Kieran Mooney along with Sean Bergin also represented the club in 1974, when an Offaly side managed by Brother Denis Minehan and captained by Pádraig Horan recorded their first-ever win over Dublin in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship.

[citation needed] In 1977, following a narrow first round defeat to Tullamore, Seir Kieran went into the Losers' Group and faced St Rynagh's on a June day at Kilcormac, where they eliminated the five-in-a-row County Champions by 4-9 to 1-11.

Offaly were trained by Andy Gallagher (Tullamore) as well as Dermot Healy, and the other selectors were Tommy Erritty (Coolderry), Charlie Daly (Na Piarsaigh), Mick Spain (Drumcullen) and Paudge Mulhare (St Rynagh's).

Offaly won because, apart from the character that allowed them to shrug off the five Kilkenny goals, they had the fitness to harry the aristocrats mercilessly for the entire seventy minutes, and the skill and economy to convert most of their own scoring chances.

It was a day of contrasting emotions for team captain Pádraig Horan – not long after he had lifted the massive Bob O'Keeffe Cup, he received word that his father, Tommy, had died suddenly.

Offaly initially struggled taking advantage of the extra man, but Joe Mooney was brought on as the "available" attacker, and Brendan Bermingham's goal plus a late 1-1 from Mark Corrigan left it nick-or-nothing at the finish.

Only for a short time did defeat put a dampener on Offaly's epochal breakthrough – which was given added lustre when Pat Carroll and Joachim Kelly received the Faithful County's first All Star Awards in hurling since Damien Martin in 1971[tone].

[clarification needed] Two penalties and two long-range shots deceived goalie Christy King, while Laois full forward PJ Cuddy had done serious damage by the time Pat Delaney was switched to take him on.

Despite Colm Doran finding the net from a long-range free two minutes from time, Damien Martin pucked to Pádraig Horan in midfield, who sent it to Johnny Flaherty and over the bar, to make it 3-12 to 2-13 at full-time.

Pat Delaney reached skyward to intercept Iggy Clarke's long clearance, laying off to Brendan Bermingham at half-forward who hand-passed to Johnny Flaherty, momentarily in the clear.

When they reached Mrs. May Bruce's post office just above the Clareen cross-roads, team captain Pádraig Horan handed the Liam MacCarthy Cup over to Eugene Coughlan, and in that manner the cavalcade arrived in Seir Kieran.

The Midland Tribune editor James "Bud" Burke colourfully described the scene: This remained the pattern during Seir Kieran's four subsequent wins in the championship – over St Saran's (2-8 to 2-3); Shinrone (3-7 to 1-7); Drumcullen (3-8 to 2-9); and a (not yet fully amalgamated) Kilcormac/Killoughey team (2-11 to 2-4).

Seir Kieran's Ger Connors was corner back on the St Brendan's Community School team that reached the 1985 All Ireland Colleges Senior Final, losing to the North Monastery in a replay (4-11 to 1-5).

At the Seir Kieran buffet in the County Arms Hotel in February 1987, presentations were made to Billy Dooley and Aidan Mulrooney on having brought to the club its first All Ireland hurling medals at the Colleges and Minor grades.

When the Leinster Minor Final against Kilkenny did go ahead, at Croke Park on 2 August 1987, Offaly's fast-moving and nippy team gave a great display in which not one of them stood back, and were utterly deserving of their 2-13 to 0-12 victory.

Two other relative newcomers, Michael Duignan and Johnny Pilkington, also epitomized Offaly's never-say-die spirit, although it was the goals from veterans Danny Owens, Joachim Kelly and Pat Cleary that really signified the rout of Kilkenny.

The Clareen side, coached by Michael Murphy with selectors Tommy Hynes and TJ Dooley, gave a brave account of themselves in the Junior 'B' Hurling Final, played at Rath on 9 October 1994.

Before several of the panel were called up for Offaly's brilliant summer Blitzkrieg, the club's Senior team had made a highly encouraging start in the 1994 SHC, defeating Drumcullen by 5-12 to 1-8 and St Rynagh's by 1-14 to 2-5.

In appalling weather conditions, it was the Clareen side that got off to a promising start, but Birr gradually restricted the supply of ball to the Seir Kieran danger men, while forcing the concession of frees from within Adrian Cahill's range.

In wishing Birr the very best in the Leinster Club championship, however, Seir Kieran signalled that they were not finished yet: Éamonn Cregan's management team included fitness instructor Derry O'Donovan, whose weight training techniques would prove their worth from the very start of the year.

In the next edition of the Midland Tribune, the Seir Kieran GAA Notes stated as follows: Because Offaly had finished so strongly in all of their games, they entered the All Ireland Final on 4 September 1994 wearing the unwelcome "favourites" tag.

Ger Hegarty, Gary Kirby and Ciaran Carey likewise proved a handful, and Cregan chopped and changed until only Jim Troy, Kevin Kinahan and Johnny and Billy Dooley remained in their starting positions.

However, several of the Banagher camp, such as selector Alo Horan, were much more cautious than that: Despite the cross-field gale and the cascading showers on County Final day itself (13 October 1996), Seir Kieran did indeed give it everything, defeating St Rynagh's by 0-13 to 1-8 to put Senior Hurling Titles back-to-back.

[77] Joe Dooley's goal was vital in maintaining an advantage in the third quarter, when Wexford's strategy of luring Offaly's half back line out of position looked like it might pay off.

John McIntyre, the sports editor for the Connacht Tribune, would be appointed Offaly coach for the 1997 League and Championship, with selectors Willie Dooley (Seir Kieran), Jim Troy (Lusmagh), and Sean White (St Rynagh's).

[88] Joe Dooley was both top scorer and Man of the Match; Ger "Sparrow" O'Loughlin was replaced having got no change out of Kevin Kinahan; while the goalie Stephen Byrne (Kilcormmac/ Killoughey) pulled off three superb saves.

The next issue of the Midland Tribune attempted to sum up, from the Faithful County's point of view, a roller-coaster year: The Liam MacCarthy Cup stopped off in Clareen on Wednesday, 16 September 1998, another magical night for both club and parish.

[citation needed] Amidst jubilant scenes in St Brendan's Park, Kevin Kinahan lifted the Sean Robbins Cup, the last act of a quite extraordinary Offaly Senior Hurling Championship.

The Secretary asked Jimmy Blake, a club member with a degree in history from University College Dublin, to write the book, which was then edited by Professor Muiris O'Sullivan of the UCD School of Archaeology.

[99] Training in the skills of the Gaelic games has become a more central part of PE courses at Seir Kieran National School in recent years, and has aimed at maximising the athletic potential and team-working of every girl and boy.