He played hurling with his local club Dungarvan and with the Waterford senior inter-county team in the 1940s and 1950s.
Kiely also won junior championship honours with Brickey Rangers and Éire Óg.
Waterford later played Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final, however, victory went to the men from Leinster on that occasion.
Waterford lost their provincial crown in 1958, however, the team bounced back in 1959 with Kiely collecting a second Munster title.
The game ended in a draw, however, when the two sides met for the replay a few weeks later the men from Waterford made no mistake in defeating their near rivals and Kiely collected his first All-Ireland medal on the field of play.