enthusiasm andcommitment to willinghosts. Your achievementmeans that your nameand fame are foreversecure in this town. Youhave also the unique dis-tinction of being theonly person from out-side the county to train aKerry team to AllIreland football victory. Isalute you.

On behalf of myCouncil colleagues, ourarea manager, our engi-neer and our excellentstaff I salute all herepresent on your greatsuccess and for the mag-nificent manner inwhich you representedyour town and our coun-ty.

Your great victory inParnell Park has addedfurther lustre to a townand a county wherefootball excellence andpride in place are thevery essence of ourbeing.

I wish your great clubcontinued success andlook forward to manyfurther successes for theIsland town in both localand national competi-tions.”

Desmonds’ achievementshonoured by civic reception

Cllr. Michael Gleeson receiving a copy of Divane's 2011 calendar whichchronicles the history of Castleisland Desmonds GAA Club from Denis Divane,MD Stanley Divane & Sons at Wednesday's civic reception. Included are fromleft: John Breen, Kerry County Council area manager; Michael John Kearney,chairman Desmonds and Derek Burke whose contribution to the club as CelebrityBainisteoir was praised by all the speakers at the reception. Photo by John Reidy

Celebrity Bainisteoir, Derek Burke pictured with Desmonds club members at theKerry County Council hosted civic reception on Wednesday. From left: DonalKelliher, Jimmy Greaney, Mary Horan and Seán Brennan. Photo by John Reidy