Liam Kearns left a huge mark on and off the field

There is some news, when heard at first, you just can’t believe. Or don’t want to believe. Sunday night brought such news.

The death of Liam Kearns, a current intercounty manager and just 61 years young, shocked the entire GAA community and wider Irish sporting public.

Kearns was a proud son of Kerry but his progressive work, managing the Limerick and Tipperary footballers in particular, long ensured his legacy would transcend county boundaries.

Under his watch, Limerick became a major force in the Munster championship while he led Tipperary to a first All-Ireland SFC semi-final appearance in 81 years. His bond with those players remained strong.

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Conor Sweeney, who was a key cog in that 2016 Tipperary team, suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury in late January this year. In the days afterwards, he missed two calls from his former manager.

“I rang him back, he missed me, we never got to speak. He was probably only ringing to see how I was with the injury because that’s the kind of person he was,” recalls the Tipperary forward.

“I was devastated when I heard the news, still am. My first reaction was, ‘this can’t be true.’”

When Tipperary won the Munster title in 2020, Kearns was in touch to pass on his congratulations. And when Conor won an All Star soon after, Kearns was again one of the first people on the phone.

“He was just one of those guys, a good guy all round. He had a massive impact on my life, on the field and off the field. What you saw is what you got with Liam, he was a straight talker, a great coach and a great manager.

“His professionalism was through the roof, he set high standards and expected the rest of us to follow. With Liam, he never asked you to do anything he wasn’t prepared to do himself.

“And outside of that, he was big on the whole bonding side of things. He knew the importance of that, he had a good balance. He was a great family man and his wife Angela, you couldn’t meet a nicer lady. It’s hard to wrap your head around it all.”

Kearns won an All-Ireland minor medal as a player with Kerry in 1980 and was part of the Austin Stacks side that claimed the 1986 Kerry senior championship. A retired Garda sergeant, during his spells in charge of Limerick, Tipp and Laois he carved out a reputation as an astute and ambitious manager.

He managed the Limerick under-21s to an All-Ireland final appearance in 2000, where they lost to Mickey Harte’s Tyrone. He led the Limerick seniors to Munster final appearances against Kerry in 2003 and 2004, the second of those going to a replay, and they were desperately unlucky not to win a provincial title during that era.

He managed Laois in 2007 and 2008, where he succeeded Mick O’Dwyer, and was part of the Roscommon backroom team during the reign of John Evans.

Having managed Aherlow to a Tipperary SFC in 2010, Kearns was then appointed as the county’s senior football manager ahead of the 2016 season – and in his first year he guided them to a first All-Ireland SFC semi-final appearance since 1935.

“2016 was a journey, that year he had us eating out of the palm of his hand,” says Conor.

“I loved his love for the game, that kind of shone through with how he coached and how he managed. He took us to places we never thought we could get to.”

Tipp won the National League Division Three title in 2017. Kearns stepped down as Tipperary manager following the 2019 championship.

He was linked with the Galway position later that same year before Padraic Joyce was chosen to replace Kevin Walsh but, last August, Kearns was announced as Offaly’s new senior football manager.

They won three of their first five matches in Division Three and remain in the hunt for promotion. Offaly trained on Sunday and Kearns was present, but on returning home he felt unwell.

“We are in deep shock,” Offaly chairman Michael Duignan said on RTÉ's Morning Ireland. “He was up training with us yesterday, in great form. He was never looking as well, he had lost a couple of stone in weight, he was training himself, dieting and looking after himself so well. It’s just hard to believe.”

Duignan added Kearns had told him this was to be his last intercounty job.

“He had retired from the Garda as sergeant and he said something to me: ‘I want to get this right because this is my last job’. And we didn’t think it was going to end like this.”

Noel O’Leary made his senior championship debut for Cork against a Limerick side managed by Kearns in 2003. Limerick won that Munster SFC clash by ten points in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

“I knew Liam a long time and I suppose I had the misfortune of my first championship game coming up against Limerick at the time,” recalls O’Leary.

“What you’d have to say about Liam Kearns is that his preparation, with every team that he was involved with, he was very professional and that Limerick team at the time, as we all remember, were as good as what was out there.

“I’m shocked, like everyone else. It’s hard to believe it, he was a very fit-looking man. I’d like to send my condolences to the family.”

GAA president Larry McCarthy said: “On behalf of the Association I extend our deepest sympathies to his wife Angela, their two daughters Rachel and Laura and to Liam’s many friends and colleagues. His loss will be mourned far and wide.”