Ciarán Kilkenny is now the last of the ‘93s’ - and he intends to endure far longer than his contemporaries. At the core of so many of Dublin’s successes over the past decade and more was a quintet that born in 1993, coming through the underage ranks together and filtering into the senior team at different stages between 2012 and ‘15. After Dublin’s victory over Kerry in the 2023 All-Ireland final, Kilkenny (eight), Brian Fenton (seven), Jack McCaffrey (six), Paul Mannion (seven) and John Small (seven) had 35 Celtic Crosses between them.
Indeed, in 2018 three of them, Kilkenny, Fenton and McCaffrey, formed the entire shortlist for Footballer of the Year. Fenton won the award twice ahead of Kilkenny, while McCaffrey claimed it once. Fenton sprung a shock by retiring last November.
McCaffrey, Mannion and Small haven’t announced their retirements but they haven’t been back yet this year and it is accepted by all involved that they won’t be. Even before all of this, McCaffrey and Mannion had each taken two separate hiatuses from inter-county football, with their return ahead of the 2023 campaign most unexpected. Yet Kilkenny, who broke into the team before any of them during the 2012 Championship, has been constant, save for the 2014 season when he ruptured a cruciate ligament.
Taking a year out has never tempted him, he insists, while retirement is still a distant prospect. “I love it,” says the 31-year-old. “I love playing and I suppose it's a privilege a.
