As our adult teams prepare for Championship season we remember a major milestone that occurred 100 years ago this year. In the spring of 1926, a young team from Dublin’s south inner city achieved something that had never been done before. Kevin’s Hurling Club, built almost entirely from players developed through its own juvenile and schools structures, became the first Dublin GAA club to reach a Senior Hurling Championship Final with a homegrown team.
While the final itself ended in defeat, the achievement represented a landmark moment in the history of Dublin hurling and demonstrated that success at the highest level could be built through coaching, development, and patience rather than recruitment.
Foundations Laid in the Schools
The story of Kevin’s remarkable rise did not begin in 1926. It had been more than a decade in the making.
From 1917 onwards, the club invested heavily in underage development through the Dublin Schools League and juvenile competitions. Key figures such as Harry O’Kelly devoted enormous energy to organising schools hurling, sports days, and juvenile competitions throughout the city. Kevin’s teams competed at every underage grade and quickly established themselves as one of Dublin’s strongest nurseries of young talent.
Success followed. The club won the Minor Hurling Championship in 1918 after an objection to the original final result was upheld. Another minor title followed in 1919, while Kevin’s teams regularly topped league tables throughout the early 1920s. By 1923, the club had secured yet another Minor Hurling Championship, defeating Marlborough Rangers in the final.
Many of the players emerging from these successful juvenile teams would later become the backbone of the club’s senior side. Among them were future Dublin representatives Tom Lawless and Sylvester Muldowney, who would go on to play senior inter-county hurling.
The Return to Senior Hurling
The first major reward for the club’s youth policy came in 1924 when Kevin’s captured the Intermediate Hurling Championship. Victories over O’Rahillys and Erin’s Own secured promotion back to the senior ranks and placed the club among Dublin’s elite hurling teams once again.
Their arrival in senior hurling was viewed with curiosity rather than expectation. The established powers of the game included clubs such as Faughs, Kickhams, Erin’s Own, UCD, Civic Guards, Young Irelands and the newly formed McKee Barracks side. Most observers expected the newcomers to struggle.
Yet Kevin’s possessed something unique. Unlike every other club in the competition, their team had largely been produced through their own underage system. They were living proof that hurling could flourish in Dublin through coaching and development.
The year 1926 wasn’t without controversy, as the new Army Metro club had formed combining a number of teams from various barracks including McKee and others and were accused of “recruiting” prominent players from established clubs such as Faughs and Young Irelands. The debate rumbled on at County Board level resulting in the Faughs club refusing to affiliate in protest.
A Stunning Championship Run
Kevin’s first championship assignment in 1926 was against Kickhams, former senior champions and one of the strongest clubs in the county. Few gave the Synge Street side much chance.
They responded by causing a major upset and advancing to the semi-final.
Their next opponents were the “Star Studded” Army Metro, a powerful army team that had become the centre of controversy because of its “recruitment” of established players from other clubs. The contrast between the sides could not have been greater. On one side stood a team assembled from experienced players; on the other, a group of young men who had learned their hurling together through the Kevin’s juvenile system.
The semi-final took place in Croke Park on 11 April 1926. Army Metro dominated the opening half and led 2-4 to 1-0 at the interval. Kevin’s appeared destined for defeat. However, inspired by Willie Kavanagh’s outstanding goal, the young side mounted a remarkable comeback. With five minutes remaining they had edged ahead by a point. Army Metro squandered several opportunities before Kevin’s forward Coffey sealed the victory with a late score. The final whistle confirmed an extraordinary result: Kevin’s 5-1, Army Metro 3-3.
The achievement immediately captured the imagination of Dublin hurling followers. An t-Óglác, the army newspaper, highlighted the remarkable youthfulness of the team, noting that eleven of the Kevin’s players were under twenty-one years of age. More significantly, it observed that they were all Dublin-born players who had learned their hurling in Dublin.
For perhaps the first time, a Dublin club had demonstrated that a locally developed team could compete with—and defeat—the strongest sides in the county.
History Made
The victory over Army Metro ensured Kevin’s place in the 1926 Dublin Senior Hurling Championship Final.
In doing so, they became the first club in Dublin GAA history to reach a senior hurling final with a team developed through its own underage structures.
The significance of this achievement cannot be overstated. During an era when many senior teams relied heavily on players recruited from traditional hurling counties or through occupational links, Kevin’s had built their success from the ground up.
The accomplishment generated such surprise that former player Vesty Muldowney later recalled a story that a championship final poster had reportedly been printed in advance expecting a different pairing. Kevin’s unexpected victory rendered the poster useless and it was never displayed.
The Final Challenge
The fairytale, however, would not have its perfect ending.
On 25 April 1926 Kevin’s faced the dominant Civic Guards side in Croke Park. The Guards were the outstanding team of the era and would win five consecutive Dublin Senior Hurling Championships between 1925 and 1929.
Against such formidable opposition, the young Kevin’s side found the challenge too great. Civic Guards ran out convincing winners by 7-14 to 1-3.
The scoreline reflected the gulf in experience between the teams, but it did little to diminish the scale of Kevin’s achievement.
Some of the Leading Figures
A number of the boys who grew up in the club achieved success beyond Kevin’s.
Tom Lawless was selected to play in goal for Dublin when they defeated Cork in the National League Final of 1928-29 which was Dublin’s first league title.
Charlie McMahon lost the All-Ireland Final of 1930 to the same opponents, but eventually win in 1938 which was Dublins last title. Charlie was known for playing with a metal band around his head due to a head wound he received during The Troubles. What was most amazing about this story is he played with a bullet lodged in head for some time until the surgeons felt it was safe enough to remove.
Sylvester “Vesty” Muldowney went on to play in the All-Ireland and National League Finals in 1934. Vesty was also part of The Great Team that returned Kevins to senior status in the late 1930s and was also known to be prominent in business and political circles.
Brendan Kinna – who joined the club at a later date – also featured on the Dublin panel during this period winning Leinster titles.
Another notable name was the evergreen Tom Carroll. Tom and his brother Jim were founding members in 1902, but Toms playing career seemed to last forever where he also represented the club at Dublin Junior level across three separate decades.
But it was Harry O’Kelly who made it happen. Harry grew up on Bloomfield Avenue, off the South Circular Rd and attended Synge St school. Far from being a star player himself, it was Harry who drove the first nursery running regular sports days in Dolphins Barn during “The Troubles”, featuring hurling games, athletics and long kick competitions. So successful were the initiatives they were soon adopted by the Dublin Schools Board, when Harry himself was appointed Chairman, with William “Leggy” Kavanagh as secretary in the early 1920s.
The Next Generation
We were delighted to hear from Conor O’Rafferty in 2024, as he had a collection of medals from his father Seán who grew up in Dublin first GAA nursery and played with Kevin’s throughout the 1920s and 30s. Seán was part of the great club Under 21 side and also played in the 1926 Senior Championship final. Seán lived on Emor Street off the South Circular Rd and attended Synge Street school. Conor recalled names like Vesty Muldowney who his father played with and had gone on to play in All-Ireland final in 1934. He also recalls having the pleasure of his father introducing him to the great Charlie McMahon who he had also played alongside at club level and spoke of how that meeting had inspired him. Charlie was on the last Dublin team to win an All-Ireland in 1938 and wore a cap for protection, as he had a bullet lodged in his head during The Troubles. Conor himself grew up in Wexford (as Seán had moved out of Dublin) went on to represent Wexford and was on the first county team to win an All-Ireland Minor Championship in 1963.
We also had the pleasure of meeting with Harry’s son – Henry O’Kelly – some years ago. Henry and his two brothers Paddy and Kevin attended St Mary’s school in Rathmines and played with the club winning a Junior B league in the mid 1950s. But the story doesn’t end here. Harry and the family later moved to Bray where they were involved in the establishment of a new club called Saint Kevins who would go on to compete in three Wicklow senior club championship final, winning two of them. Paddy also won a Leinster hurling title with Wicklow. Henry regaled us with stories of old and spoke about Harrys passion for the Kevin’s Club, his alma mater Synge Street and the inner city. At the time he joked that when Harry ran out of family names for his sons he named his youngest boy Kevin!
A Lasting Legacy
Although they fell short of championship glory, Kevin’s left an enduring mark on Dublin hurling. Their success proved that elite teams could be built through schools programmes, juvenile coaching, and long-term player development. It was a revolutionary concept in Dublin hurling at the time and one that many clubs would later emulate.
Several members of the 1926 team progressed to represent Dublin at senior inter-county level, including Sylvester Muldowney, Tom Lawless, Brendan Kinna and Charlie McMahon. More importantly, the club established a blueprint for sustainable success that would influence future generations.
Looking back a century later, the greatest achievement of the 1926 Kevin’s team was not merely reaching a senior final. It was demonstrating that Dublin-born players, nurtured through a strong local club structure, could compete at the highest level of the game.
In doing so, they also helped shape the future of hurling in Dublin.
What Next?
On Saturday 27th July another Kevins legend from Bloomfield Avenue will be play a central role in another key milestone, as Juvenile Chairperson Louise Tuite is organising the upcoming Hurlathon and the launch of our new hurling wall in Loreto College on the Crumlin Rd. If you would like to donate to this development and help us build over the next 100 years, please click here.
