Cherish the characters who make the game mean more

Every county has its own characters who are known far and wide and embody what the GAA is all about. 

CHERISH THE CHARACTERS: The late Ger Murphy, fan of Castleisland Desmonds, Kerry, Leeds Utd and friend to many.

This is what rituals are for. Kerry vs Cork in Killarney in the Munster Championship. Bask in the glow. Blood red versus green and gold. It’s intimate and familiar. No matter if we worry about the future, find the present predictable and prefer to reminisce about the past. The game will always be a stimulus.

This fixture still means something. In the simplicity of our childhood, it always meant an overnight bag and trek to my parent’s native county. It meant a stint in their hometown of Castleisland. It meant a visit to Moloney’s bakery for cheesecakes and buns. It meant a spin into Tommy Hickey’s one-stop shop for anything and everything. An eclectic mix of toys, music, road signs, garden furniture and more. Pockets laden down with dinkey cars, gobstobbers and magic markers.