GAA in Britain mourns the loss of John Joe Moran

ONE of the unsung heroes of the GAA in Britain since 1962 passed away at his home in Perth on the evening of Saturday October 25, 2025.

John Joe Moran (above) was born on August 22, 1944 to James and Julie-Ann Moran, and on a farm in Sussa, Emlaghmore, County Kerry, as one of eight children. He was well connected to the GAA through his Kerry family and is a cousin of that Kerry legend Dennis ‘Ogie’ Moran, winner of eight All-Ireland medals in the 1970s/1980s, and who was wing half-back of the great Kerry team that won four consecutive All-Ireland Championships between 1978 and 1981.

In 1962, at the tender age of 17, John Joe left Sussa to attend his eldest sister Mary’s wedding in London and, as it happened, he never would return home to live. Instead, he found work in Oxford with his uncle Joe Kennedy and it was in Oxford that he met Mary Reilly in 1967 at a bus stop on his way to a Pioneer dance on a Saturday evening. In 1968, they were married in Mary’s home city of Perth. In 1972, they chose to return to Perth to live and work. His son Kieran was born in 1972 and his daughter Kerry was born in 1974.

Three loves

John-Joe had three loves in his life, his family, his sports—Gaelic Football and Shinty—and his native County. While he was in Oxford he played Gaelic football for Eire Óg GFC winning a Hertfordshire Senior County medal, was named Hertfordshire Footballer of the year in 1965 and was selected to play at Wembley in a representative game against an Irish XV.

Even when he moved north to Perth in 1972, he continued to be flown back to Oxford for games on a Sunday and back for work on a Monday morning, such was his dedication and loyalty to his team. However as fortune would have it John Joe met up with Fr Eugene O’Sullivan—then parish priest in St John’s in Perth—and between them and colleagues Rory O’Moore, Maurice Lyons, Hugh O’Kane and Willie Dowds they founded a shinty team in Perth—Tayforth Camanachd.

Even though John Joe was not a hurler he took to the shinty like a duck to water and his great hand-eye-ball co-ordination combined with his physique and strength made him a key player and a formidable opponent. Shinty has the reputation for being a dangerous stick and ball game, yet avoiding any form of protection, John Joe was one of the most fearless exponents of his generation. He also displayed his commitment and landmark loyalty to his team-mates and even when working in Shetland, he would travel back to play on a Saturday afternoon. There was one famous occasion when John Joe was working at Lerwick in Shetland, he flew back to Perth for a Shinty Fraser Cup Final, but due to weather the flight was delayed and he arrived with only 10 minutes of the match remaining—just in time to pick up his medal as they won the cup.

On the subject of Shinty and Tayforth it is noteworthy that a couple of his team mates—in addition to Fr O’Sullivan—at that time were Niall Loakman an AIB bank manager in Glasgow at the time and a young Cathal Dowds who came along to the matches with his father, the great Willie Dowds. Both Niall and Cathal were on the Pearse Park Committee at the time Donegal Senior Footballers were invited to Glasgow in the 1990s and the trophy that Donegal were competing for in Glasgow was dedicated to Willie Dowds through the Willie Dowds Memorial Trophy. It was this same trophy that earlier this year was won by Tyrone 2025 Masters footballers and was paraded around Celtic Park in a lap of honour at half-time in the game vs Hearts on March 28.

Founding Dalriada

He was also on the red carpet in his Shinty days in the late 1970s when the Tayforth Camanachd initiative was awarded an Irish Post award at a glitzy prestigious ceremony in London—held up as a superb example of Irish cultural integration in Britain. The other great accolade that will be part of the history of Gaelic Games in Britain and will be part of John Joe’s legacy will be the founding of the Dalriada Football Club. On Sunday January 28, 1990 at St Francis Friary that the then ‘Dundee Dalriada’ club was founded and among those around the table at that inaugural meeting was John Joe Moran along with Willie Dowds and Fr Eugene O’Sullivan and a group of university students.

Those early days of Dundee Dalriada GFC were the glory days and John Joe was an integral part of that backroom team and was loved and respected by all of the players—he had such a friendly demeanour and magnetic personality. He even togged out in that first season in 1990 and played keeper, and then of course a few years later he brought his own secret weapon to the matches, when his 18-year-old son Kieran donned the Dalriada jersey.

Proud Kerryman

John Joe loved his native County Kerry and always referred to it as the Kingdom, and he and was an amazing example of an Irishman who despite the fact that he lived his life out of Ireland, never really left home. His mind and his spirit remained in Kerry, he brought Kerry into his living room via the radio and his sporting icons trod the soil and turf in Kerry, as well as being regular and often all conquering visitors to the GAA HQ, Croke Park in Dublin.

In his latter years, John Joe’s health declined with Parkinson’s Disease, but only a few months ago, despite his illness, he had the same passion and excitement when Kerry were up against Donegal in the 2025 All-Ireland Final and his only wish was that Kieran and his grand-daughter Niamh would see and experience Kerry winning this year’s All-Ireland. He was 100 per cent convinced that they would win their 39th Sam Maguire and he had his wish, as they were both in Croke Park in July 2025 to witness that masterclass by David Clifford and his team mates—mission accomplished!

So we can envisage John Joe up there sitting in the company of his heroes—Mick O’Dwyer on one side and Paudie O’Shea on the other, and with John Joe's influence on proceedings from that heavenly throne above we would not bet against Kerry winning their 40th All Ireland title in 2026.

The legacy and legend of the great John Joe Moran will live on. As his daughter Kerry said: “We’ll keep him in every act of kindness, in every moment of calm in the rest of our lives.”

He will never be forgotten and it is very unlikely that we will ever see his likes again.

Peter Mossey is the current President of Scotland GAA and Chairman of Dalriada GFC