Derek McGrath: Focused John Kiely will have another trick up his sleeve
29 July 2018; Limerick manager John Kiely speaks to his team following their victory in the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship semi-final match between Cork and Limerick at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Making the Fitzgibbon panel of 1995 in UCC as a fresher was significant. The great Canon O'Brien presided over a team laden with stars that included my own club man Johnny Brenner, Pat Hartnett, Donal O’Mahony, and Owen O’Neill. The heartbeats of the set-up though were the inseparable Gerry Maguire of Latin-Cullen and the now revered Limerick manager John Kiely. Welcoming, full of warmth, engaging and purposeful, both were also well able to pull a prank or two.
A first-round preliminary against a Tommy Dunne- and PJ Delaney-led WIT beckoned and Kiely and Maguire sought out their most vulnerable and naïve target… me.
