Aidan O'Mahony
Aidan O'Mahony (born 8 June 1980, in Tralee) is a retired Irish Gaelic footballer who played at senior level for the Kerry county team. He has 5 All-Irelands, 3 NFLs, 10 Munster Championships, 1 County Senior Championship, 1 Senior Club County Championship, 1 County U21 Championship, 1 County Intermediate Championship and 2 All Stars.[1]
_-_Aidan_O'Mahony.jpg.webp) | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Irish name | Aodán Ó Mathúna | ||
| Sport | Gaelic football | ||
| Position | Centre Back | ||
| Born |
8 June 1980 Tralee, Kerry, Ireland | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Occupation | Garda Síochána | ||
| Club(s) | |||
| Years | Club | ||
1998–2023 | Rathmore | ||
| Inter-county(ies) | |||
| Years | County | Apps (scores) | |
2004–2017 | Kerry | 70 (0–11) | |
| Inter-county titles | |||
| Munster titles | 10 | ||
| All-Irelands | 5 | ||
| NFL | 3 | ||
| All Stars | 2 | ||
A Garda Síochána member, he played for Kerry's U21 team in 2000 and 2001. He debuted for the Kerry senior team in the 2003 League campaign and in the Championship versus Clare in 2004. He started the 2004 All-Ireland Final against Mayo, which Kerry won. He repeated the performance in the 2006 All-Ireland Final against the same team. Kerry dominated, and Mayo were easily defeated by a score of 4-15 to 3-05, and O'Mahony picked up the RTÉ Man of the Match Award for scoring 2 points and marking Ciarán McDonald. He won further All-Ireland medals in 2006 and 2007, gaining an All Star in each of those years.[2] He has 2 NFL medals from 2004 and 2005 and also won the Munster club championship with his club Rathmore. O'Mahony again played an important part as Kerry reached the 2008 All-Ireland In 2010, O'Mahony took a break from inter-county football after Kerry's NFL campaign for personal reasons; he, however, returned to the panel for the Championship.
In 2005, following the All-Ireland final loss to Tyrone, O'Mahoney tested positive for a banned steroid, salbutamol. However he faced no censure because salbutamol is found in asthma inhalers, and he was thus granted a therapeutic use exemption.
He once played on for more than 40 minutes in a club final with a broken leg, scoring two points.[3]
O'Mahony announced his retirement from inter-county football on 23 January 2017.[4][5] O’Mahoney made 70 championship appearances and featured in 85 league games for Kerry.[6]
In January 2017, O'Mahony was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. He went on to win the competition, with his dancing partner Valeria Milova.[7] In January 2023 after winning the Junior Club All Ireland with Rathmore, O'Mahony announced his retirement from Gaelic football.
References
- "Kerry GAA Profile". Kerry GAA. 20 September 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
- Keys, Colm (20 October 2007). "O Se brothers create stunning piece of GAA history with their All Star success". Irish Independent.
- "O'Mahony: Why I played with a broken leg" Archived 2011-10-28 at the Wayback Machine. RTÉ Sport. 26 October 2011.
- "O'Mahony the symbol of Kerry's change of course". Irish Independent. 23 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
- "Aidan O'Mahony:Time to let youth have its fling". Irish Examiner. 23 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
- "Kerry's Aidan O'Mahony retires still 'at the very top'". Irish Times. 23 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
- "DWTS champ Aidan O'Mahony gets 'back on the beat' this week". Irish Independent. 27 March 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2017.