Bid to honour Dublin GAA star Ciarán Kilkenny after retirement backed by Fingal councillors
A proposal to honour GAA star Ciarán Kilkenny in Dublin 15 following his retirement from inter-county football has been backed by Fingal councillors.
The eight-time All-Ireland Senior Football Championship winner retired from inter-county football in July after a 14-year career with Dublin.
At a recent area committee meeting, Fine Gael councillor Ted Leddy proposed installing “a public and permanent marking” in his honour.
Mr Kilkenny (33), who is from Castleknock, made his Dublin debut in 2012 and was a mainstay of the county’s historic All-Ireland six-in-a-row side between 2015 and 2020.
Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Leddy said Mr Kilkenny was “a local lad here from Carpenterstown” as well as a local schoolteacher who had won eight All-Ireland medals.
“That is really quite outstanding,” he said.
“Only three men have ever lived who have more senior men’s All-Ireland medals. So that really is something quite astonishing.”
Cllr Leddy said the end of Mr Kilkenny’s inter-county career should be marked with “something public”.
“I spent a lot of time this summer travelling around the country, and I know because a lot of towns and villages and communities do celebrate their GAA stars, sometimes with plaques or murals. This is probably the most common,” he said.
“I really think this could be something that could be a source of great pride for the community.”
Councillors from across parties spoke in support of the proposal.
“I have watched Ciarán Kilkenny on many, many, many, many occasions in Croke Park,” Sinn Féin councillor Angela Donnelly said.
“He is a very, very worthy candidate to be honoured in Dublin 15.”
Solidarity councillor John Burtchaell also backed the proposal, recalling meeting the “legendary footballer” in Wexford “a number of years ago” at a Dublin versus Wexford match.
Labour councillor John Walsh said Mr Kilkenny was “an outstanding role model”.
“I think it’s important that we honour outstanding sportspeople in our area. And it establishes a precedent to do that, actually. I think that’d be very positive,” he said.
Fianna Fáil councillor Tom Kitt said he supported the motion but raised concerns about setting a precedent.
“I mean there’s other players too who could be in line with that, and I think if we set a precedent giving one player, we’ll have to give them all,” he said.
However, Cllr Leddy said he did not believe there would be a problem with honouring Mr Kilkenny individually.
“Obviously there’s other sportspeople that might deserve it, but I think a lot of Ciarán Kilkenny’s colleagues would humbly admit themselves that Ciarán was particularly special, and his achievements were particularly special, so I don’t think there’d be any difficulty with that,” he said.
Chairing the meeting, Fianna Fáil councillor Eimear Carbone-Mangan also said she supported the motion, adding: “But I just want it noted that I grew up in a house that supported Cork GAA.”
Meanwhile, a plaque or statue in Mr Kilkenny’s honour would not be permitted under Fingal County Council’s current naming and commemorations policy.
Aoife Sheridan, senior executive officer in the council’s Corporate Services Department, said there were rules around commemorating living individuals with statues and plaques.
Ms Sheridan said the council would instead explore other ways of recognising Mr Kilkenny’s contribution to Gaelic games.
“We’ll consider other possibilities with the arts and sports office as to what could be done in terms of commemorating Ciarán Kilkenny’s input into Gaelic games,” she said.
“So while a statue or a plaque won’t be possible due to the rules, there may be something else that we’ll be able to do. I think Councillor Leddy mentioned a mural or something of that nature.”
The area committee backed the proposal, which will now be considered by the council’s Naming and Commemorative Memorial Assessment Committee.