The former Footballer of the Year has joined Jack O’Connor’s management team with his native Kerry and Kelly says ‘Star’ left a lasting impression on the Armagh team
Kieran McGeeney knew it was coming at some point. His players did too. Kieran Donaghy’s departure for his native Kerry is a shot in the arm for the defending All-Ireland champions and a blow for the 2024 winners.
Donaghy was an integral part of McGeeney’s Armagh management team alongside Ciaran McKeever and Conleith Gilligan.
Speaking at the recent launch of the Dr McKenna Cup, Armagh star Tiernan Kelly said the players owe a debt of gratitude to Donaghy.
“I think anybody who knows Kieran, either working with him closely or just knows him, the personality he brings, the experience that he has, the commitment that he puts in is second to none,” said Kelly.
“Of course, he’ll be a big miss. Just the snippets that he brought throughout the year, whether it was individually as a player or as a group, he’ll be missed.
“But within the five years that he was here, he really has changed things in terms of the way we look at certain aspects of the game.
“They’ll still stick with us even though he’s not here and we’ll be trying to develop on the foundation that he set. I think we all knew at some point he was going to go to Kerry. I wish Kieran nothing but the best, but not too much though!
“We’ve done that drive down to Kerry a couple of times and a couple of times is enough.
“That puts into perspective what he was doing every week, travelling back and forth to be part of Armagh and be part of our group. I think we’re forever thankful for that.”
Donaghy will be back in Armagh for what could be a vital round seven clash in March and McGeeney will be hoping to have a much stronger squad assembled by the end of the League.
At present, the Orchard County are without a host of regular players for various reasons and Kelly’s versatility could prove invaluable in the early stages of the season, especially with midfielder Niall Grimley stepping away from the panel.
“I think everyone knows the quality that ‘Grimbo’ (Niall Grimley) brings, along with the other guys that have stepped away,” said Kelly.
“So it’s up to the rest of us to try and fill in the gaps and the new boys that are coming in. So there’ll be a massive miss and they all bring their own unique attributes to it. So we’ll just have to try and fill in the gaps and make it up.
“I think everybody knows now that it is sort of a middle right and it’s a bit of a free-for-all – a number on your back means nothing nowadays.
“The kickouts are aimed at that middle eight and, no matter where you are in it, you have to try and fight for possession. Whether you line out at midfield or in the half-back or half-forward line, I think the roles are very similar.”
Armagh begin their 2026 campaign with a derby clash against Tyrone later tonight at the Box-It Athletic Grounds (7pm). Both teams suffered defeats to the Kingdom in the All-Ireland series in 2025.
As they look ahead to a new campaign, Kelly stressed that Armagh are determined not to be defined by that loss to Kerry when an unanswered 14-point run from Jack O’Connor’s men ended their reign as All-Ireland champions.
“I think the year kind of went well. I thought we were building and we were sort of getting to where we wanted to be at the right time,” stated Kelly.
“We had a good group stage in the All-Ireland and we topped the group, which we wanted.
“Got a really tough tie with Kerry in the quarter-final, but really anything from the quarter-final onwards is going to be tough.
“The majority of the game, I thought we were in a good position. Everything was going to plan. I think even at the start of the second half we kind of got a bit of momentum ourselves with a couple of scores.
“But then it just goes to show you with the quality teams that you’re playing, if you lapse your concentration for 10-plus minutes, you really do get punished, especially with a team like Kerry with what they have up front and their ability to put teams away and their ability to rack up big scores. We were punished for it and that’s just something we have to live with.
“That 10, 15-minute period, it obviously ended our season. It’s not about going into the year trying to right wrongs. It’s really trying to build on what went well last year and then try and tweak things that didn’t go well so that if we are in those situations again what we do differently and try and implement that this year.”
