It is 11,248 days since Cork won a championship match against Kerry in Killarney. So Google says. That 1995 Munster SFC final was “a glum day for Kerry football.” So the match report in The Irish Times says.
There is an account on X mischievously called, “How many days since Mayo last won Sam?” Its regular updates chronicle what it says on the tin. And while Cork’s losing streak at Fitzgerald Stadium hasn’t quite reached ballad-song crooning or social media roguery yet, there is no denying the Rebels are currently in the midst of a three-decade Killarney fallow spell.
Added to that, Cork’s last Munster SFC title success was in 2012 – so this is now also their longest provincial football title drought since a record 14-year winless run between 1928-43. If Cork fail to beat Kerry on Sunday, they will equal that barren period. In terms of Munster senior football titles, Cork has become a dry county.
Colin Corkery led the attacking line for the Rebels in the 1995 Munster final, finishing the game as top-scorer with 0-7. With the contest finely balanced late on, Corkery curled over an outrageous free from out near the sideline under the main stand while supporters crouched on the ground beside him.
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After a week of comparisons between Maurice Fitzgerald and Jack McCarron’s scores from the edges of the whitewash, it’s worth checking out Corkery’s 1995 beauty in Killarney. The score put Cork 0-12 to 1-8 ahead and at the final whistle the visitors had run out 0-15 to 1-9 winners.
“We were kind of in trouble for a while in that game. I do remember that score from the sideline though and thankfully we kind of kicked on from there,” recalls Corkery.
“You have to remember it was straight knockout then, so every game you played was like an All-Ireland final because if you lost your summer was over.”
That 1995 victory was Cork’s third on the bounce over their near rivals. It ultimately marked the end of Ogie Moran’s reign as Kerry manager with Cork securing a Munster three-in-a-row.
But Cork haven’t beaten Kerry in a Munster SFC game now since a semi-final victory in the Covid-impacted championship of 2020. And they haven’t beaten them in a Munster final since 2008. Both of those games were played in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
Kerry, who are bidding for a sixth consecutive provincial title, have won 12 of the last 13 Munster championships – Tipperary’s 2020 triumph is the outlier.
Since that 1995 provincial decider, Cork have played championship football against Kerry in Fitzgerald Stadium on 14 occasions without picking up a single victory – losing nine and drawing five.
In 2021, Kerry dished out a 4-22 to 1-9 hammering to their neighbours, the 22-point margin coming in as the biggest ever championship defeat suffered by Cork at the hands of the Kingdom.
“Kerry had a very good team during the period Páirc Uí Chaoimh was getting renovated so there were a few very tough years for Cork going down there,” says Corkery, an All-Star winner in 1993.
“But we’ve been steadily rebuilding since John Cleary has come in and they are starting to reap the rewards now.
“For a few years there, we didn’t have the kind of forwards that could guarantee you scores, but we do now.”
Extra-time was needed to separate the sides in last year’s Munster semi-final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, with the Kingdom eventually edging the result by two points.
And the Rebels scored a total of 164 points as they topped the Division Two table in the National Football League this term – securing promotion back to the top-flight for the first time in a decade.
Corkery believes the consistency shown by Cork in the league is encouraging ahead of the trip to Killarney.
“I think they have a good shout, yeah,” says the Nemo man. “Kerry are All-Ireland champions but no matter what team Cork put out, we are always going to put it up to Kerry – it has been one of our kind of hallmarks down through the years.
“I think Cork are a few years away from competing to win an All-Ireland but they are making progress and there are players coming through, so things are going in the right direction.”
The Cork minors posted a timely victory in Tralee earlier this week too by beating their Kerry counterparts by ten points in the group stages of the Munster MFC.
Still, it seems until Cork finally snap themselves free of the Fitzgerald Stadium chains, that winless streak will continue to hang over the county.
Corkery sees it somewhat differently, though.
“No matter what happens this weekend, both teams will be out again in a few weeks. Winning in Kerry would be good [for Cork], but it’s not the be-all and end-all. It’s important you look at the bigger picture too.”
Cork will have a home game against Meath in two weeks, while Kerry welcome Donegal to Killarney.
Corkery plans to make the journey this Sunday but it remains to be seen how attractive the fixture will prove. Munster Council officials are anxious the All-Ireland draw earlier this week could have a negative impact on the attendance.
For the 1995 game, a staggering crowd of 42,735 watched Cork beat Kerry.
“But it was either win or your summer was over, back then,” adds Corkery.
Still, there is a unique extra dollop of significance at play this Sunday, because for the first time the new Corn Pháidí Uí Shé will be presented to the winners.
The trophy, named in honour of Kerry great Páidí Ó Sé, was unveiled on Wednesday. When Moran’s Kerry reign ended following that loss to Cork in 1995, he was succeeded by the county’s then under-21 manager – Páidí Ó Sé. The tide was about to turn on the rivalry again.
So, after 30 years of leaving Killarney empty-handed, Corn Pháidí Uí Shé would be a very welcome additional passenger for Cork to have on-board for the trip back to Leeside on Sunday night.
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