'There is a massive Kerry heritage. It’s in the DNA' - Aidan O'Shea's Kingdom roots
Declan Bogue
YOU CAN TRACE Jim and Sheila O’Shea’s heritage back to Killorglin, on the road out towards Glenbeigh near a picturesque spot close by Caragh Lake.
Kerry runs through them, according to the current Breaffy and former Mayo minor manager, Seán Deane, who has managed their three sons: Aidan, Seamus and Conor.
“The place where you come from is an important thing and in fairness to Jim and Sheila they are proud Kerry people,” he says.
“Obviously, Mayo is their adopted county, but there is a massive Kerry heritage. It’s in the DNA and has come out in the lads, the three of them.”
Aidan O’Shea, 36 years young this summer, is embarking on his 18th consecutive season for Mayo. In what may be a coincidence but we doubt it, his daughter’s name is Caragh. His wife, Kristin, is from Kerry.
When Mayo face Kerry this Saturday afternoon in Tralee, O’Shea’s memory might be cast back to the round four league game at the same venue back in 2009.
When he came on for Alan Dillon in the 55th minute, he narrowly missed out on the curious occurrence of being marked by another Aidan O’Shea, the current coach of All-Ireland club champions Dingle, and had to make do with Aidan O’Mahony’s company instead.
Still, the match report from that day included the line that, ‘Young Mayo minor star Aidan O’Shea also impressed in his cameo’ as they were beaten by two points.
Later that summer, they reached the All-Ireland quarter-final where they were beaten by Meath. O’Shea scored 1-1 that day.
His longevity is under-appreciated. Consider that his contemporaries that day against Meath included Minister for State Alan Dillon, Andy Moran who is now his manager, Keith Higgins who manages the U20s and GPA CEO, Tom Parsons.
O'Shea scores a goal against Meath in 2009. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
In many ways, the misconceptions around O’Shea was that he arrived as a scoring forward.
The problem was that his gifts were frequently required in other areas of the field. Many days he went out with a number 13 or 14 on his back and instead played around the middle, feeding ball in towards Cillian O’Connor, Moran or Ryan O’Donoghue.
Despite some indifferent seasons for Mayo as a whole, O’Shea’s record against them shows they managed to take as many chunks out of Kerry as any team might hope.
In league football, Kerry have beaten Mayo nine times in O’Shea’s career. Mayo have won eight times and there was one draw.
Within that record, they both have one league title at the expense of the other in the final.
In his early days, he faced Kerry in what they might call the Fear Láidir role. By 2011, he was in midfield alongside his brother Seamus. In the 2013 league meeting when they added to Kerry’s wretched start by winning 0-15 to 1-16, he was Man of the Match at midfield.
It’s often overlooked that, especially in the league, he remained around the middle for the large part of the next decade, including the league final of 2019 that Mayo won.
When Kevin McStay took over, he liked the idea of O’Shea closer to goal. In the 2023 league he played there and while he finished without any scores to his name, he caused wreck on Jason Foley. Beaming about it afterwards, McStay said: “It’s expected – he’s a big feckin’ man. Look at the size of him!”
It is against Kerry in the championship that O’Shea has played his part in some barn-burners.
Kerry have beaten Mayo four times in that competition, Mayo have won twice and there have been two draws; the All-Ireland semi-finals of 2014 and 2017 that spawned epics.
The 2014 replay became an instant classic but that, all the same, is 12 years ago.
Last summer, the Connacht semi-final win over Leitrim was his 200th appearance for Mayo.
With Stephen Cluxton now retired, only O’Shea and Donegal’s Michael Murphy (2007) remain of players who started in the noughties.
With Stephen Cluxton after the 2016 final. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Murphy has played in three All-Ireland finals, winning one, against O’Shea’s Mayo in 2012. Cluxton – who debuted in 2001 – holds the record for any player with nine All-Irelands.
We know O’Shea hasn’t won an All-Ireland and he’s lost plenty. But then you tot up the years, stop at six, and think ‘Holy shit.’
It’s clear that the journey has meant more than the destination for O’Shea. He has no choice in it.
“When you are with a county or a club, your ultimate goal is to win the championship. Win All-Irelands. 100%,” says Deane.
“But if that was your only motivating factor, I don’t think you would have many people playing football.
Knowing Aidan as well as I know him for the last 20 years, what motivates him is the love of the game. If it was about chasing this elusive All-Ireland medal, you couldn’t come back year-in, year-out again, just looking for that. It has to be the love of the game, the love of the county.
“Obviously, we know what the icing on the cake would be. Ultimately that is the goal down the line.
“But if that was your only goal, then mentally that can do an awful lot of damage to you. The love of the game has to be the main factor that I would see drives him on an ongoing basis.”
Seán Deane. Evan Logan / INPHO
Evan Logan / INPHO / INPHO
Even for all the torture of six Mondays as a losing All-Ireland finalist, Deane maintains that O’Shea would still be going now if one of those finals had gone his way.
“There’s no way you would play at that level for 20 years, the sacrifice and what you have to put in over that period of time, on and off the field, if you are only motivated by that one thing – the medal,” he says.
“I don’t know if you could do it for as long. What I see is a man who just loves his sport, loves being around the game and playing the game. I think that is the driving force really.
“Would he love to win an All-Ireland? 100%. Sure wouldn’t everybody?”
In their climb to get there, Kerry naturally have been the team that have stood in their way along with Dublin.
The 2014 replay was down in Limerick at the Gaelic Grounds. An evening when he and Cillian O’Connor collided accidentally and O’Shea suffered a striking facial injury. An epic unfolded and he was put back on in extra-time.
After a collision during the 2014 All-Ireland semi-final replay. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Three years later, and O’Shea was put into a position he had never tried before, full-back, marking one of the most awkward and knacky forwards the game had ever seen in Kieran Donaghy.
By the end of the replay, he had Donaghy broken and he lashed out at O’Shea, getting a red card.
All these years later, he finds himself back in Tralee. Still turning up and measuring up against them. Still testing himself.
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