| The Bernard O'Callaghan Memorial North Kerry Senior Football Championship | |
| Irish: | Craobh Sinsear Peile Chiarraí Thuaidh |
| Code: | Gaelic football |
| Founded: | 1925 |
| Region: | North Kerry |
| Trophy: | Éamonn O'Donoghue Memorial Cup |
| Teams: | 14 |
| Title Holders: | Listowel Emmets |
| Currentordinal: | 17 |
| Super: | th |
| Most Titles: | Moyvane |
| Sponsors: | McMunn's Bar and Restaurant, Ballybunion |
| Firstwin: | Moyvane |
| Mostordinal: | 18 |
The North Kerry Senior Football Championship is a Gaelic football competition for GAA clubs affiliated to the North Kerry Football Board, a division of Kerry GAA. The official name of the competition became The Bernard O'Callaghan Memorial North Kerry Senior Football Championship in 2000, in honour of the late Bernie O'Callaghan (Beale) who was Chairman of the North Kerry GAA Board for 25 years (1974 to 1998) and did a huge amount of work for North Kerry football.[1]
The Championship runs from October to December each year but has on occasion continued into the New Year due to replays and postponements. It is currently sponsored by McMunn's Bar and Restaurant, Ballybunion.[2] The current champions are Listowel Emmets, who defeated Castleisland Desmonds in the 2024 final, winning the competition for the 17th time in the club's history.[3]
The first North Kerry Championship took place in 1925 and was won by Newtownsandes(Moyvane), who defeated Faha. Moyvane have been the most successful team in the Championship with 18 titles.[4] 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.[5] As of 2024 fourteen different clubs have won the Championship.
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.
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.
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.[6]
All fourteen teams participated in the 2024 championship. The draw took place on Friday, September 13th which resulted in 12 teams drawn to play in the first round with two teams receiving byes to the quarter-finals.[31] After three rounds of play Castleisland Desmonds played Listowel Emmets in the final. It was the fourth time the sides met in the decider with Emmets now having won all four finals between the sides.
Byes: Ballydonoghue, Knocknagoshel
Semi-Finals[38]
| Team | Titles | Runners-Up | Winning years | Losing years | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moyvane | 18 | 15 | 1925, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1958, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1983, 1995, 1999, 2003 | 1926, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1960, 1970, 1971, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1996 | |
| 2 | Listowel Emmets | 17 | 12 | 1926, 1931, 1933, 1957, 1965, 1972, 1976, 1991, 1997, 1998, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2022, 2024 | 1927, 1928, 1946, 1962, 1975, 1985, 1992, 1995, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2014 | |
| 3 | Ballylongford | 13 | 14 | 1940, 1941, 1943, 1947, 1953, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1986, 1993, 2000 | 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1950, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1973, 1977, 1982, 1983 | |
| 4 | Ballydonoghue | 10 | 7 | 1945, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1959, 1992, 2016, 2017, 2023 | 1944, 1951, 1953, 1961, 1994, 2018, 2020 | |
| 5 | Beale | 8 | 4 | 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1989, 2014 | 1988, 1997, 2011, 2012 | |
| 6 | Tarbert | 7 | 11 | 1942, 1948, 1969, 1973, 1985, 1990, 2010 | 1930, 1931, 1932, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1959, 1964, 1974, 1976, 1999 | |
| 7 | Castleisland Desmonds | 6 | 7 | 1980, 1988, 2002, 2007, 2020, 2021 | 1986, 1991, 2001, 2003, 2013, 2022, 2024 | |
| Duagh | 6 | 5 | 1951, 1955, 1956, 1960, 1962, 2012 | 1947, 1949, 1952, 2002, 2008 | ||
| 9 | Finuge | 5 | 6 | 1967, 1987, 1996, 2001, 2011 | 1945, 1972, 1998, 2004, 2007, 2009 | |
| 10 | Ballyduff | 3 | 6 | 1994, 2005, 2006 | 1948, 1963, 1968, 1993, 2017, 2021 | |
| 11 | St. Senan's | 2 | 4 | 2018, 2019 | 1980, 2000, 2016, 2023 | |
| 12 | Clounmacon | 1 | 2 | 1954 | 1955, 1957 | |
| Craughdarrig | 1 | 0 | 1934 | — | ||
| An tArm | 1 | 0 | 1944 | — | ||
| 15 | Brosna | 0 | 2 | — | 2015, 2019 | |
| Faha | 0 | 1 | — | 1925 |
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.[72]
Match was semi-final but the last match to be played in Championship so Moyvane were awarded title.[73]