Kevin Mussen
Irish Gaelic footballer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kevin Mussen (born 8 October 1933 in Hilltown, County Down) is an Irish retired Gaelic footballer. He played for his local club Clonduff and was a member of the Down senior intercounty team from 1951 until 1962. Mussen played at half-back and captained Down to their first All-Ireland title in 1960, the first time that the Sam Maguire Cup had crossed the border to the North.[1] He was a substitute when Down retained the title in 1961.
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| Sport | Gaelic football | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Right half-back | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mussen has three Ulster Championship medals. He is twice a winner of: the All-Ireland, National League, the Railway Cup, inter-provincial colleges, the MacRory Cup, the Down Senior Football Championship and Down Senior League.[2] Mussen also won an Antrim Senior Football Championship medal for Rossa while teacher-training in Belfast.[1]
As of June 2025, Mussen confirmed that only five of the Down team that started the 1960 final against Kerry were still alive; even at the age of 92 he was able to name the fifteen players.[3] Mussen recalled that when the Sam Maguire Cup was being carried across the border,[4] after being temporarily brought off the team bus, a Northern Ireland customs officer "messed us around for a little while" before weight of numbers prevailed.[3]
Mussen stated that he had never played against anyone better than Jim McKeever of Derry, whom he knew from St Mary's Training College (the Ranch), and Mick O'Connell of Kerry.[3]
He was married in August 1960, lived in Newcastle where his wife Josie was from and was a teacher in his native Hilltown. His wife died in 2004. They had five children, Grainne, Marcella, Fionnuala, Damien and Adrian.[1]
