Joe Kernan (Gaelic footballer)
Encyclopedia
Joe Kernan is a former sportsperson from County Armagh
, Northern Ireland
. He played Gaelic football
with his local club Crossmaglen Rangers
and with the Armagh
senior inter-county team in the 1970s and 1980s. He won All-Star awards
in 1977 and 1982. He was the manager
of the Armagh senior football team and retired in July 2007 after Armagh lost to Derry
.
in Newry
. Following his secondary education there were few employment prospects in Northern Ireland
and Kernan considered emigrating to Australia
where three of his siblings had already gone. In the end he decided to stay in Crossmaglen and in the 1980s he ran a bar in the town. He closed the pub in the early 1990s and currently works as a self-employed estate agent and mortgage broker. In December 1976 Joe married Patricia Morgan, in 1983 the first of their five sons was born, they are Stephen, Aaron, Tony, Paul & Ross. The four eldest boys are well known due to their successes in football with Crossmaglen Rangers
and they are on the Armagh
panel.
with the Crossmaglen Rangers
team and, in time, would become one of the most celebrated players with the club. He won five senior county championship titles between 1971 and 1988. Kernan retired from club football in 1988.
playing debut in a McKenna Cup game against Donegal
in 1971. It took until 1977 for Kernan to have his first major success when he won his first Ulster
title. Armagh later played Dublin
in the All-Ireland
final, however, in spite of Kernan scoring two goals, he still ended up on the losing side. Kernan earned an All-Star
award for his performances that year.
In 1980 Kernan won another Ulster medal with Armagh, however, his side were later beaten by Roscommon
in the All-Ireland semi-final. A third provincial medal was claimed by Kernan in 1982, however, Armagh fell at the All-Ireland semi-final stage once again. In spite of this he was still presented with a second All-Star award. Kernan continued playing until 1987 when he retired after an Ulster final defeat to Derry
. It was his sixth provincial final appearance overall.
club title before defeating Knockmore to win the 1997 All-Ireland club
title. In 1997 and 1998 Kernan guided Crossmaglen to two further county titles. The latter win was later converted into a second set of Ulster and All-Ireland titles. In 1999 Cross captured a fourth county title in-a-row as well as a second successive Ulster title. On St. Patricks Day, 2000 Kernan’s side went on to win a third All-Ireland title in four years. Following this victory Kernan decided to retire from club management.
manager
, Paddy Moriarty. After Armagh were beaten by the eventual Ulster champions in 1989, 1990 and 1991 Moriarty decided to resign as manager and Kernan also walked away.
In November 2001, Kernan was appointed manager of the Armagh
senior football team. No stone was left unturned in preparing the team.
Eight months later Kernan’s side later went on to win the 2002 Ulster
title. This win allowed them to advance to an All-Ireland quarter-final meeting with Sligo
, however, no Armagh team had won a championship game in Croke Park
in twenty-five years. Kernan’s side defeated Sligo after a replay before disposing of Dublin
in the All-Ireland semi-final. At half-time during that match Kernan pulled the first of two famous stunts designed to inspire the team. He produced the old Armagh jersey that he wore in the 1977 All-Ireland final, and told his players that this would be their reward.
In the subsequent 2002 All-Ireland final
, Kerry
were leading Armagh at the interval. During his half-time speech he pulled the second of those famous stunts when he produced his runners-up plaque from the 1977 All-Ireland final and smashed it in the dressing room. Armagh later went on to defeat Kerry by a single point to win their first All-Ireland title ever.
In the 2003 Championship
Armagh reached the All-Ireland final once again, however this time they were beaten by Tyrone
.
Kernan's Armagh side recaptured the Ulster Senior Football Championship
in 2004 against Donegal in the first ever Ulster final to be held at Croke Park
.
In 2005 he guided the county to their first ever National League
title, before successfully defending the Ulster Championship against Tyrone. The following year Armagh became the first team since the 1959-1961 Down
side to win the Ulster Championship three years in a row.
In Kernan's five seasons in charge, Armagh played 36 Championship games and lost just seven of them, winning 23 and drawing six. The side never lost a Championship replay under him.
His record as manager of Armagh is unequaled and he has confirmed his status as a legend as both a player and manager.
for the Railway Cup campaign. He replaced Donegal
man Brian McEniff
who had held the role since 1982.
senior football team.
He however in August 2010 resigned after a very unsuccessful year with the result of Galway
getting knocked out of the championship early by being defeated by Wexford
.
County Armagh
-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. He played Gaelic football
Gaelic football
Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
with his local club Crossmaglen Rangers
Crossmaglen Rangers
Crossmaglen Rangers G.A.C is a Gaelic Athletic Association club from Armagh, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. They cater for Gaelic football and camogie. Their home football ground is St. Oliver Plunkett Park which was opened in 1959...
and with the Armagh
Armagh GAA
The Armagh County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Armagh GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Armagh...
senior inter-county team in the 1970s and 1980s. He won All-Star awards
GAA All Stars Awards
The All Stars Awards, currently sponsored by Vodafone, are given annually since 1971 by the Gaelic Athletic Association to the best player in each of the fifteen positions in Gaelic football and Hurling in Ireland. Additionally, one player in each code is selected as the player of the year...
in 1977 and 1982. He was the manager
Manager (Gaelic games)
In Gaelic games, a manager or coach is an individual involved in the direction and instruction of the on-field operations of a team. Managing, or coaching, entails the application of sport tactics and strategies during the game itself, and usually entails substitution of players and other such...
of the Armagh senior football team and retired in July 2007 after Armagh lost to Derry
Derry GAA
The Derry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Derry GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland. It is responsible for Gaelic games in the GAA county of Derry, which covers virtually the same territory as the former administrative county of Londonderry...
.
Early & private life
Joe Kernan was born in Dublin, in 1954. The second son in a family of three boys and two girls, his father died when he was just 11 years old and his mother died in late 2007. Kernan was educated locally and later boarded in Omeath and then attended the Abbey Christian Brothers Grammar SchoolAbbey Christian Brothers Grammar School
The Abbey Christian Brothers’ Grammar School is a voluntary day school for boys aged 11 – 18 years in Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland. A new £18million site opened on the outskirts of Newry moving the school from Courtenay Hill where it had been based since 1966, the school gives its name to...
in Newry
Newry
Newry is a city in Northern Ireland. The River Clanrye, which runs through the city, formed the historic border between County Armagh and County Down. It is from Belfast and from Dublin. Newry had a population of 27,433 at the 2001 Census, while Newry and Mourne Council Area had a population...
. Following his secondary education there were few employment prospects in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
and Kernan considered emigrating to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
where three of his siblings had already gone. In the end he decided to stay in Crossmaglen and in the 1980s he ran a bar in the town. He closed the pub in the early 1990s and currently works as a self-employed estate agent and mortgage broker. In December 1976 Joe married Patricia Morgan, in 1983 the first of their five sons was born, they are Stephen, Aaron, Tony, Paul & Ross. The four eldest boys are well known due to their successes in football with Crossmaglen Rangers
Crossmaglen Rangers
Crossmaglen Rangers G.A.C is a Gaelic Athletic Association club from Armagh, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. They cater for Gaelic football and camogie. Their home football ground is St. Oliver Plunkett Park which was opened in 1959...
and they are on the Armagh
Armagh
Armagh is a large settlement in Northern Ireland, and the county town of County Armagh. It is a site of historical importance for both Celtic paganism and Christianity and is the seat, for both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland, of the Archbishop of Armagh...
panel.
Club
Kernan played his club footballGaelic football
Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
with the Crossmaglen Rangers
Crossmaglen Rangers
Crossmaglen Rangers G.A.C is a Gaelic Athletic Association club from Armagh, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. They cater for Gaelic football and camogie. Their home football ground is St. Oliver Plunkett Park which was opened in 1959...
team and, in time, would become one of the most celebrated players with the club. He won five senior county championship titles between 1971 and 1988. Kernan retired from club football in 1988.
Inter-county
Kernan made his senior ArmaghArmagh GAA
The Armagh County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Armagh GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Armagh...
playing debut in a McKenna Cup game against Donegal
Donegal GAA
The Donegal County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Donegal GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Donegal. The county board is also responsible for the Donegal inter-county teams.Gaelic football is strongest in the...
in 1971. It took until 1977 for Kernan to have his first major success when he won his first Ulster
Ulster Senior Football Championship
For information on this years competition, see Ulster Senior Football Championship 2011-2010 Draw:-2009 Draw:-2008 Draw:-Top winners:* All-Ireland winning years in bold.-Roll of honour:Notes:* 1907 No final result in records...
title. Armagh later played Dublin
Dublin GAA
Dublin County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association , or Dublin GAA, is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Dublin. The county board is also responsible for the Dublin inter-county teams...
in the All-Ireland
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the premier competition in Gaelic football, is a series of games organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and played during the summer and early autumn...
final, however, in spite of Kernan scoring two goals, he still ended up on the losing side. Kernan earned an All-Star
GAA All Stars Awards
The All Stars Awards, currently sponsored by Vodafone, are given annually since 1971 by the Gaelic Athletic Association to the best player in each of the fifteen positions in Gaelic football and Hurling in Ireland. Additionally, one player in each code is selected as the player of the year...
award for his performances that year.
In 1980 Kernan won another Ulster medal with Armagh, however, his side were later beaten by Roscommon
Roscommon GAA
For more details of Roscommon GAA see Roscommon Senior Club Football Championship or Roscommon Senior Club Hurling Championship.The Roscommon County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Roscommon GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games...
in the All-Ireland semi-final. A third provincial medal was claimed by Kernan in 1982, however, Armagh fell at the All-Ireland semi-final stage once again. In spite of this he was still presented with a second All-Star award. Kernan continued playing until 1987 when he retired after an Ulster final defeat to Derry
Derry GAA
The Derry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Derry GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland. It is responsible for Gaelic games in the GAA county of Derry, which covers virtually the same territory as the former administrative county of Londonderry...
. It was his sixth provincial final appearance overall.
Crossmaglen Rangers
In 1993 Kernan became manager of Crossmaglen Rangers. At the time Crossmaglen football was at an all-time low. Three years later in 1996, after the club had won four under-21 county titles in-a-row, Kernan guided the senior side to a first county championship in 11 years. Crossmaglen went on to claim the UlsterUlster Senior Club Football Championship
The Ulster Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football club competition played between the top clubs in Ulster. The trophy awarded to the winners is the Seamus McFerran Cup...
club title before defeating Knockmore to win the 1997 All-Ireland club
All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship
The All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament run since 1971, played between the thousands of senior football clubs in Ireland. The current champions are Crossmaglen Rangers of Armagh, who defeated St. Brigid's of Roscommon on March 17, 2011 to win their...
title. In 1997 and 1998 Kernan guided Crossmaglen to two further county titles. The latter win was later converted into a second set of Ulster and All-Ireland titles. In 1999 Cross captured a fourth county title in-a-row as well as a second successive Ulster title. On St. Patricks Day, 2000 Kernan’s side went on to win a third All-Ireland title in four years. Following this victory Kernan decided to retire from club management.
Armagh
In 1989 Kernan got a first taste of inter-county management when he served as assistant to the ArmaghArmagh GAA
The Armagh County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Armagh GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Armagh...
manager
Manager (Gaelic games)
In Gaelic games, a manager or coach is an individual involved in the direction and instruction of the on-field operations of a team. Managing, or coaching, entails the application of sport tactics and strategies during the game itself, and usually entails substitution of players and other such...
, Paddy Moriarty. After Armagh were beaten by the eventual Ulster champions in 1989, 1990 and 1991 Moriarty decided to resign as manager and Kernan also walked away.
In November 2001, Kernan was appointed manager of the Armagh
Armagh GAA
The Armagh County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Armagh GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Armagh...
senior football team. No stone was left unturned in preparing the team.
Eight months later Kernan’s side later went on to win the 2002 Ulster
Ulster Senior Football Championship
For information on this years competition, see Ulster Senior Football Championship 2011-2010 Draw:-2009 Draw:-2008 Draw:-Top winners:* All-Ireland winning years in bold.-Roll of honour:Notes:* 1907 No final result in records...
title. This win allowed them to advance to an All-Ireland quarter-final meeting with Sligo
Sligo GAA
The Sligo County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Sligo GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Sligo...
, however, no Armagh team had won a championship game in Croke Park
Croke Park
Croke Park in Dublin is the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association , Ireland's biggest sporting organisation...
in twenty-five years. Kernan’s side defeated Sligo after a replay before disposing of Dublin
Dublin GAA
Dublin County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association , or Dublin GAA, is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Dublin. The county board is also responsible for the Dublin inter-county teams...
in the All-Ireland semi-final. At half-time during that match Kernan pulled the first of two famous stunts designed to inspire the team. He produced the old Armagh jersey that he wore in the 1977 All-Ireland final, and told his players that this would be their reward.
In the subsequent 2002 All-Ireland final
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 2002
-Munster Senior Football Championship:-----------------------------Ulster Senior Football Championship:-------------------------------------Leinster Senior Football Championship:--------------------------------...
, Kerry
Kerry GAA
The Kerry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Kerry...
were leading Armagh at the interval. During his half-time speech he pulled the second of those famous stunts when he produced his runners-up plaque from the 1977 All-Ireland final and smashed it in the dressing room. Armagh later went on to defeat Kerry by a single point to win their first All-Ireland title ever.
In the 2003 Championship
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 2003
The 2003 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was won by Tyrone in a landmark final that was the first All-Ireland final that was contested by two teams from the same province, Tyrone, and Armagh - both from Ulster....
Armagh reached the All-Ireland final once again, however this time they were beaten by Tyrone
Tyrone GAA
The Tyrone County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Tyrone GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Tyrone. The county board is also responsible for the Tyrone inter-county teams....
.
Kernan's Armagh side recaptured the Ulster Senior Football Championship
Ulster Senior Football Championship
For information on this years competition, see Ulster Senior Football Championship 2011-2010 Draw:-2009 Draw:-2008 Draw:-Top winners:* All-Ireland winning years in bold.-Roll of honour:Notes:* 1907 No final result in records...
in 2004 against Donegal in the first ever Ulster final to be held at Croke Park
Croke Park
Croke Park in Dublin is the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association , Ireland's biggest sporting organisation...
.
In 2005 he guided the county to their first ever National League
National Football League (Ireland)
The National Football League is a Gaelic football tournament held annually between the county teams of Ireland, under the auspices of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The prize for the winning team is the New Ireland Cup, presented by the New Ireland Assurance Company...
title, before successfully defending the Ulster Championship against Tyrone. The following year Armagh became the first team since the 1959-1961 Down
Down GAA
The Down County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Down GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Down...
side to win the Ulster Championship three years in a row.
In Kernan's five seasons in charge, Armagh played 36 Championship games and lost just seven of them, winning 23 and drawing six. The side never lost a Championship replay under him.
His record as manager of Armagh is unequaled and he has confirmed his status as a legend as both a player and manager.
Ulster
In August 2008, Kernan was announced the new manager of UlsterUlster GAA
The Ulster Council is a Provincial council of the Gaelic Athletic Association sports of hurling, Gaelic football, camogie, and handball in the province of Ulster. The headquarters of the Ulster GAA is based in Armagh City....
for the Railway Cup campaign. He replaced Donegal
County Donegal
County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...
man Brian McEniff
Brian McEniff
Brian McEniff is known in Ireland as being a successful Gaelic football manager.-Early Life:...
who had held the role since 1982.
Galway
In September 2009, Kernan was announced as the new manager of the GalwayGalway GAA
The Galway County Boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Galway GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Galway. The county boards are also responsible for the Galway inter-county teams.Unlike all other counties in Ireland,...
senior football team.
He however in August 2010 resigned after a very unsuccessful year with the result of Galway
Galway GAA
The Galway County Boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Galway GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Galway. The county boards are also responsible for the Galway inter-county teams.Unlike all other counties in Ireland,...
getting knocked out of the championship early by being defeated by Wexford
Wexford GAA
The Wexford County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Wexford GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Wexford. The county board is also responsible for the Wexford inter-county teams.-History:Hurling has been played in...
.