In 2006, St. Oliver Plunkett's clubman Barry Kelly reached the pinnacle of his refereeing career when he took charge of the All-Ireland hurling final between Kilkenny and Cork. It was the culmination of a long apprenticeship which saw him progress from refereeing juvenile club matches to the big inter-county fixtures in Croke Park and Thurles. It's the last Saturday in January. Barry Kelly should be in Dubai on the All-Stars tour, but instead he's getting ready to head to Bunbrosna to referee an intermediate football league final between the home team and Shandonagh. Bunbrosna on a cold winter's day is a far cry from subtropical Dubai, or indeed the cauldron that is Croke Park on the first Sunday in September. In 2006, Barry fulfilled a long-held ambition when he became the first Westmeath man to take charge of an All-Ireland senior hurling final. At 36 years of age, the St. Oliver Plunkett's clubman has already achieved what most referees can only dream of. "It was a great honour not only for me, but for my club and county as well," he says. "Thankfully, everything went well for me and for the rest of the officials. I had been very close to getting the 2005 final, but Seamus Roche from Tipperary got the nod ahead of me. However, after I had refereed last year's All-Ireland quarter-final between Waterford and Tipperary, I had a fair idea it was going to happen for me. It's usually a good sign when you don't get a semi-final." The Birr-based schoolteacher was widely praised for his excellent handling of the Kilkenny-Cork clash. From the throw-in, he stamped his authority on, what was at times, a difficult match to referee (the unusually long grass didn't help the players) and played his part in an enjoyable final which Kilkenny won by three points. Barry first took up the whistle when, during his school days at St. Mary's CBS, he was asked by teachers Richie O'Donoghue and Sean Cleary to referee a colleges match. From there, he progressed to refereeing underage club games and soon made his mark. A memorable under 12 football final between Bunbrosna and Maryland/Tang went well for him and, with county secretary and former All-Ireland football final referee Paddy Collins looking on, Kelly soon made the next step. Around 1997, Barry was contacted by current Westmeath football board secretary Tommy Glennon and asked to attend a course in Portlaoise for inter-county referees. Initially, he refused because with travelling to Birr and home to Mullingar everyday, he simply didn't have the time. But Glennon persisted and Barry attended the course along with Rosemount's Pat Fox, Michael Monahan of Kildare, who refereed the 2005 All-Ireland football final and Dublin's Eamonn Morris, who ironically acted as fourth official for Barry at last year's All-Ireland final. Barry recalls wanting to be a football referee, but was persuaded to take the hurling exam due to a scarcity of hurling referees in Westmeath. He suggests that because hurling is easier to referee than football, and the competition isn't as strong, it's easier to progress as a hurling referee. That may be the case, but it still takes serious commitment, a high level of fitness and an almost flawless knowledge of the rules to make it to the top. "It's a well known fact that hurling is easier to referee than football. Refereeing football matches, which I've done quite a bit of over the past few months, can be an awful job because the rules aren't as clearly defined and there tends to be a lot more fouls committed. The average number of frees awarded in a football game is somewhere between 50 and 60. In hurling, it's a lot less. With hurling I also find that umpires have a more important role to play which lessens the burden on the referee." Kelly began refereeing at inter-county level in 1998 and the following year he took charge of the Leinster minor hurling final between Kilkenny, and Wexford and the Railway Cup decider between Connacht and Munster. The big games continued to come his way and in 2000, he was appointed referee for the All-Ireland minor final between Galway and Cork. Barry, whose team of umpires consists of Michael 'Cosy' Coyle, Anthony Gavin, Seamus O'Brien, Noel Nugent and occasionally David Clune and Robbie Cornally, also officiated the Leinster under 21 final the same year. He refereed All-Ireland club hurling semi-finals in 2001 and 2002 before progressing to take charge of the final in 2004. He also refereed the 2004 All-Ireland under 21 final. Kelly has since refereed Leinster, Munster and Ulster hurling finals and prior to taking charge of the All-Ireland final, his other big assignments last year were the Munster semi-final between Cork and Clare, and the aforementioned All-Ireland quarter-final between Waterford and Tipperary. At local level, Barry has refereed four senior hurling finals (1998, 2000, 2003 and 2004). It hasn't always been plain sailing, though, and Kelly admits that he almost packed in refereeing three years ago following a controversial All-Ireland qualifier between Cork and Tipperary in Killarney. "It went well for 28 minutes, but Tipperary won a penalty and hassle started. There was also a scuffle on the sideline at the start of the second half and I just thought 'get this one finished, throw the whistle in the bag and forget about it'. "But I remember looking at my watch with six minutes to go and things were alright again." While acknowledging that GAA referees receive a lot of bad press, Kelly would encourage any young person to take up the whistle, stressing that the "good days far outweigh the bad". He says: "I can fully understand why people wouldn't want to get into refereeing. The abuse is usually worse at club level because you can hear it on the sidelines. You can't hear the abuse as much at inter-county level because it's drowned out by the noise of the crowd. "Criticism of referees on the inter-county stage is very much on the increase, though. What adds to the pressure is that managers have a good few bob on the line and it's easy to blame the referee when things are going wrong for their team. The referee will always be the scapegoat. "In spite of this, I would strongly encourage people to give refereeing a go. I realised many years ago that I was never going to get to play in Croke Park. However, refereeing offered an alternative route," adds Barry, whose desire to make it in refereeing was partly fuelled by the fact that he won five senior championship medals with Mullingar Shamrocks without kicking a ball. The GAA recently launched a major drive to recruit more referees. Association president Nickey Brennan suggested that more former inter-county players should take up the whistle, but as Kelly points out, Jimmy Cooney from Galway is the only one to have made that particular transition in the past 10 years. Barry would like to see a situation where GAA referees receive the small level of respect as their rugby counterparts, but again has his doubts about this ever happening. "Because the play is slower in rugby, the referee has more time to make a decision. He is able to warn players in advance if they are about to commit a foul. It's almost as though he is waiting for someone to put a foot wrong. With both hurling and football, you have only a split second to make a decision and that's why GAA referees are so open to criticism." Barry is delighted with the progress of other up-and-coming Westmeath referees such as James McGrath (Turin), Sean Carroll (The Downs/Cullion), Alan McCormack (Kilbeggan Shamrocks) and Robbie Cornally (St. Oliver Plunkett's). Barry is convinced that McGrath - who took charge of last year's Christy Ring Cup and Leinster club finals - would have been assigned to referee the All-Ireland minor final but for the fact that he was appointed to the senior final. Kelly insists that he would never have been able to reach the top of his game without the help and support of so many people. "The support I've got from people down the years has been overwhelming. People like Tommy Glennon and the late Adrian Murray were a great help at the start. Seamus Whelan, Paddy Collins and Pat Doherty from the county board gave me lots of encouragement as did my club colleagues. And I don't think any of this would have happened without my umpires, who deserve just as much credit as I." Coming from a hurling backwater like Westmeath, Kelly feels he has finally proved himself to those in the traditionally strong counties who might have knocked him a few years ago. "There was an element of fellas looking down on you because you weren't from Tipperary or Kilkenny. It was as if it was another stick to beat you with. But now that I'm fairly well established, I don't get it as much," he explains. Barry has no intention of hanging up his whistle now that he's achieved the ultimate honour in the game. "I'm very friendly with Catch (Carthage) Buckley from Offaly and he's of the view that there are always matches to be refereed. There is a lot of competition among referees for the big games now, especially in football, and I think that has helped greatly to improve standards. "A few people have said to me that I should quit while I'm ahead, and I feel as though as I've proved myself to a certain extent. I haven't felt under as much pressure since I did the All-Ireland final, and I'm probably enjoying it more now that that particular monkey is off my back. "But like in anything, you're only as good as your last game and at no stage can you afford to rest on your laurels," he concludes. Tweet

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