Killarney

by Adam Moynihan



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Former Player of the Year and two-time All-Star James O’Donoghue has announced his retirement from intercounty football.



The Killarney Legion forward stepped away from Peter Keane’s panel in 2021 to focus on club football, leading to speculation surrounding his future in the green and gold.



O’Donoghue has not featured under new manager Jack O’Connor and today, speaking to Off The Ball, he confirmed that he had actually privately retired last year.



“It’s all over, it’s all over bar the shouting,&#8221; the 31-year-old said.



&#8220;Last year, I was fighting an uphill battle. Realistically, I stepped away from the panel just before the going got very serious because I wasn’t really contributing. I told them at that stage that I was retiring but because Kerry were going too well, we decided not to put out a statement and throw all the good vibes out of the camp. So we just kept it under wraps.



&#8220;It’s a painful one, it’s definitely something that’s going to be hard, but it’s the right thing.”



Although he had initially resigned himself to stepping away for good, O’Donoghue did admit that he tried to get himself right for another cut under Jack O’Connor.



“I know Jack well, very well and have always got on great with him, and I know that if I was right, I could have picked up the phone and rang him and said ‘I’m thinking about changing my mind, what do you think?’



“I actually did give a go at getting into very good nick for it, just to see if I could give it one last go, but do you know what &#8211; my body wasn’t up to it, just that the way it is. I’ll go back to the club now, tailor my programme and I guarantee you that I might not see another injury, just the slight drop in intensity might suit me.



“If I was right I could have picked up the phone and we’d have had a chat, but it just didn’t feel right.”



O’Donoghue was speaking on <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/0bOR5vXoU8WAZN708GPpxM?si=OdEH0GG6TJWkScyO6ovqsA&amp;nd=1">The Football Pod</a>, the OTB podcast which he will now host alongside Paddy Andrews and Tommy Rooney.



Despite his battles with injuries, the Killarney native enjoyed a memorable career for The Kingdom. After making his league debut in 2010, he soon became a key figure in Kerry’s forward division and was integral when Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s side won the 2014 All-Ireland final against Donegal.



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James O’Donoghue retires from intercounty football

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