Eamonn Fitzgerald looks forward to what promises to be a very historic and special night for Dr Crokes GAA Club when the members and VIP visitors celebrate a very unique link between Kerry and Dublin GAA
Dr Crokes GAA Club will be reeling back 100 years on Friday night when it celebrates a very unusual occasion in the clubhouse.
The Bermingham family of Terry, Paul, Mossie and Liz will travel from Dublin to link up with the club their grandfather, Jimmy Bermingham, played for in 1923 and to present a magnificent Jimmy Bermingham Memorial Cup to the club.
Sporting all-rounder Jimmy also won a Munster medal with Kerry and three Ireland soccer caps from 1928 to 1930, having played with his beloved Bohemians in Dublin.
On 2nd August 1922, the Lady Wicklow landed at Fenit with 450 members of the notorious Dublin Guard sent into Kerry by the Free State authorities to root out the dogged resistance of the IRA in Kerry.
This became known as The Kerry Landing, a crucial episode during the Civil War in the county which was the worst of all wars.
Jimmy Bermingham was one of those Free State soldiers and, while in Killarney, he played Gaelic football with Crokes and received a call up from Kerry, although soccer remained his first love.
When the great but intense Kevin Heffernan-Mick O’Dwyer Kerry v Dublin rivalry took off in 1975, the Berminghams were all part of Heffo’s Army, true Blues supporting the Dubs, but their grandfather Jimmy Bermingham always insisted: “Kerry is my team and I’m supporting them”.
On the night the Berminghams will bring their grandfather’s Munster medal, which he didn’t receive from the Munster Council until 2023, a century after winning it.
He earned it in the Munster final played in a downpour at Tralee on 14th October 1923 which Kerry won 0-6 to 0-3 against Tipperary.
His family will also bring his three international soccer caps, photographs of his first international against England in Cliftonville and other memorabilia, including newspaper reports of their famous grandfather who was never far from controversy.
The event will commence at 7.30pm and everybody is welcome.
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