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Kieran Denvir (Irish: Ciarán Denvir; January 1932 – 9 August 2022) was a Gaelic footballer and hurler from Northern Ireland. He was a member of the Down senior football team from the early 1950s until 1960. At club level he played with numerous teams, including Kilclief, University College Dublin, Ballina Stephenites, and Greencastle.

Career

Kieran Denvir came from a family steeped in GAA history. His father James was the first county chairman of Down in 1903. His three older sisters Una, Roseleen, and Angela, represented Down in the 1948 All-Ireland Camogie Final against Dublin and his older brother Brian played Gaelic football and hurling for both Down and Ulster before going on to manage the senior football team.

He first played Gaelic football at St. Malachy's College in Belfast as a schoolboy. He represented the college in the 1949 McRory Cup final. His performances for St Malachy's earned him selection for the Ulster Colleges team which won a provincial title in 1950.

Once he completed his studies at St Malachy's he enrolled as a veterinary student at University College Dublin in 1952. Over the next eight years, he gained prominence in top-class football beyond the county scene, while making his early appearances for Down back home. While playing club football in Dublin, Mayo, and Wicklow his fame became well-established with superb displays as a midfielder or forward.

As a fresher, his selection at right half-forward on the Sigerson team heralded the start of a brilliant six-year Sigerson Cup campaign at UCD. His first success came in 1953 and he went on to play in 6 Sigerson Cup finals (including the 1954 final replay) winning four Sigerson Cup titles, including one as team captain in 1955. During that time UCD also won the Dublin senior football League title. He was selected on the Combined Universities team of 1955 vs Rest of Ireland, which also featured Sean Murphy (Kerry), Kevin Heffernan (Dublin), and Sean Purcell (Galway) and further honours followed when he was selected for Ulster in 1955, 1956 and 1958 winning a Railway Cup in 1956.

During his third-level studies he was also eligible to play for his home club and in 1955 he won a County Senior Hurling Championship medal for Kilclief playing alongside his older brother Brian. The following year Kilclief were unable to field a football team, so he played his club football for RGU Downpatrick lining out alongside Derry's Jim McKeever who was living in Downpatrick at the time.

After he finished his studies, his profession took him to Ballina, County Mayo, where he transferred to the Ballina Stephenites club. He competed in both the league and championship, winning a Mayo senior football league title in 1958 and a runners-up medal in the Championship. As a vetarinary locum, he subsequently moved on to Baltinglass for a brief spell, helping them win their first football County Championship (although he missed the final), before moving to Kilkeel to set up his own veterinary practice. Here he finished his club career playing football for Greencastle and hurling for Kilkeel, playing until the late 1960s. In 1963 he added a Down Junior Hurling Championship medal to his collection with the Kilkeel team.

At inter-county level, Kieran Denvir played football and hurling for the Down minors from 1949-1950. He made his first Senior Football Championship appearance for Down in 1953 alongside Kevin Mussen, Jarlath Carey, PJ McElroy, and George Lavery and was a member of the team for much of the following decade. He was a very talented player who could play in the wing or corner forward positions as well as midfieldIn addition to representing his native county in football, he also played Senior hurling for Down, captaining the hurlers in the 1957 final of the Ulster Hurling Championship. Although he played much of his club football outside of Down due to work commitments, he always remained loyal to his native county regularly traveling long distances to represent Down.

Following defeat to Derry in the 1958 Ulster final, he won his first Senior football silverware in 1959 when Down claimed the McKenna Cup title, before winning their very first Ulster Senior Football Championship title, defeating Cavan 2-16 to 0-7 in Clones. Kieran lined out at corner forward on that day. Denvir added a Lagan Cup and a National League title to his collection in 1960 before winning a second successive Ulster medal. He won a Senior Football Championship All-Ireland medal in 1960, replacing Joe Lennon at midfield in the second half, when Down beat Kerry in the 1960 All-Ireland final to claim their first All-Ireland title. The final was played in front of nearly 88,000 spectators, a record attendance at the time which has only been surpassed by the final of 1961. Two weeks later he drew the curtain on his intercounty career winning the St Brendan's Cup when Down defeated New York in Croke Park, scoring a goal to help seal victory. In early 1961 he stepped away from the county panel due to work commitments.

Kieran Denvir worked as a Veterinary Surgeon until his retirement in 1995. He set up a private practice in Kilkeel County Down, from 1959 until 1973, before joining and working for the Department of Agriculture as a vet until his retirement. He married Monica McManamon from Belmullet County Mayo, whom he met when playing football in Ballina.

Death

Denvir died on 9 August 2022, at the age of 90.

Honours

Club

• Down Senior Hurling Championship: 1955
• Down Junior Hurling Championship: 1963

University College Dublin

• Sigerson Cup: 1953, 1955 (c), 1956, 1957
• Combined Universities Team vs Rest of Ireland 1955

Down

• All-Ireland Senior Football Championship: 1960
• Ulster Senior Football Championship: 1959, 1960
• National Football League: 1959–60
• McKenna Cup: 1959
• Dr Lagan Cup: 1960
• Wembley Tournament 1959, 1960
• St Brendan's Cup 1960

Ulster

• Railway Cup: 1956

References

1. "Kieran Denvir". Company Info website. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
2. Cahill, Hugh (2001). Down Year Book 2001. Down: Campbell Design.
3. Cahill, Hugh (2001). Down Year Book 2001. Down: Campbell Design.
4. "UCD and the Sigerson" (PDF). UCD website. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
5. McCartan, James (2010). The King of Down Football with Seamus McRory. Blackwater Press. ISBN 978-0-9566612-2-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
6. "Down's Sam Maguire Cup could have come sooner". Newry Memoirs. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
7. "1960: Down break new ground for a rich harvest". Irish Independent. 17 September 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
8. "Heroes who went down in history". Belfast Telegraph. 16 April 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
9. "Tributes paid to Down GAA 'history maker' Kieran Denvir". The Irish News. 10 August 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
10. "Death of Down All-Ireland winner Kieran Denvir". Hogan Stand. 10 August 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.

• 1932 births
• 2022 deaths
• Ballina Stephenites Gaelic footballers
• Down inter-county Gaelic footballers
• Ulster inter-provincial Gaelic footballers
• UCD Gaelic footballers