The making of a Kill GAA legend; Michael Behan shares his story of lifelong service to his club

The dual players of 2023 get plenty of praise for their unwavering service to both football and small ball. Michael Behan’s stint may perhaps top the lot as the Kill GAA legend played football until he was 40 and then added seven more years of service to the hurlers on top of that too. Although, the latter had a certain underlying personal reason to keep himself in and around the squad.

“I was 16 when I got onto the senior hurling teams in 1976 and finished up the hurling in 2008. I was trying to wait until my son came along to play with him, but I got to in the end anyways,” Michael explained.

“It was great, when you see your young lad coming along you just think that you’d love to get the chance to play with him. He was 17 or 18 coming in and he was playing a lot more games than I was. I was making my way out, but I hung in there for it.”

Michael’s son was also a part in what his father calls his most treasured playing success, as Kill won the Junior A and B Football Championships on the same day in 1992.

“That year was the big one for me, my son was there, one year old and he was kind of a mascot for us, all those things make the GAA. It was a big day for me,” he recalled.

The 1992 success was preceded by a Junior ‘B’ football title in 1979 which Michael won as a 19 year-old, but he had long since assumed the role of leader amongst the Kill squad.

“I was the elder statesman now, but you make great friends through the GAA and they are all still great friends to this day. The older lads minded me in '79 and I was trying to mind the younger ones in '92,” he said.

“I am the treasurer now, but I run the bar up there too. I am now seeing the lads who I was playing with, who I thought were young, and I’m greeting their kids now.”

One of the biggest feathers in Michael’s cap is the formation and maintenance of Kill’s hurling team. The man himself previously played for Kildare hurling juggernauts Ardclough, but was back at ground level at his own club as soon as he was needed.

“I enjoyed my time in Ardclough, I won Senior Championships with them, but coming back and playing with your own mates is different. We started off with nothing. The first day I came back training we had about 10 lads and I thought ‘what am I doing here?’ but gradually we built it up and got us going,” Michael recalled.

Kill contested four Junior Hurling Championship finals in a row between 2002 to 2005, an impressive but unwanted statistic as each Junior final added meant the absence of success in the last. However, 2005 was to be their year and a last gasp Brian McMahon goal would seal the Championship title for Kill, as they beat Leixlip by a single point.

“It is something that every club wants to do and we did it from nothing, whereas other clubs around the county had a history of it (success). The last time before this that there was hurling in Kill was back in the 1930s,” Michael said.

“The goal came with about 30 seconds left, but I suppose it doesn’t matter when you win them. When you go get the cup afterwards, that’s when the craic is. We had enough times when it was the other way around, walking down the tunnel after a match and back into the dressing room, it’s not a nice place to be. Then the next day you were left trying to plan for next year.”

Michael’s playing career spanned 31 years, a love that never dwindled as he played until he no longer could, he said he wouldn't change a thing about it.

“Anyone that asks me, I always say to keep playing as long as you can, you are long enough on the sideline. You can pick teams and motivate lads, but it is just not the same as playing. I made so many friends in the club and with people I played against, you go in hard on the field but you leave it there. You shake hands and go have a pint with a fella. And the same thing the next game you play them,” Michael said.

“I paid for it (my long career) after, I had to get two new hips. But I don’t begrudge it, I enjoyed every minute of it.”
Throughout his years of service, Michael has occupied nearly every role available to a member of Kill GAA, operating as manager for both the football and hurling sides. As well as chairman, secretary, and treasurer, which he is currently.

Michael is among many dedicated members of the GAA across Ireland, but he could hold up his volunteering resume up to anyone’s across the emerald isle after his years of his dedication to his club. So what keeps him doing it?

“The love of the GAA to tell you the truth,” he said. “I know it’s a cliché that you love your village, love your club and all that, but that was always my thing. My family were always from Kill and they were always involved. My Uncle was president of the club, my father was involved going back years. I think it is a great thing for a community.

“I have gotten great satisfaction from seeing the club prosper and all the friends that I have made too. If you head up to that clubhouse on a Sunday morning all you will see is kids training and for me that is what makes it all worthwhile. All you can hear is laughing, joking, and that is worth anything.”

The Leinster Leader will be doing a feature article from every club in Kildare as part of the Love of the Game series. If you have a suggestion for someone from your club, a legendary player, selfless volunteer or an idea of your own, send them to daragh.nolan@leinsterleader.ie.