Dan the Man: the Liberator, religion and football in South Kerry

In 'There I long to be – life through a GAA lens', Mick Clifford traces the cultural and social aspects of the association in one of its heartlands, South Kerry, all the way to the spectre of 'superclubs' in cities like Dublin and Cork today. In this excerpt, 1950s Ireland comes alive at a time when in rural Ireland there was a tug-of-war for supremacy between religion and Gaelic football

CHRISTMAS CRACKER: The South Kerry SFC final is one of the peninsula's great festive occasions iN December - often the townies from Caherciveen, St Mary's, are the ones to beat. Pic: Stephen McCarthy, Sportsfile

My father was born across the street from the Daniel O’Connell Memorial Church in Cahersiveen. He came into this world above the shop owned by his parents, Mick and Minnie.

The premises is located at a point where the street steps out, so the front shop window has a curved effect, making for a great display of buns and cakes and offering a unique view all the way up the back of Main Street. Someone came up with the idea of calling it the Round Tower. By the time my father was born, it also included a small restaurant where committee meetings for the local GAA club were regularly held.