We Remember FRANK KING (1931-1990).
Frank played football and hurling with the Club (1949-1955) and won two SH Co. Championship medals when playing afterwards with Ballyduff. In 1957 he served as Club Vice Chairman and then came back in the early 1970s and presided over a period of outstanding Club progress and development. During his five seasons as Chairman (1971-1975) the Club witnessed the commencement of our second Golden Era (1973-1986) during which period we won five SF Co. Championship titles and an All Ireland Club Championship (1977). Frank, with others, was instrumental in 1972 of achieving what the Club had sought for many years – the purchase of our playing pitch at Connolly Park.
Also, during this period (1972-1978) he served as Vice Chairman of the Kerry Co. Board before going on to serve as Co. Board Chairman for nine consecutive seasons (1979-1987). Like the success at Club level he also witnessed outstanding success at County level during his tenure of office – Kerry winning four in a row All Senior Football titles (1978-81) with three more successive titles (1984-86).
During this time he also served on many sub-committees in Croke Park and in early June 1989, although in ill health at the time, he performed the official opening of our new Clubhouse in Connolly Park. Some eight months later he passed away peacefully at the relatively young age of 58 – on 31st January 1990, thirty years ago on this day.
Today Frank’s wife Peggy continues to support the club and is a regular at club matches and all our social functions, his daughter Breda O’Callaghan is a club member and is also part of the hardworking administration staff at Kerry GAA offices in Austin Stack Park, Tralee while Frank’s grandson Shane O’Callaghan is a current member of the Austin Stacks Senior panel and was a member of our Co. Championship & Munster Championship winning team in 2014.
