Tommy Griffin: Out of the West

Whatever happens in Croke Park tomorrow, Kerry will be nourished by its western extremities for the foreseeable future. Dingle and An Ghaeltacht are fertile breeding grounds for the nascent talent coming through the system. Who’s responsible is less important than facilitating the unimpeded movement of the conveyor belt. Five-time All-Ireland winner Tommy Griffin is better-placed than most to look back and forward...

At one end of the Páirc an Aghasaigh pitch in Dingle town, Dylan Geaney is practising with 13 footballs. Kicking points and retrieving every ball from behind the goal. And the 13-year-old does it again and again before Tommy Griffin hooshes him up the other end of the field because he’s setting up a training session for the local school team.

And then the coach realises what he’s done.