By Denis O’Hara
DAN KINNEY, once a powerhouse hurler in north Antrim, has sadly passed away this week in the Glendun Nursing Home at Knocknacarry. He was 95.
From a hurling mad farming family at Layde, outside Cushendall, he had a remarkable start to senior club hurling combat, when merely 14 years of age with the Cushendall Ruairi Og. He was a pupil at Knocknacarry Public Elementary School when selected in the Cushendall team’s midfield!
Then it was off to board at St Malachy’s College, where he was quickly recognised for the College team in the Antrim minor hurling league.
The College on the Belfast Antrim Road also saw young Kinney excel in Gaelic football, full back for the school side.
His team colleagues included icons of the game, including Jim McKeever, Donough Forde and Peter O’Hara.
The big red-haired Kinney was included in both Antrim Minor football and hurling squads.
He once revealed: “I opted for the hurling, beat a good Donegal team at Corrigan Park, but as 1945 Ulster champions lost to Dublin in the All Ireland semi-final at Croke Park.”
Also in 1945 he joined the Hardinge Street CBS students when they were evacuated from Belfast because of WW2 – and housed in the Cushendun Hotel for one year.
One year later Kinney was still in the Minor team mix, but losing again to Dublin in the national semi-final, staged at Corrigan Park
Before leaving St Malachy’s he helped the College win the Antrim minor league title. The squad included players such as Jim McSparran, Gerry Treacy, Alex ‘Stoots’ Mc Kay, Ernest McCaughan, Donough Forde, Pat McKinley, Mickey McShane, Colm Murphy, Seamus McQuillan, Jackie Darragh and Michael Dallat.
Kinney, forever a man of the soil, intended to become a Veterinary Surgeon but switched to journalism, starting in the Irish News.
After four years he moved to join the Dublin Herald, then over to the Manchester Guardian for a spell in the London office.
Kinney came back to Belfast to sign on for the Belfast Telegraph, before closing out an illustrious career as chief sub-editor for the Belfast News Letter.
Always a man for the great outdoors, he left an abiding legacy with his hugely popular weekly viewpoint in ‘Rod and Gun’
Back in the Glens he resumed old friendships with the hurlers.
The trio of Kinney brothers generally generated some weekly drama in the club contests – with older brother John the outstanding full back. Archie varied from defence to attack, with DC around half forward – while on the sideline was the ever present, ever supportive brother, Patsy.
Dan Kinney, better known then as ‘D.C’, was, like his brothers, a useful man in ring warfare – and did some boxing for St Malachy’s College.
He often recalled other tough as nails Ruairi Og players such as Jamie and Charlie McDonnell, Henry and Jamie O’Rawe, Danny ‘Dan’ McAlister, Willie McKillop, class county winger Chris McMullan, Robert Close, Mannix McAlister and Mick McKeown. They were masters of the old ‘Polo Grounds’ pitch at Cushendall.
Around retirement from media work D C set up a family home in Cushendun, at Clady Road, Dunurgan where his strapping son Danny Jnr, resides.
Also a red head, Danny Jnr was a regular with the Robert Emmet hurling team in Cushendun.
In 1973 Dan Kinney tested the water as a hurling team manager, with the Emmet’s.
He was joint manager with Gerard Scally when the men from the Riggs clinched the 1992 Antrim Intermediate Championship.
He was one of the driving forces behind the Cushendall breakthrough at senior level and one of Dan’s proudest moments was when Chairman of the Ruairi Og hurling club during 1981 when the team won thier first Antrim SHC title.
This was a year after he was the team boss, arranging a team for the future. His successor as team manager was the late Brian Thompson.