THE death took place at the weekend of double All-Ireland senior medallist Kathleen Kelly.
Kathleen first appeared in an Antrim senior team towards the end of the 1964 season and she quickly established herself in a side that by then were perennial winners of the Ulster title and All-Ireland contenders.
She was at wing-back in the 1965 provincial title winning team that was stopped in the All-Ireland semi-final by Dublin who went on to win their ninth successive title.
Antrim reached the 1966 final and, even though Dublin only scored four times, they made it ten in a row with a 2-2 to 0-6 victory. However the Moneyglass stalwart had by now become part a resolute defence with goalie Teresa Kearns, Moya Forde, Eithne Dougan and Maeve Gilroy and it was that same formation that eventually dethroned Dublin after a replay a year later.
Her performance in Croke Park earned her a late call-up to the Ulster side and a couple of weeks later she added the province’s first Gael-Linn title to her list of achievements. It would be another 30 years before Ulster would win a second title.
Kathleen Kelly remained an ever-present in Saffron and Ulster teams over the next dozen or more years, moving to full-back where she featured in the single point defeat to Cork in the 1973 All-Ireland final defeat by Cork.
She was still in defence in 1979 when the Saffrons won the last of their six titles. The reason she didn’t feature in the victory over Tipperary in Croke Park was due to an injury sustained earlier in the competition. Fr Paddy Delargy was the Antrim team-manager that year.
“We were playing Kilkenny in the All-Ireland quarter-final. They had won three of the previous five All-Irelands,” he recalled.
“It was a very tight match and near the end Angela Downey broke free and was bearing down on goal. Kathleen threw herself into a tackle and managed to stop her. It won us the match without a shadow of doubt, but she picked up a bad injury and couldn’t play against Wexford or Tipperary. But we wouldn’t have won the All-Ireland without her.”
Kathleen worked as a manager in the retail trade, and put those skills to good use on the administration side of camogie both with Moneyglass and her county committee, serving several years as Antrim county Registrar. She was also heavily involved in amateur dramatics in her area and was a keen gardener.
Kathleen died on Friday and her funeral Mass and burial took place on Monday in Moneyglass.
Leaba i measc na naomh go raibh aici.
