SPA GAA Club members have rolled back the years to honour one of the talented and loyal players that donned the blue and gold with distinction.
Former players, officials and supporters from the hugely successful 1960s and 70’s era reunited for a social gathering at which club stalwart Jackie Foley, now living in Dublin, was the special guest.
Jackie was the goalkeeper on the St Brendan’s College team that won the coveted Hogan Cup for the first time in 1969. He lined out alongside Kerry greats Paudie Lynch and John O’Keeffe in that memorable campaign
That particular 1960s and 1970s decade was a golden era for the Spa club when it won the Intermediate County Championship, several East Kerry senior titles and a county league crown.
Jackie’s enormous contribution to those games, which included a County Intermediate Championship victory and a number of O’Donoghue Cup wins, was recalled by event organisers, James Gleeson and Donie O’Sullivan, who reflected on the great respect he earned from his team-mates.
Former colleagues journeyed from Dublin, Tralee, Bantry, Waterford and even as far away as South Africa for a golf outing and social evening at the Castlerosse Hotel last Saturday at which Jackie and his wife, Mary, were guests of honour.
