Páidí O Sé had a resounding comeback to a Dublin jibe about Kerry and tractors

He was fond of an aul' dig was Páidí.

Dublin versus Kerry has given us some wonderful moments over the years. Not all of them have been stirring fight-backs, flashes of individual brilliance or memorable scores. Every now and then, a man from either side would step up and give his opposite number a fearsome clatter. Most of the best/worst stuff, we are told, arrived before there were too many TV cameras to worry about. Such was the case when Kerry met the Dubs at Croke Park in a league match in the early 1980s. It is recounted in John Scally's book 'Blood, Sweat, Triumph and Tears: Tales from the GAA'. Scally recalls a conversation with O Sé about that league encounter and the Kerry man's succinct response to a jibe about being from the sticks. He writes:

"Páidí was marking what he described to me as a 'prominent Dub' who turned to him in his finest city accent as they took their positions and said, 'Ye boys probably came up here on a tractor'. "Páidí said nothing but he waited until the national anthem and checked that the ref was looking elsewhere and then he recalled to me, 'I bursshted him with a box. He was on the ground calling for his mammy and I turned to him and said - 'Jaysus Christ, you look like a lad that was knocked down by a tractor!'."

That sounds like the O Sé we knew and loved. Dinny Allen knew all about getting 'burssht' too.