This club season has been a fairytale one for Dingle so far. They bridged a 77-year gap to win a Kerry title, snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against St Finbarr’s to win their maiden Munster title, and won a thriller against Leinster kingpins Ballyboden St Enda’s to make the All-Ireland final.

With the likes of Paul Geaney, Tom O’Sullivan, and Dylan Geaney in their ranks, it is no wonder that they have made such an impression on the All-Ireland series once they managed to escape the Kerry championship.

Despite their obvious wealth of intercounty talent, the addition of one player has played a massive part in their fairytale run. Having lost Kerry midfielder Barry Dan O’Sullivan to an ACL injury earlier in 2025, they were in need of reinforcements around the middle and who better to draft in than a professional athlete.

Massive Boost For Dingle As AFL Star Mark O’Connor Free To Play In All-Ireland Final

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Mark O’Connor has been granted permission by his AFL club Geelong to line out for Dingle in the All-Ireland Club SFC final against Roscommon side St Brigid’s.

 

Geelong has granted premiership defender Mark O’Connor another two weeks in Ireland to play in his hometown Dingle’s quest for a maiden All-Ireland Club Championship on January 18.
He’ll then return to AFL pre-season @7NewsMelbourne @7AFL

— Mitch Cleary (@cleary_mitch) January 7, 2026

The 28-year-old midfielder, who has been with the Australian club since finishing his minor career with Kerry, has played a massive part of Dingle’s run to the All-Ireland final.