Brosnan, Mick
January 11, 2011Kerry bid farewell to one of its finest footballers, with the sad passing of former All-Ireland winning minor captain, Mick Brosnan of Moyvane.
Brosnan, who captained the Kerry minor footballers in 1950 to All-Ireland glory, is a member of a renowned North Kerry football family, which has given sterling service to Kerry both as players and, secondly, as administrator at all levels.
Mick and his brothers, Jim and Jerry Brosnan, all served Moyvane with distinction and brought the village team to the summit of North Kerry football.
Sons of the legendary Con Brosnan - a midfielder with style and class in one of Kerry's glorious periods (1923 -1932) during which time he won six All-Ireland senior football medals, including a four-in-a-row between 1929 and 1932 - it was inevitable that Mick and his brother, Dr Jim, would follow in their fathers footsteps, as players with outstanding talent and ability.
Mick Brosnan was first selected for Kerry at right half forward, while his brother Jim played on the forty. The half-forward line was completed by John C Cooper, Kilarney.
Kerry won the Munster championship, beating Clare in Ballylongford by 9-4 to 1-5. But they were subsequently beaten in the All-Ireland semi-final.
Mick won a second Munster minor medal in 1949, again operating on the forty with Austin Stacks' Bobby Miller on his right and John Mitchels' Paudie Sheely on his left. They defeated Cork 0-7 to 0-5 in the Munster final.
Mick and the Kerry minors qualified for the All-Ireland final of 1949, but at the time he was attending Rockwell College, with whom he had played rugby at college level.
The question of his eligibility arose when the Kerry County Board objected to the Wicklow Junior team on the grounds of having senior players on the junior team when they met and beat Kerry.
The objection was won by Kerry who went on to become All-Ireland junior champions by defeating Down in the home final and Lancashire in the final proper.
During the debate on the Kerry objection, the Mick Brosnan situation was brought to light. The resultant lack of clarity with regard to the case meant that he was left out of the All-Ireland final selection, which Kerry eventually lost to Armagh.
By 1950 the situation pertaining to Mick Brosnan and other players attending rugby colleges and playing rugby with them was clarified and regularised.
Mick was selected on the Kerry minor football team on 1950 and named as captain.
He was selected at full back, mainly because no obvious ready made choice was otherwise available for the vital position.
In many respects he was well fitted for the job. A well built, 6'0" man, his special qualities stood him good stead.
He had great positional sense and a safe pair of hands. His natural strength made him a prodigiously long kicker of a ball, whether from the hand or from a deal ball position.
In the All-Ireland minor final in 1950, the Kerry wing forwards of Bobby Miller and O'Riordan benefited greatly from his long raking kick-outs.
Wexford were Kerry's opponents in the final, which Kerry won easily.
Mick Brosnan had an All-Ireland minor medal to add to his three Munster minor medal and he had the assed honour of being the captain.
The winning minor team was star-studded selection of brilliant footballers who were to become luminaries of Kerry club football and the inter-county scene over the next decade or more.
An interesting facet was that Sean Murphy, the star midfielder on that minor team, had already won a junior All-Ireland with Kerry earlier that year. That's a fair measure of the footballing prowess of the then 18 year-old from Camp.
Paudie Sheehy (John Mitchels), Colm Kennelly (Ballylongford), Pa Fitzgerald (Austin Stacks), Mike Galway (Currow), Donal O'Neill (St Mary's), Sean Murphy(Camp), Joe Kerins(Kerins O'Rahillys), Bobby Miller (Austin Stacks) and Brendan Galvin (John Mitchels) are some other members of that minor winning team that progressed to be stars of Kerry football.
Mick Brosnan went on to study medicine at University College Cork.
In April, 1951, he sustained a serious knee injury while playing for the combined universities against the pick of Ireland, which had a detrimental effect on his career. This was a prestigious rep-resentative game of that time involving the very best of Ireland's gaelic footballers.
Brosnan played on despite this injury and won a Sigerson Cup medal with UCC in 1952, and he was on the Kerry All-Ireland winning panel of 1953 to collect an All-Ireland medal.
Nevertheless, Mick continued to assist his club, Moyvane, in North Kerry Leagues and Championship, and the divisional team on Kerry county championships.
He was at full forward on the North Kerry team that put paid to Kerins O'Rahillys hopes of winning three-in-a-row in 1955 when Mick starred in the North Kerry victory at the quarter final stage.
In the final, North Kerry lost in a replay to South Kerry. He was back again on vounty final day in 1959 with Feale Rangers who lost in a replay to John Mitchels.
This was the start of the Boher bee boys glorious five-in-a-row.
Despite all this, the injury sustained, and the continuing adverse effects of it, signalled an all too premature end to what promised to be a glittering inter-county career at senior level.
In 1958, Mick and his brothers Jim and jerry were members of the Moyvane team that won the North Kerry championship. Mick and the Brosnan family will always be remembered as true Gaels of Kerry football.
Courtesy of Tommy Conroy and The Kingdom 11/1/11 Tweet
