Kerry fans confident of 40th All

Kerry will bid for an unprecedented 40th All-Ireland football title when they take on Mayo in Croke Park on Sunday.

No other county has been as successful as Kerry in football - Dublin are second on the roll of honour with 31 victories.

Title number 40 is now within sight for the Kingdom, with just one more match and Mayo standing in the way.

Winning All-Ireland titles doesn't happen by chance.

Its mostly down to hard work and the honing of skills from an early age in nurseries, schools and clubs throughout the county, like at Beaufort GAA club in mid-Kerry, a beautiful plain at the foot of the MacGillycuddy Reeks.

Boys and girls aged six and up have been spending the fine summer weather learning and developing the basics of catching and kicking, tackling and passing, replicating the practice of generations that went before them.

Coaches Eve Broderick and Priya O'Donovan - both themselves underage All-Ireland winners - are confident Kerry will capture title number 40 on Sunday.

"I have to say Kerry is going to get the win, of course," says Eve Broderick.

"I think Kerry are very strong, from Shane Murphy in goal all the way up to [David] Clifford inside. I think they're very solid. Their backs are unmatched really. I don't think any forward line is going to get past them."

Priya O'Donovan agrees. She and Eve won an All-Ireland under-14 title with Kerry in 2022.

"I think Kerry are going to win, absolutely, being from Kerry," Priya says.

"I'd obviously love to see them win. I do feel Mayo are the underdogs at the moment, so hopefully Kerry come out on the better end of the game. I think Kerry should win."

Beaufort is the home club of Kerry centre-back Mike Breen and semi-final goalscorer and midfielder Sean O'Brien, and there's no shortage of confidence here.

Mary Breen is Mike Breen's grandmother. Denis Galvin is his grand uncle. There is sympathy for Mayo and the famine of All-Ireland titles that has afflicted that county, but they can't see beyond Kerry for this one.

"Well, we're hoping for a Kerry win, of course," Mary Breen says.

"If they were playing against any other county, we'd be shouting for Mayo, but we have to shout for Kerry, for Mike and all the Kerry team - they're outstanding. Sean O'Brien and everyone of them, they're an excellent bunch. We're very proud of all of them."

Denis Galvin remembers his grandnephew Mike Breen starting his career with Kerry as a two-time minor All-Ireland champion.

"He was a great footballer all along, great discipline," Denis says.

He predicts a Kerry win on Sunday too.

"They're the reigning champions. Our two neighbours over the road here - Mike Breen and Sean O'Brien - they have the experience of Croke Park, you'd have to say.

"You wouldn't begrudge Mayo one if we weren't good enough, but I think we'll win - four or five points, hopefully," Denis says.

Colm Kelly and Jimmy Kennedy coached Sean O'Brien and Mike Breen as underage players in Beaufort, and they're also tipping the two local lads to lift Sam Maguire on Sunday.

Colm coached Sean O'Brien as an under-14. He remembers him starting his career as a centre-back, and says he only occasionally played him as a midfielder, where he now lines out for Kerry.

"You would hope that, ultimately, our scoring power should do it for us, and I think we'll win the battle around the middle of the field where Mark O'Shea and Sean [O'Brien] are operating. I think they're improving with every game as a combination."

Jimmy Kennedy remembers Mike Breen having great strength as an underage player. He says he was the team's natural leader and go-to person, and he doesn't expect things to be much different on Sunday.

"For Mike himself, I'd have no worries whatsoever," Jimmy says.

"I think he's been outstanding right throughout the year. I think Kerry, if they win the battle out around midfield, have the forwards to win the match.

"I'd be slightly concerned about Mayo's full-forward line - they're very lively. But, if we can starve the supply into them, I think we'll be ok and get over the line."

Mary Jo Curran from Beaufort knows what it takes to win All-Ireland titles - she won 10 senior All-Irelands during an all-conquering career with the Kerry Ladies team in the '80s and '90s.

She says the club is proud of the achievements of Sean O'Brien and Mike Breen.

"We're absolutely delighted. We're very proud of the two boys, Sean and Mike.

"We've been watching them since they were under-10. We actually coached them. We had a few very good girls here in Beaufort as well that went on to play for Kerry at under-12. They were all on the same team and Mike and Sean always stood out, so we're looking forward to seeing them now, playing in Croke Park."

In 1984, Ambrose O'Donovan captained Kerry to All-Ireland success in the GAA's centenary year. As the centenary captain, Ambrose holds a special place in the hearts of Kerry people.

Every All-Ireland title is special, but some are even more special!

Today, Ambrose is a straight-talking GAA analyst with Radio Kerry, and he's tipping his home county to win back-to-back All-Ireland titles.

"I think, given what we've seen in the championship so far, I would have to go with Kerry, for two reasons," Ambrose says of Sunday's final.

"I think we've had a lot tougher passage, and the other big thing for me is that we're getting all our players back that were on the injury list. They're back in the panel, they're back in the team, and I think we're a strong side.

"With our panel that we have, one to 26, we're a strong panel. We have the power coming off the bench, be it in defence, midfield or upfront, that will strengthen our team.

"Games that they could have, maybe should have, but didn't lose. They won the games. They found a way to win and I think the same will be on Sunday."

North Kerry is a place famed for its writers and poets. To mark Sunday's final, Ballydonoghue Comhaltas group have taken a famous anthem - An Poc Ar Buile - and re-written it for the day. The lyrics were co-written by Grace Ní Ifearnáin, with her sister Emma.

She said the new lyrics came easily to herself and Emma because they had "the best players to write about".

"We wrote about it on our way to the Munster Fleadh last weekend," Grace says. We were on our way to Lismore and we were in the car. We did the song An Poc Ar Buile and we switched up the lyrics, because it's known to be a Kerry song after the matches - Páidí Ó Se used to sing it."

Among those giving the Kerry song their blessing in Ballydonoghue were Michael and Noelle Foley, parents of Kerry full-back Jason Foley.

Noelle remembers Jason as a child, always playing ball.

"Any minute in the day he had, he was always outside: kicking a ball; kicking off the back of the wall or kicking with his dad or his brothers - he was active," Noelle says.

The Foleys are also confident that Kerry will prevail over Mayo on Sunday.

"They're great occasions to be involved in, so we're looking forward to it," Michael says.

"If you have a certain Mr Clifford on your team, I think you're in with a great shout, and we have talent all over the field.

"I'd like to think that this team is maturing at the right time, so I think that if Kerry play well and if they perform, we will win."

On Sunday, Kerry will bring all their tradition and football to Croke Park, aiming to return with the county's 40th All-Ireland title.

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