Sad to report the Death last week of great Keel footballer in San Diego. One of the greatest Kerry men never to play with his county but he played in six national League Finals with new York one against Kerry. Eleven in his family and nine emigrated to America in the 40/50s Jim Foley was born on April 4th 1936, in Keel County Kerry. He remembers playing football with his older brothers, (who went on to play for Kildare), from the age of 3 years old. His Dad and family all played and history and tradition continued with Jim as he forged his years playing football for his club team, Keel. Back in his younger days, Jim played in goals and also played in Centerfield. Jim played for Kerry Minors in 1953 and 1954 and has a Munster Medal in his medal trophy from those early years. I remind Jim of another great book that mentions him by name, again showing his stature in the game, Princes of Pigskin, A Century of Kerry Footballers, on page 255; “Jim Foley was another Mid-Kerry soul lost to the oceans of the world. Behind his eyelids, Tom Prendergast, (Kerry Captain from 1972), can still just about make him out and last he heard, Jim was over in San Diego, living a life of sun beside the blue pacific. What Tom remembers most about his old neighbor is the stylish manner of him. The sweet way he put a boot to a football. He remembers that in 1953, Jim played in goal for the Kerry Minors in the All-Ireland final. In the following year’s minor final, he played midfield alongside Tom Long. It amazed Prendergast that a goalkeeper could transform into an outfield player – like Superman in a phone box. (Tom Prendergast) would give hours watching Jim Foley kick ball around the fields of Keel. When he saw Mick O Connell play for the first time, he thought it was Jim Foley back from America. Jim had that kind of class.” As Tom Prendergast indicated in his interview, Jim left like many an Irish immigrant at the time for foreign shores. He immigrated to Hartford, CT and continued his wonderful career in the game. Jim won two American League championships with the local Hartford GAA club. During this time, New York played in the National Football League and was an amalgamation of local Irish players from all over the East Coast. Jim Foley was part of the New York team that won (2) All Ireland NFL medals in 1966 and 1969. He was part of that team that beat the famous (3) in a row Galway football team. He was also part of the first GAA team to travel the world and to meet the Pope in 1969. Jim moved to San Diego in 1978 and opened the Blarney Stone in Clairemont
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 11:59:11 +0000