Kerry and Mayo form unlikely western coaching alliance

Top-level Gaelic football is a small world. Kerry and Mayo make it feel even smaller.

Kerry manager Jack O'Connor, right, with coach Cian O'Neill. Pic: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile

As a long-time resident of the town, Donie Buckley might appreciate the comings and goings of coaches between Kerry and Mayo being likened to a Siege of Ennis.

For the only the second time in 20 years, the Castleisland man is not part of a senior inter-county coaching ticket. For only the fourth year in 15, he is not preparing either his native county or Mayo (he spent two years working with Monaghan in 2021 and ’22).