Liam Kearns
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Irish name | Liam Ó Ciaráin | ||
| Sport | Gaelic football | ||
| Position | ? | ||
| Born |
1962 Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland | ||
| Club(s) | |||
| Years | Club | ||
| Austin Stacks | |||
| Club titles | |||
| Kerry titles | 1 | ||
| Munster titles | 0 | ||
| Inter-county(ies) | |||
| Years | County | ||
| Kerry | |||
Liam Kearns is a Gaelic football manager. He has managed Offaly since 2022. He previously managed Limerick, Laois and Tipperary. After leaving Tipperary and before being appointed Offaly manager, Kearns managed Clann na nGael GAA (Roscommon).
Tralee man Kearns, whose mother is from Laois, was appointed as Mick O'Dwyer’s successor in September 2006. He previously managed Limerick for six years and helped to raise the county's profile in that time. In being appointed he saw off the challenge of former Laois star Pat Roe, who had a successful spell in charge of Wexford.
Playing career
As a player, Liam was a member of the Austin Stacks club and played for the Kerry minor team for two year winning an All-Ireland Minor Football Championship with them in 1980.[citation needed]
He graduated to become a member of the Kerry Under 21 and senior football panels and won a Kerry Senior Football Championship medal with Austin Stacks in 1986.[citation needed]
His father Ollie captained Kerry to an All-Ireland Minor Football Championship final in the late 50s and then was a wing forward on the Graiguecullen team that won their last Laois Senior Football Championship title in 1965.[citation needed]
Managerial career
Liam Kearns coached Na Piarsaigh to the Limerick U21 Football Championship in 1997, the club's only U21 football county title, a team that contained Declan Lynch (Head of Sports Medicine Bath Rugby), Mike Prendergast (Assistant Coach to Grenoble), Ian Costello (Former Backs Coach to Munster) and captained by Comdt Joe Mullins.
Kearns is highly regarded as a manager and coach and during his spell with Limerick he turned them into the second team in Munster as they outshone Cork.
He managed the Limerick under 21 side to successive Munster titles and to an All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship final appearance. In 2003 he led Limerick to a Division 2 National Football League final where they were beaten by Westmeath on the same day that Laois lost to Tyrone in the Division 1 decider.
The following year he was in charge when Limerick beat Laois in a Division 1 National Football League tie at the Gaelic Grounds and that year Limerick reached the Munster Senior Football Championship final which they lost on a replay to Kerry.
In 2010 he led Aherlow to the Tipperary Senior Football Championship.
In November 2015, Kearns was named as the new manager of the Tipperary senior football team.[1][2][3] In June 2016, Tipperary reached the Munster final after a 3–15 to 2–16 win against Cork. They went on to defeat Derry by 1–21 to 2–17 in round 3A of the qualifiers to reach the All Ireland Quarter-finals for the first time.[4] On 31 July 2016, Tipperary defeated Galway in the 2016 All-Ireland Quarter-finals at Croke Park to reach their first All-Ireland semi-final since 1935.[5][6][7] On 21 August 2016, Tipperary were beaten in the semi-final by Mayo on a 2–13 to 0-14 scoreline.[8][9][10]
On 8 April 2017, Tipperary won the Division 3 final of the 2017 National Football League after a 3–19 to 0–19 win against Louth in Croke Park.[11]
On 9 June 2019, Kearns resigned as manager of the Tipperary senior football team after defeat to Down in the 2019 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.[12]
After resigning as Tipperary manager, Kearns became manager of Roscommon GAA club Clann na nGael.[13]
On 11 August 2022, he was announced as Offaly manager, succeeding John Maughan.[14]
References
- ^ "Liam Kearns appointed Tipperary football manager". RTÉ Sport. 28 November 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
- ^ "'We can be right up with the big boys' - Liam Kearns has high hopes for Tipp". Irish Independent. 26 November 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
- ^ "Liam Kearns confirmed as new Tipperary football boss". Irish Examiner. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
- ^ "Fightback takes Tipperary's footballers into their first ever All-Ireland quarter-final". Irish Examiner. 23 July 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
- ^ "History-makers Tipperary annihilate Galway to reach first All-Ireland semi since 1935". Irish Independent. 31 July 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
- ^ "A new chapter in Tipperary's fairytale season". Irish Examiner. 1 August 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
- ^ "Liam Kearns: 'A semi-final? We'd have told you to lie down in a darkened room'". Irish Examiner. 19 August 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
- ^ "Fairytale over for Tipperary as unconvincing Mayo progress to All-Ireland final". Irish Examiner. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
- ^ "Mayo edge dogged Tipperary to book first All-Ireland final place since 2013". Irish Independent. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
- ^ "I told them to come back here - to not let this be the end, says proud Kearns". Irish Independent. 22 August 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
- ^ "Kearns vows that Tipperary will only get better following stunning Croke Park success". The 42. 10 April 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
- ^ "Tipperary Press Release – Liam Kearns resignation". Tipperary GAA. 9 June 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
- ^ "Premier ambitions - football finding its feet in hurling country once again". RTÉ. 2 December 2020.
Kearns, now managing Roscommon club Clann na nGael, is pragmatic about hurling's primacy in the county but believes that the current crop's achievements have re-established respect for football in Tipp.
- ^ "Liam Kearns confirmed as new Offaly manager". RTÉ. 11 August 2022.