Dara Ó Cinnéide (born 25 April 1975 in Dublin) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for his local club An Ghaeltacht and at senior level for the Kerry county team from 1995 until 2005.
Ó Cinnéide currently works as a radio broadcaster with the Irish-language station RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, where he produces the daily afternoon show An Saol Ó Dheas,[1] and he also presents the main weekly GAA show Seó Spóirt on the Irish-language channel TG4.
Tralee-based club Austin Stacks provided the opposition on this occasion, however, Ó Cinnéide's side were well prepared.
[4] An Ghaeltacht surrendered their club title in 2002, however, the following year Ó Cinnéide's side were back in the county championship decider.
A close game developed, however, the Kerrymen held on in the end to secure a 1–8 to 1–6 victory, giving Ó Cinnéide a Munster club winners' medal.
Ó Cinnéide faced the heartbreak of missing a goal in the dying seconds and eventually losing by just a single point – 0–13 to 0–12.
He retired from club football in 2007 following an Ghaeltacht's 1–3 to 0–5 defeat of Kerins O'Rahilly's to take the county league title.
[10] Ó Cinnéide first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Kerry minor football team in the early 1990s.
Ó Cinnéide was eligible for the minor grade again in 1993; however, Kerry were knocked out of the provincial championship at a very early stage.
'The Kingdom' proved too strong for the Connacht champions and a 0–15 to 0–4 victory secured an All-Ireland winners' medal in the junior grade.
After the highs of the Munster final victory, Kerry were held to a draw and a replay was required after a 2-12 to 3-09, with 1-03 from Ó Cinnéide.
Kerry won that day and Ó Cinnéide lined out in the subsequent Munster final against archrivals Cork.
Expectations were high that 'the Kingdom' could defeat 'the Rebels' and break back into the big time after a period in the wilderness.
A 0–14 to 0–11 victory gave Ó Cinnéide his first Munster winners' medal in the senior grade and kick-started the Kerry football revival.
The team reached the final of the National League that year with Cork providing the opposition in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
For the third year in succession 'the Kingdom' proved the provincial masters, and a 0–17 to 1–10 win gave Ó Cinnéide a third Munster title.
Galway worked the ball the length of the field to Declan Meehan who scored a goal to give the westerners a boost.
An exciting draw and a replay with Dublin at Semple Stadium gave Ó Cinnéide's side the right to advance to an All-Ireland semi-final showdown with Meath.
In one of the lowest points ever for Kerry football, Ó Cinnéide's side were absolutely demolished by 'the Royals' on a score line of 2–14 to 0–5.
The Ulster men lost John McEntee to concussion while Oisín McConville missed a penalty just before the interval.
As it stood Armagh trailed by four points at half-time and Ó Cinnéide's side looked to be in the driving seat.
The Ulster men ambushed 'the Kingdom', however, and Ó Cinnéide's side faced another humiliation in Croke Park.
An exciting 3–11 to 1–6 victory saw Kerry claim the title and Ó Cinnéide picked up a second National League winners' medal.
[20] Kerry later booked their almost annual spot in the provincial final and, for the second year in succession, Limerick were the opponents.
The points kept coming from Ó Cinnéide's team and an injury-time Michael Conroy goal was nothing but a consolation for Mayo.
A 1–20 to 2–9 victory gave Ó Cinnéide a third All-Ireland winners' medal, while he also had the honour of lifting the famous Sam Maguire Cup.
Following this win Kerry cruised through the All-Ireland series to reach another championship decider with Tyrone providing the opposition.
That game ended in a draw, however, Ó Cinnéide's side narrowly won the replay by a single point.
After a draw and an emphatic win over Ulster, Ó Cinnéide's side subsequently faced Connacht in the series decider.
A low-scoring game saw Munster win by 0–10 to 0–7 and Ó Cinnéide added a Railway Cup winners' medal to his collection.