The late Eddie Walsh The last surviving member of the great Kerry side that won three successive All-Ireland titles between 1939 and 1941 passed away when Eddie Walsh died at his home in Knocknagoshel. The news was received with much sadness and regret by an older generation of Kerry followers and even those of a younger vintage will not have been unmoved by such an event. A native of Abbeyforney, he moved to Knocknagoshel in 1922 as a young boy with his family where he was to spend the rest of his life. For much of that time he ran a pub in the village where his only son Eamon (a recent Kerry selector) is now proprietor. From old pictures of the 1939/41 the unmistakable presence of Eddie Walsh peered out from the front row. Although standing around six feet tall he always favoured a kneeling position for team photographs. Obviously, he was a handsome man, big and bony, with a shock of dark, wavy hair but it wasn't his physical features alone that own him admiration from thousands of Kerry supporters who followed his fortunes on the field of play. Many of these were the "Ghost Train" men of the 1930s and '40s who came to expect great deeds from the man who was known around Knocknagoshel simply as "Walsh". His reputation as one of the most dashing and fearless left half backs ever to wear green and gold jersey has been well documented. This was his favoured position and although he lined out intermittently at corner back and even at full back on rare occasions he was a specialist in the No. 7 position. The space along the left back of defence gave him the freedom to express himself between 1939 and 1948 when his intercounty career ended with a sensational defeat by Mayo in croke Park (0-13 to 0-3). When one thinks of great Kerry wing backs, names like Paul Russell, Bill Dillon, Mick O'Dwyer, Sean Murphy, Paidi O Se and Seamus Moynihan come to mind immediately but one thing is certain: Eddie Walsh of Knocknagoshel stands up there alongside the best of them. Reputedly lightening fast off the mark, his tenacity and close marking were legendary. He won five senior All-Ireland medals, the first in 1937 as a sub, and in all he lined out in seven finals (including the 1946 drawn match against Roscommon). He played in the Polo Grounds final of 1947 and he won ten Munster medals. Two Railway Cup medals at a time when that honour was considered a very worthwhile accolade. In 1950, at the end of his career, he won his only county championship medal when Castleisland claimed their fist county title. Now in his mid-30s and well past his best he still provided a powerful defensive bulwark in front of the goal. The defeat of Kilarney brought him much pleasure because for so long it seemed this elusive honour would never come. But come it did when a team backboned by himself at full back, Paddy Batt Shanahan at centre-half, John Joe Sheehan and Dermot Hannafin at midfield, Tadhg Prendeville on the "40" and Martin McCarthy at full forward, climbed the summit. The winning was long overdue and, typically, a local band put pen to paper in an extravagant eulogy. Obviously, the praise was not undeserved. There was Hannafin, Sheehan, Sean Connor, Paddy Batt, Eddie Walsh and Tadhgeen Six men who will long be remembered While the sod of the sportsfield is green Remarkably, during the Three-in-a-Row years of 1939/41 the composition of the Kerry defence never varied. Dan O'Keeffe was in goal and the men in front of him read Myers, Keohane, Healy, Dillon, Casey and Walsh. Three All-Ireland victories with the same defensive formation intact from goalkepper out constitutes a record for both hurling and football. During those epoch-making years the halfback line was considered the sheet anchor of the side. Bill Dillon whose vast store of fitness was built up during his hunting forays on the mountains of West Kerry was at right half, Bill Casey of Lispole was an indestructible centre back while Eddie Walsh manned his favourite position on the left. This is considered one of the best half-back lines ever to have represented Kerry. "How the devil do you get up so high for the ball?" Eamonn Young of Cork asked him one day after a match. Then he noticed the long arms and the giant hands that gripped the leather as if they were coated with superglue. That was only partly the explanation, of course, because the man from Knocknagoshel was also known to have a majestic leap for the ball. High fielding and long kicking became his forte until he hung up his boots shortly after the 1950 county final. The 1946 drawn All-Ireland final against Roscommon when Kerry were comprehensively outplayed until two late goals rescued them in the closing minutes provided him with a platform to demonstrate his outstanding defensive qualities. This was considered his best ever display. "Eddie Walsh saved us today", Dr Eamonn O'Sullivan, the team trainer remarked to a friend on the train journey back to Kerry. It wasn't the first or last time that he was listed among the elite. Sadly, the final whistle has blown for one of the true legends of Kerry football. Ar dheis lamh De go raibh a anam uasal. Courtesy of The Kerryman 13/09/2006 Tweet

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