North Kerry Senior Football Championship

The North Kerry Senior Football Championship is a Gaelic football competition for GAA clubs affiliated to the North Kerry Football Board, a division of Kerry GAA. The official name of the competition became The Bernard O'Callaghan Memorial North Kerry Senior Football Championship in 2000, in honour of the late Bernie O'Callaghan who was Chairman of the North Kerry GAA Board for 25 years and did a huge amount of work for North Kerry football.
The Championship runs from October to December each year but has on occasion continued into the New Year due to replays and postponements. It is currently sponsored by McMunn's Bar and Restaurant, Ballybunion. The current champions are Listowel Emmets, who defeated Knocknagoshel in the 2025 final, retaining their title and winning the competition for a record equalling 18th time.

History

The first North Kerry Championship took place in 1925 and was won by Newtownsandes (Moyvane), who defeated Faha. Moyvane, along with Listowel Emmets have been the most successful teams in the Championship with 18 titles each. In 1983, shortly after the death of Asdee native Éamonn O'Donoghue, Castleisland Desmonds and Ballylongford jointly presented a Cup in his honour to the North Kerry Football Board to be presented to the Championship winners each year. As of 2025 fourteen different clubs have won the Championship.

Format

The Championship is played on a straight knock-out basis. First round games give home advantage to first drawn out in ties following an open draw, with all further round matches being played at neutral venues.

Current format

First round: 12 teams contest this round. The 6 winning teams advance directly to the quarter-final stage. The 6 losing teams are eliminated from the championship.
Quarter-finals: The six first round winners and the two teams given a bye contest this round. The four winners from these four games advance to the semi-finals.
Semi-finals: The four quarter-final winners contest this round. The two winners from these two games advance to the final.
Final: The two semi-final winners contest the final. The winning team are declared champions.
All first round and quarter-final matches are decided on the day, with extra-time and penalties being used if necessary to decide the winner. The semi-finals and final will go to a replay if level at full-time.

Teams

Fourteen clubs compete in the North Kerry Senior Football Championship: five teams from Feale Rangers, three teams from [St Kieran's Gaelic Athletic Association|GAA (Kerry)|St Kieran's] and six teams from Shannon Rangers.

Team	Home Ground	Divisional Side	Founded
Asdee	Jack Walsh Park, Tullahennel	Shannon Rangers	1986
Ballydonoghue	Denis Dowling Park, Coolard	Shannon Rangers	1930s
Ballyduff	Ballyduff Sportsfield, Ballyduff	Shannon Rangers	1911
Ballylongford	O'Rahilly Park, Ballylongford	Shannon Rangers
Beale	Bob Stack Park, Ballybunion	Shannon Rangers	1972
Brosna	Páirc na Féile, Brosna	St. Kieran's	1970s
Castleisland Desmonds	Moanmore, Castleisland	St. Kieran's	1885
Duagh	Duagh GAA Field, Duagh	Feale Rangers	1891
Finuge	James O'Sullivan Park, Finuge	Feale Rangers	1961
Knocknagoshel	Willie Walsh Park, Knocknagoshel	St. Kieran's	1932
Listowel Emmets	Frank Sheehy Park, Listowel	Feale Rangers	1885
Moyvane	Con Brosnan Park, Moyvane	Feale Rangers	1900
St Senan's	Jackie Finnerty Park, Mountcoal	Feale Rangers	1934
Tarbert	Shannon Park, Tarbert	Shannon Rangers	1904

2025 Championship

13 teams entered the 2025 championship, with Asdee dropping out. The draw for the First Round and Quarter-finals took place on 2 October which resulted in 10 teams drawn to play in the first round with 3 teams receiving byes to the quarter-finals.
After victories over Brosna, Castleisland Desmonds and St Senan's, Knocknagoshel played in their first ever North Kerry Championship Final. Their opponents were reigning Champions Listowel Emmets who reached the final with wins over Beale, Ballydonoghue and Ballyduff. They were looking to win a record equalling 18th title.
The final was played on Sunday, 23 November at Páirc na Féile in Brosna and it ended in a draw. The replay, played a week later in Ballylongford was won by Listowel Emmets.
Round 1
Byes: Moyvane,
St. Senan's, Tarbert
Quarter-Finals
Semi-finals
'''Final'''

Records

Most titles (Team)

18 – Moyvane, Listowel Emmets

Most titles (Individual)

10 – Ger McCarthy
9 – Shane Quinn

Most Consecutive titles

4 – Moyvane
3 – Moyvane, Beale

Most Final appearances

Biggest final winning margin

16 pts – Ballydonoghue v. St. Senan's, 2016

Longest gaps between titles

50 years – Duagh
33 years – Ballydonoghue
25 years – Beale
24 years – Listowel Emmets, Ballydonoghue
21 years – Tarbert
20 years – Finuge, Tarbert

Longest time since last title (Current Championship teams)

25 years – Ballylongford
22 years – Moyvane
19 years – Ballyduff