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Dan Kavanagh, born and raised in the heartland of the
Corca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht died in January 2008. This is
how he told us why he joined Dr Crokes away back in the
Spring of 1945. His work as an engineer brought him to
Killarney, but he didn’t know the place. He headed for
Scott’s Hotel, which was the centre for GAA people at
the time. Legion was the dominant club, while Dr Crokes
was going through lean times, despite the great efforts
of John Moynihan. Rivalry was as intense as ever and as
soon as a footballer came to town, major efforts were
made to enlist him for the rival clubs. “I hadn’t passed
the courthouse on the following morning when I was
approached by a group asking me to join up” said the
West Kerry man. He was a prize signing of course, as he
had starred with Dingle in their county championship win
in the previous year. He held his counsel and didn’t
join up immediately.
So what helped him to decide ? “an aithne a
bhí agam ar Billy Myers fé ndear dom athrú go dtí Na
Crócaigh “, he said. But there was an even greater
incentive as Billy’s sister, Nellie Myers, was in the
picture. She was an outstanding camogie player and
athlete in her own right. Cupid got to work and Dan
Kavanagh married Nellie.
She can track back almost a century to her own father,
the great Jack Myers, who won several All Irelands with
Kerry. Her husband Dan, and her brother Billy, followed
on with the successful Kerry /Dr Crokes winning
combination and then enter the next generation of
Kavanaghs, Donal and Sean won O’Donoghue Cup medals with
Dr Crokes. That brings us to the present generation,
where Dr Crokes star wing back Eanna, a son of Paula and
Donal, keeps the Myers/ Kavanagh dynasty still thriving
for almost a century now. Eanna is an engineer like his
grandfather Dan.
County stars Dan Kavanagh and Billy Myers, along with
Teddy O’Connor and Murt O’Shea bolstered the Dr Crokes
team and of course the Dick Fitzgerald’s county
championship teams in the 40’s.
Dan Kavanagh has the unique distinction of winning Kerry
SFC medals with three different teams, Dingle, Killarney
and the Dick Fitzgeralds .
He won All Irelands with and against his native Kerry.
His work took him to Galway, Wexford, Cork and back to
Kerry .He won an All Ireland with Galway in 1939,
defeating Kerry in a replay and then won an All Ireland
with Kerry in 1946, also in a replay. His great Crokes
friend Teddy O’Connor starred in that game.
As a player and as an engineer, Kavanagh admired “the
continuous upgrading of The Fitzgerald Stadium”. He
always had great praise for men such as Dr Eamonn
(O’Sullivan), Small Jehr, Dinso Hurley, Jehr D Moynihan
who introduced the Whit Sunday Tournament, Michael
O’Connor and many more down to the present day.
Upgrading of ‘The Park’ continues to this very day. .
After he retired as Kerry county engineer in 1986, he
made a wonderful contribution to Dr Crokes, spearheading
the development of their new fields and premises, just
across the road from this stadium. His professional
expertise and love of Dr Crokes proved a fertile
challenge for him to transform a wasteland and
lake-filled property into the magnificent club centre it
is today.
Himself and Nellie visited it every day and met up with
other Dr Croke workers such as Murt Galvin, Murt O Shea,
Dan Kelliher, Brendan Keogh, Liam Murphy, Niall Keogh
and others.
When the un grassed main pitch was flooded after
torrential winter rain, Dan Kavanagh the engineer, took
the long term view to avoid this in the future and
raised the levels by one metre.
The family of Dan and Nellie Kavanagh, all live in the
Killarney area, Siobhan, Sean, Donal, Catherine , Eileen
and their respective spouses and families. They are all
keen GAA supporters-ní nach ionadh.- Briseann an dúchas
tre shúile an chait agus níl aon dúchas i measc na
gCrócaigh níos bunúsaí ná na Myers/Kavanagh dynasty..
It stretches right through the century plus history of
the black and amber.
Such is the greatness of the Dr Croke club.
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