Dundalk FC assistant manager Ken Kiernan says, “God is in the details”, with Ciarán Kilduff’s number two hoping that the pair’s meticulous approach can see the good times roll again at Oriel Park.
Kiernan was announced as assistant to Kilduff on Thursday afternoon as the new boss assembled his backroom team for the 2025 SSE Airtricity Men’s First Division, with Gerry Spain, Liam Burns and Peter Cherrie also on the coaching ticket.
Kiernan, a native of Coolock who now lives in Rush, coached Kennedy Cup teams and then moved on to Shelbourne where he was an Academy coach under Damien Duff, with his time at the Reds seeing him work with Seán Keogh and Jad Hakiki.
He was assistant to Kilduff when Athlone Town Women won the FAI Cup last year, and from that came an opportunity to manage Bohemians Women, where he spent the past season before departing to take up this exciting role with Dundalk.
Kiernan spoke at length about the opportunity to work with Ireland’s second-most successful football club, with a clear determination to “set standards from the day we hit the training ground”, as Dundalk look to launch a promotion push.
On coming to Dundalk FC…
“I’m hugely honoured to be given the opportunity to come in and work in Dundalk. It’s an amazing club. I’ve gone and watched senior games over the years. I’m just delighted to be involved in the club.
“It’s a huge footballing town. Everybody’s dream is to be involved in a club where the community lives and breathes the club.”
13 May 2024; The President of Ireland Michael D Higgins with Bohemians manager Ken Kiernan during a courtesy call with representatives of the Palestinian Football Association and Bohemian Football Club at Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile.
On the decision to leave Bohemians…
“It was a really difficult decision. I was given an opportunity there to manage a senior team. It’s a fantastic club. There were a couple of factors; to work in Dundalk, a club that’s very similar to Bohs in terms of how ingrained it is in the community, and an opportunity to work with Ciarán again.
“The staff I had in Bohemians were brilliant. Getting to work with Ciarán again was obviously a factor. I had been given an opportunity a few years back to work in the men’s game and I didn’t take it. These chances don’t necessarily come around very often.
“It was an opportunity to help get the club back to where it needs to be. There’s something in that for me as well. I know there is a lot of trauma, a lot of things that have gone on the last couple of months, the club nearly went out of existence, but there are a lot of green shoots, a lot of real positives.
“I met some fantastic people up in the club when I was there on Wednesday night, the likes of Peter Halpin, and you can see that there is a huge opportunity to get the club back to where it should be.
“Again, leaning on the young players that are in the Academy, a lot of them were given an opportunity at the end of last season. I’m sure they’re going to get that chance.
“Teams that are really, really successful, whether it be Dundalk being really successful or Shamrock Rovers, sometimes you don’t maybe get to see as many players coming through into the first team. I think that’s going to be hugely positive for the town, this season seeing young players from the town getting chances to play every week.”
23 November 2023; Athlone Town manager Ciarán Kilduff and assistant manager Ken Kiernan, right, holding the FAI Cup during the 2023 SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division Awards at Clontarf Castle in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile.
On working with Ciarán Kilduff…
“Ciarán is very meticulous. He has got teaching behind him and an economics degree, so he’s very thoughtful and meticulous in everything he does. He’s a winner. I don’t generally meet people that match my work rate. He matches my work rate, and I think that’s also why we work really well together.
“He’s 24/7. He’s obsessed with it. He’s only ever left something in a better position when he’s left it behind. I’d like to think that, obviously leaving Bohs and him leaving Athlone, we left both squads in much better situations than we probably found them in.
“When you’re working with somebody and you know they’re willing to give it everything, and when you’re like that yourself, you just want to be around people like that.”
On the challenge at Dundalk…
“There’s a huge challenge. There is a huge amount of work to be done. But you look at the green shoots that are around, and there are a lot of people that are willing to get stuck in and get behind the club.
“There are huge things being done at the club. I was following the Down Syndrome team, they were flying up to the end of the season, and I was reading about really positive things happening in the community.
“Even with the Under-20s team, from memory, they won six of their last eight games, so they’re players that you’re going to be looking to lean on.
“At the end of the day, we’re here to help, that’s what we’re here to do. The challenge is massive. But it’s about getting the right players, with the right recruitment, filling the place with the right people, the right staff, which Ciarán already has done.
“You want to turn games where last season they were losing, you’re now going to be able to get draws, and you’re going to be in situations in games where you’re drawing and you’re going to be able to get wins.
“You’re looking to build the squad and get that mentality of being able to fight for each other, being able to graft and work. It’s going to be a different type of a match this season in the First Division, so we’ll have to prepare the players for that as well.
“It’s not going to be Shamrock Rovers building up from the back every game, where you’re playing in a mid-block or a low block. You’re going to have games where they’re highly transitional, you’re going to have to be able to keep up with teams that play different styles of football.
“We’re relishing having to prepare as well. People like myself and Ciarán love the idea of the preparation.”
27 April 2024; Bohemians manager Ken Kiernan during the SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division match between Bohemians and Treaty United at Dalymount Park in Dublin. Photo by Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile.
He added: “God is in the details, a famous architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe said it, and what he meant is just getting the basics right and nailing them.
“Whether that’s our preparation, how we train, how we prepare on set-pieces, everybody knowing their role by the time the season begins, everyone knowing what’s expected of them in terms of their recovery – building those little blocks to create that environment and that mentality. Set standards from the day we hit the training ground.
“The minute we’re back on the pitch, we’ll be setting standards. We’ll be expecting the players to keep up with it.
“Of course, when you have players already committed like Aodh Dervin and Daryl Horgan, that is also a challenge for me personally and for Ciarán, to make sure that everything is at the level that these players have been accustomed to.”
On this opportunity and his progression as a coach…
“I haven’t skipped any steps, and I haven’t been able to skip steps, because I didn’t have a 15-year career, I didn’t win leagues as a player.
“But I worked my way through the Academy. I got to work with fantastic coaches, like Stephen Henderson, Damien Duff and Luke Byrne at Shels, and then moving into Bohs, working with the likes of Pat Fenlon and Dave Henderson, Alan Murphy my assistant.
“I’ve grafted, I’ve learned, I’ve listened, I’ve connected with as many people as I could along the way. I have brilliant connections all over the country. I think this is a brilliant opportunity for me to take this next step and test myself at the highest level in the country.”
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