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Portrait Of A Kerry Fan
By Trevor O'Sullivan

"Tis a Kerryman's clear understanding That, when to those colours he's true, He's wearing a mantle demanding The best that a mortal can do". Joseph Smyth

Maurice Dowling is the archetypal Kerry football fan, one who exudes passion for the game and gives it an imperative role in his existence. He is an active member of the Kerry supporters club and utilises much of his time travelling up and down the country following the Kingdom. Now a retired member of the Gardai based in Mayo, Maurice has a superfluity of footballing memories garnered from the 1940's to the present day. In the present age of instant mass communication, following one's footballing county is a relatively painful process, in the past it was anything so. "It is not easy, now, to visualise the difficulties we had to go through in the 1940's or 1950's to get to see a football game or even to get to listen to commentaries on the radio," says Maurice. "I remember fine sunny summer Sunday afternoons sitting with my pals in the kitchen of Sullivan's pub in Ardfert, while the adults had to stand listening to Micheal O Hehir outside the open window due to the licensing laws".

 

Maurice's passion for the GAA was fostered at a young age; in National School he recollects playing regularly with friends. Neither he, nor his friends, turned into particularly prolific players and none of them got further than the Parish League. This did not quell the young Dowling's enthusiasm or verve and he still went on to every sports field "believing that we were one or any of the Kerry players of that time". His formative years were spent idolising Kerry legends like Joe Keohane, Danno and Frank O keeffe, Bill Casey, Dan Kavanagah, Paddy "Bawn" Garvey, Eddie Dowling and others of that ilk. "I had the great pleasure of meeting some of those heroes in New York at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Polo Grounds final in 1997".

Maurice's childhood memories of travelling to see Kerry play are still as vivid today. " I can recall visits to Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney and to the Gaelic Grounds in Cork. We always travelled by train in those days and they were very special outings. Going to Tralee, 5 miles away, was a journey back then". Maurice's biggest excursion as Kerry fan came in the 1951 All Ireland Semi Final, against Mayo, a county where Maurice would eventually earn his living as a member of the Garda Siochana. "My first real adventure was to Croke Park for the Semi Final of 1951.

 

Mayo beat us and later went on to defeat Meath in the final. It's hard to believe that Mayo would not win another title since that day. Neither did I think then that I would spend most of my life in Co. Mayo". Croke Park conferred even more zeal and fervour toward the GAA and in 1953 Maurice was back for the Kerry V Armagh final. "It was the first time I saw the county colours being displayed to such an extent. I was in O'Connell St. on the Saturday night and the place was awash with orange. That same colour swept into Croke Park the next day." The Kerry corner back on that team Donie Murphy also now resides in Mayo and Maurice is full of admiration for the work at underage football in the Connaught County. In 1955 Maurice spent the summer and autumn in the Garda depot in Dublin. "Most counties were represented in the Depot that year" says Maurice and in those days there was not the mad scramble for tickets there is now. "In those days we didn't worry about tickets. We just got there early and went into the sideline or the old Cusack Stand". In October of that year Maurice came to Mayo and has resided there ever since.

 

Most Kerry football fans have endeavoured to put their finger on why Kerry has attained such success. Maurice is no different. His own conjecture is that the success of Kerry teams of the past have impelled the teams of the present.
"Kerry's first All Ireland was won in 1903, the centenary comes up in 2003, and in each decade since then Kerry have won at least one championship. This would most likely act as a spur for oncoming teams." Maurice has an aversion to criticising any elements of the current coaching structure in the Kingdom. "I feel I would not be qualified to criticise these people, however criticism should be welcomed if it is constructive and fair." After most Kerry games, be they league or championship, one can often spot Maurice outside the dressing room talking to players or officials. He has a certain philosophy as to what is the correct thing to say on these occasions. " I have a policy where by I do not congratulate anybody after a win. I just thank them for the amount of work they have put in to give me and everyone like me such enjoyment and pride. This goes for everyone involved, officials, management and each member of the panel, whether they win, lose or draw." The current crop of Kerry players he believes are superbly talented and he says he has "no doubt regarding the ability of some of our present players fitting into the teams of the 70's and 80's".

 

I suspect the question many would solicit of a Kerry fan living 220 miles from home, is how they keep abreast of the latest GAA developments in the county. Maurice uses a profusion of different means to follow Kerry football. He utilises the Internet to read the latest editions of The Kingdom and Kerry's Eye and has always been a reader of The Kerryman. "I have been getting The Kerryman through the years, at first I got it by mail from The Kerryman office and in recent years I have it on order at the local newsagents." Listening to Kerry radio is the Holy Grail that most Kerry people living a good distance away from The Kingdom yearn to achieve. This writer has failed abysmally to get a decent reception but thanks to Maurice's persistence he has solved this particular dilemma. "I found some years ago that I could get a perfect reception on my car radio for Radio Kerry.

 

I have to drive about 4 miles South of where I live, to a particular spot to get that reception I spent most of Tuesday evenings out there listening to "Terrace Talk" and I have also gone out there to listen to various match broadcasts". Maurice makes clear his debt of gratitude to Weeshie, Liam and Seamus, the Trojans of Kerry Radio's Gaelic Football coverage.

 

Brendan Kennelly the poet, says football talk is about eternal things: style, courage, speed, cunning, defeat and renewal. In the midst of Kerry's crushing defeat to Armagh, football talk will begin in abundance, and one of those fans doing the talking will be Maurice Dowling. He wouldn't have it any other way.