Mick O’Dwyer, the legendary Kerry Gaelic football manager and player, has died aged 88.
Affectionately known as ‘Micko’, he had a glorious 57-year inter-county career as player and manager.
He had visited Donegal on numerous occasions during his career, and after he retired to attend GAA club functions and dinner dances.
Mick O’Dwyer was born on 9 June, 1936, in Waterville Co Kerry.
A hotelier and mechanic by profession, his love of football simply consumed him from an early age.
At 17, he played for the Kerry minors, losing in the All-Ireland MFC final. He subsequently made his debut for the Kerry seniors in the National Football League in the 1956/57 season.
As a Kerry footballer he won four All-Ireland medals in 1959, 1962, 1969, and 1970; 12 Munster Championships, including eight in a row; and eight National Football Leagues titles.
He retired in 1974 but a year later transferred from being a inter-county footballer to become the new Kerry boss. So began an incredible career as an inter-county manager. Indeed, he emerged as one of the greatest football managers of all time.
He guided his beloved Kerry to eight All-Ireland, including a four-in-a-row between 1978 and 1981, a three-in-a-row between 1984 and 1986, 11 Munster titles in 12 seasons and three National Football Leagues.
‘Micko’, as he was affectionately called – not just in Kerry but nationwide – simultaneously took charge of the Kerry Under-21 footballers, winning three successive All-Irelands titles for the green and gold.
After 15 years in charge of Kerry – from 1975 to 1990 – he moved to Leinster to embrace new challenges, taking charge of Kildare from 1991 to 1994.
In 1997, he was re-appointed and amazingly ended a 42-year Leinster title famine in Kildare. He actually won two Leinster crowns, guiding Kildare to their first All-Ireland final appearance in 70 years in 1998. However, they lost to Galway.
He also went on to manage Wicklow and took them to the last to the last 12 in the All Ireland championships in 2009.
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