JOHN FITZGERALD: who died at the age of 82 – twenty years ago on this day (7th April 2000) – came from a Rock Street family steeped in Stacks culture. His family shop in the middle of the Rock, widely known as Denna’s (his brother Denis and his sister, Beatrice Daly ran the shop for many years), was one of a number of similar gathering places for Club members and supporters down the years. John was just 18 when he won his SF Co. Championship medal as part of the 1936 winning team. Five years later he became Chairman of the Club, a position he held for three consecutive seasons (1941-43). His other great sporting interest was greyhounds and he was Chairman and Vice President of the Kerry Coursing Club for many years.
Both he and his good friend the late Tunney Galvin, apart from having Club and greyhound connections, achieved their nicknames from the sport of Boxing. Most of us would always have thought that ‘Tunney’ was Tunney’s real name – it was in fact ‘Thomas’. And John’s nickname was ‘Dempsey’. Their nicknames came from the two great Boxing heroes of the 1920s – Jack Dempsey who was World Heavyweight Champion from 1919 to 1926 and Gene Tunney who took the title from Dempsey in September 1926. They had a return fight the following September which went down in Boxing history as one of the most famous fights of all time – known as ‘the fight of the long count’.
John’s family was also involved in GAA activity – his son Denis, for example, involved with the John Mitchels Club for many years. In the recent February General Election John’s nephew, Pa Daly was elected as a Sinn Féin TD to Dail Éireann
John is featured in our Club Centenary History book.
