FROM the moment he came into this world, football was his world.
The Sunday Game on the telly, the paper on the kitchen table, pictures on the wall, boots at the back door, jerseys in the washing machine, a ball in the garden, the phone ringing, the match chat starting…
Aaron Kernan grew up in a GAA incubator steeped in the traditions of Crossmaglen and Armagh.
He was coming six when, in 1989, his dad Joe, a club and county legend, became an Armagh selector. When Joe went to training, young Aaron and his brother Stephen (11 months older and also born in 1983) were at his heels.
Can we come Daddy?
Aye, come on.
Aaron watched and listened, he soaked it all up and was inspired.
“One day that’ll be me,” he hoped.
One day it was.
And not just ‘one day’ of course. A thousand days.
He played 10 years with his county and 23 with his club and for every minute of every game he gave the best of himself to the jersey whether it was black and amber, Armagh orange, Ulster gold or Ireland’s green.
“When I go right back to the start, I think I was probably a bit lucky in terms of what I grew up in,” he says.
“I watched dad involved with successful teams so I knew what it took to be successful. I remember watching Martin McQuillan at Armagh training and the fitness levels of him… He was so far ahead of everyone else. I remember thinking: ‘That’s the standard you need to get to’.
“I remember the first time I saw a bleep test, John McCloskey was coaching Cross when they were going for the All-Ireland in 2000. Over Christmas they were all taken up to do the test and I saw Tony and John McEntee and Oisin McConville battling it out to see who could stick it the longest.
“I was thinking: ‘That’s the level I need to get to if I want to get into this panel and be successful and win All-Irelands…’ I took everything on board and I just went for it."
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“It never bothered me that I had to make sacrifices and I had to miss out on nights out or trips here or there.
“I was always able to look at a bigger picture, about what was more important and I wouldn’t change a thing.
“To be part of such great teams and to be with such brilliant players and brilliant people...
“There was nobody as proud to play for their club or their county. I loved every minute of it.
“I’d love to be 20 again, I’d love to start all over again but that’s not how it works. To be as fortunate as I was, to be able to say: ‘I played for Crossmaglen, I played for Armagh’. That means the world to me.
“It was everything I dreamt of as a child and I’m unbelievably proud that I played and played at a high level. I didn’t win everything but I won more than enough to keep me happy.
“When you’re playing with the calibre of players that I did then they bring out the best in you, they help you to shine. The players I played with for Cross and Armagh… Look at the success there was for both of those teams. What a time to be around!
“I was unbelievably fortunate to have so many good players around me who set high standards and successful in their own right. I got the chance to try and add to that and be a part of it.”
HE was born in December 1983, just 11 months after his brother Stephen. The pair of them and younger brothers Tony and Paul were at the forefront of so many successes with their dad who was an All-Ireland-winning manager with club and county.
“Tony and Stephen came over to our house on Sunday night with Kyle Carragher and Paul Hearty and we had the craic about the good times that we were so fortunate to achieve,” said Aaron.
“To have played together for county and club with my brothers when dad was manager and to achieve what we did made it unbelievably special. And not just the winning, everything that came with it – the craic, the fun, the holidays… It made every bit of sacrifice worthwhile and, to be honest, if I had the chance to do it all over again I’d do it in a heartbeat. I loved everything that came with representing our family, our club and our county.”
His dad was Crossmaglen manager when he first joined the senior panel in 2001 but the young talent had to bide his time.
Cross had won All-Irelands in 1997, 1999 and 2000 and were the premier club team in the country - everywhere he looked in the changingroom there was a multiple All-Ireland champion.
He was an unused substitute in the 2001 county final and was on the bench again for the final the following year. But he wore the number five jersey that became his own in the 2003 decider and his point against Dromintee that day was described by knowledgeable journalist Joe McManus as being: “Right from the top drawer”.
In all, he won 18 senior championship medals as well as eight Ulster Club medals and three All-Ireland Club medals.
He was done it all and won it all and his performance levels never dropped but, with his 40th birthday approaching, he decided that this season – whatever it brought – would be his last. Saturday night’s Ulster quarter-final against Trillick was the end of a road paved with golden memories.
“I thought long and hard about coming back this year,” he explains.
“Marianne (his wife) encouraged me to give it one more go and we had a new manager in (Anthony Cunningham) so I wanted to help him settle in.
“I always knew that as soon as the season was over that would be it for me. It happened a bit earlier than I’d have liked and it wasn’t in the greatest fashion but I appreciate everything that I have achieved and when I was starting out I would have bit your hand off to get what I’ve got. I don’t think I could have done any more, I gave everything that I could but I know my time is up and that’s it.”
HE’D joined a Crossmaglen panel that had been to the very top and it was the same scenario in the Armagh camp when his father brought him into the county senior squad in 2004.
The Orchardmen had won the Sam Maguire in 2002 and been to the All-Ireland final in 2003. In his breakthrough season (2005) Aaron was named Young Player of the Year but auld enemy Tyrone pipped the Orchardmen by a point in a pulsating All-Ireland semi-final.
He wouldn’t have believed it then, but that was as close as he’d get to the Sam Maguire.
“I didn’t make it to an All-Ireland senior final and I’d have loved to have done that,” he says.
“On an individual level, I’d have loved to win an Allstar too but it doesn’t take away from everything I did and the teams I was part of.
“Playing for Armagh in Croke Park was always special. In the mid-2000s we were there in so many big games. I’m very proud I was able to play on that stage and compete on that level with such a good team.
“The 2005 team that I was fortunate-enough to break onto was a brilliant team. We just came up short but that year, the number of games that we played… It was an unbelievable year.”
Having played for 23 years and won 29 titles at club level, it’s hard for him to select a highlight but, having been brought up on Cross All-Ireland wins, getting there himself in 2007 was very special. He’d been the panel for six years by then so to reach the pinnacle and be able to stand among the legends of his club meant everything to him.
Out of all the games he played, one stands out.
“I don’t know why but the best game I ever played in, the one that always stands out, was beating Kilmacud Crokes in the All-Ireland semi-final in 2011 in Navan,” he says.
“That was the best game of football I ever played in and it was that bit more special because they had beaten us in the All-Ireland final in 2009. I always took great pride in beating really good teams and competing against the best players.
“When you played against the top teams you were always going to get tested and it all went back to how I prepared. If I prepared like I needed to, I always went out with confidence but I would have been nervous as hell too.
“Oh Jesus, I used to get very nervous. I’d always be nervous no matter what game – if it was a challenge match at a pitch-opening I’d always be up for it. I always had that pride in myself and I always wanted to play well – I never wanted to let anyone get one over on me because I wasn’t focussed enough or didn’t prepare properly.
“Ah, here, I had bad days too, some very tough days but I’m happy that, for the vast majority I got the maximum out of myself.”
HE won’t be short of calls offering him management opportunities. Even before he retired there were tentative enquiries hoping to beat the rush.
But after so long on the road he’s looking forward to a spell in “the real world” with time to devote to his young family.
“For a couple of years I don’t want to get involved in something serious where you’re back four or five days a week dealing with players and spending weekends at games,” he says.
“I want to spend time with family and friends and get into the real world and enjoy life where maybe myself and Marianne can go out for a meal with friends and have a drink and not be worrying that I’ve got training in the morning. I’m looking forward to that.
“I’ve been on to Tony McEntee (Crossmaglen coaching officer) and I put my name forward to be involved with our U10s next year. My two wee boys James (9) and Joe (7) are involved in that group and they’re a cool wee group. All they want to do is play football and they’re well looked after by the coaches. I want to spend a bit more time with them and wee Mollie. She’s only three and she loves to run and race wherever there’s a game of football going on.
“It’s not that I want to coach the boys particularly. I’ll sit back and let them at it and if football’s for them – brilliant – if it’s not, as long as they’re happy and healthy that’s all we can ask for.
“I’ll give as much as I can back to the club because I’ve loved everything I’ve got out of it.”
Aaron Kernan
With Crossmaglen
Armagh senior football championships (18): 2001-2008, 2010-2015, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023
Ulster senior football championships (8): 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015
All-Ireland senior football championships (3): 2007, 2011, 2012
With Armagh
Ulster Senior Football Championships (4): 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008
National Football League Division 1: 2005
National Football League Division 2: 2010
Ulster U21 Football Championship: 2004
All-Ireland U21 Football Championship: 2004
With Ulster
Railway Cups (3): 2007, 2009, 2013
With Ireland
International Rules Series winner 2008
Individual awards
Allstar Young Footballer of the Year 2005
Irish News Ulster Allstars 2005, 2006
Gaelic Life Ulster Club Allstar (2015
Armagh Club Allstar (2018, 2022
Armagh Club Footballer of the Year 2018
