Jack Kissane

Jack Kissane (Seán Kissane, 20 November 1929 to 5 January 2022) was an Irish Gaelic footballer who played at club level with An Chéad Cath and at inter-county level with the Galway senior football team, usually as a defender. He came to prominence as a cadet officer in the Curragh before moving to Galway, and with An Chéad Cath he won a Galway Senior Championship in 1951. His displays for the Army team earned a call-up to Galway, and he made his championship debut in 1953. He won five Connacht Championship titles in seven seasons and was at right wing-back when Galway beat Cork in the 1956 All-Ireland final, and he also played in the 1959 final that Galway lost to his native Kerry. Born in Killomeroe, Lisselton, County Kerry, he was commissioned in the army in 1951, served with the United Nations in the Congo in 1960 and 1961 and later in Cyprus, and rose to Brigadier-General, commanding Southern Command from 1989 until he retired in November 1990. He died at his home in Salthill in January 2022, aged 92.