Kerry was the fourth Munster county both to win an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC), as well as to appear in the final, following Limerick, Tipperary and Cork.

The GAA was formed in 1884 and codified the modern rules of the game, which were soon adopted in Kerry clubs such as Laune Rangers.

[3][6][7] Of the twenty All-Ireland SFC finals held during those two decades, Kerry participated in twelve, with victory coming on nine occasions.

Of the fifteen All-Ireland SFC finals between 1997 and 2011, Kerry contested ten and won six, including five titles in the 2000s.

[15] The next year, Kerry again reached the All-Ireland SFC final, only this time to be comfortably beaten by Dublin, 0–12 to 0–9.

Following Tim's death later that year, he elected to return to Ireland and rejoin Kerry in 2009 in pursuit of winning an All-Ireland of his own playing for the county.

After he succeeded and became the first player to have won an All-Ireland and an AFL Premiership, he returned to Australia and the Swans to finish his career.

Kerry reached the 2011 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, where its opponent was Dublin (appearing at this stage for the first time in 16 years).

Kerry had also been the team to set the record going, after losing the 2015 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final to Dublin as well.

More than 15 years later, former Tyrone footballer Seán Cavanagh, recalling his own experiences of the Kerry supporters, agreed that Ó Sé had been right.

And then I remember as we were leaving the changing room, walking out onto the team bus there were hundreds of Kerry supporters, all clapping us.

[31] Kerry has several noted families who have competed at the sport's highest level; these include the Ó Sés, the Sheehys, the Spillane–Lynes and the Walshes and Kennellys; Frank and John O'Keeffe; Jack and Aidan O'Shea; Ogie and David Moran; Con and Jim Brosnan; Ned and Maurice Fitzgerald; John Egan and his son.

1971: Donie O'Sullivan 1972: Donie O'Sullivan2nd, Mick O'Connell 1973: John O'Keeffe 1974: Paudie Lynch 1975: Paudie O'Mahony, John O'Keeffe2nd, Ger Power, Mickey "Ned" O'Sullivan, John Egan 1976: Ger O'Keeffe, John O'Keeffe3rd, Ger Power2nd, Mikey Sheehy, Pat Spillane 1977: Pat Spillane2nd, John Egan2nd 1978: John O'Keeffe4th, Paudie Lynch2nd, Ger Power3rd, Pat Spillane3rd, Mikey Sheehy2nd, John Egan3rd 1979: John O'Keeffe5th, Tim Kennelly, Ger Power4th, Seán Walsh, Pat Spillane4th, Mikey Sheehy3rd 1980: Charlie Nelligan, Tim Kennelly2nd, Jack O'Shea, Ger Power5th, Pat Spillane5th, Eoin Liston, John Egan4th 1981: Jimmy Deenihan, Paudie Lynch3rd, Páidí Ó Sé, Jack O'Shea2nd, Seán Walsh2nd, Denis "Ogie" Moran, Pat Spillane6th, Mikey Sheehy4th, Eoin Liston2nd 1982: Páidí Ó Sé2nd, Jack O'Shea3rd, Mikey Sheehy5th, Eoin Liston3rd, John Egan5th 1983: Páidí Ó Sé3rd, Jack O'Shea4th 1984: Páidí Ó Sé4th, Tommy Doyle, Tom Spillane, Jack O'Shea5th, Eoin Liston4th, Pat Spillane7th, Mikey Sheehy6th 1985: Páidí Ó Sé5th, Mick Spillane, Tommy Doyle2nd, Jack O'Shea6th, Pat Spillane8th 1986: Charlie Nelligan2nd, Tommy Doyle3rd, Tom Spillane2nd, Pat Spillane9th, Mikey Sheehy7th, Ger Power6th 1987: Tom Spillane3rd, Ger Lynch 1988: Maurice Fitzgerald 1989: Connie Murphy 1996: Maurice Fitzgerald2nd 1997: Declan O'Keeffe, Séamus Moynihan, Eamonn Breen, Pa Laide,  Maurice Fitzgerald 3rd 2000: Declan O'Keeffe2nd,  Séamus Moynihan 2nd, Mike McCarthy, Darragh Ó Sé, Liam Hassett, Mike Frank Russell 2001: Johnny Crowley 2002: Darragh Ó Sé2nd, Colm Cooper 2004: Diarmuid Murphy, Tom O'Sullivan (Rathmore), Mike McCarthy2nd,  Tomás Ó Sé , Paul Galvin, Colm Cooper2nd 2005: Diarmuid Murphy2nd, Mike McCarthy3rd, Tomás Ó Sé2nd, Colm Cooper3rd 2006: Marc Ó Sé, Séamus Moynihan3rd, Aidan O'Mahony, Darragh Ó Sé3rd, Paul Galvin2nd,  Kieran Donaghy 2007:  Marc Ó Sé 2nd, Tomás Ó Sé3rd, Aidan O'Mahony2nd, Darragh Ó Sé4th, Declan O'Sullivan, Colm Cooper4th 2008: Tomás Ó Sé4th, Declan O'Sullivan2nd, Colm Cooper5th, Kieran Donaghy2nd 2009: Diarmuid Murphy3rd, Tom O'Sullivan (Rathmore)2nd, Tomás Ó Sé5th, Séamus Scanlon,  Paul Galvin 3rd, Tadhg Kennelly, Declan O'Sullivan3rd 2010: Colm Cooper6th 2011: Marc Ó Sé3rd, Bryan Sheehan, Darran O'Sullivan, Colm Cooper7th 2013: Colm Cooper8th, James O'Donoghue 2014: Paul Murphy, Peter Crowley, David Moran, Kieran Donaghy3rd, James O'Donoghue2nd 2015: Brendan Kealy, Shane Enright, Anthony Maher, Donnchadh Walsh 2016: Paul Geaney 2017: Paul Geaney2nd 2018: David Clifford 2019: Tom O'Sullivan (Dingle), David Moran2nd, Seán O'Shea, David Clifford2nd 2021: Tom O'Sullivan (Dingle)2nd, Paudie Clifford, David Clifford3rd 2022: Shane Ryan, Jason Foley, Tadhg Morley, Gavin White, Paudie Clifford2nd, Seán O'Shea2nd,  David Clifford 4th 2023: Tom O'Sullivan (Dingle)3rd, Paudie Clifford3rd, Seán O'Shea3rd,  David Clifford 5th The team's current crest, which came into use in 2012, features design elements that represent the county: Kerry's people, landscape, flora, fauna and artistry.

Kerry's people – St Brendan and his epic voyage: an inspiring tale of bravery, skill and innovation.

The naomhóg (a craft associated with the coastal communities around Kerry) is propelled by a sail featuring a Celtic cross – the symbol of the GAA.

Kerry's fauna – Red Deer (Fia Rua): Ireland's largest wild animal whose only remaining native herd is found on the slopes of Torc and Mangerton.

These animals are believed to have had a continuous presence in Ireland since the end of the last Ice Age (c. 10,000 BC) and are steeped in folklore.

It is said that 'Tuan', the King of the Deer, was given rights of free passage by Fionn McCool to the mountains of Kerry and that his blood line lives on in the present herd.

Kerry's flora – Killarney woodland fern that thrives in wild exotic places; an evocation of majestic mountains, valleys and hills.

Between 1889 and 1895 inclusive, the teams that went forward to represent Kerry were Laune Rangers and Ballymacelligott, who both wore blue.

One account says that it was a red jersey with green neck and cuffs,[50][52] which were the colours of the Tralee Mitchels junior football team.

In the 1939 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final Kerry were to play Meath, who also wear green and gold.

To avoid a colour clash, Kerry wore the red and white of Dingle, the county champions at the time.

[59] The team kit had been supplied from 1996 to 1998 by Adidas, while prior to that contract in 1998, Kerry were partnered with the now-defunct Millfield brand.