By Michelle Crean

It was a historic occasion when a local music maestro and his son not only played football but also music in Croke Park.

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Liam O'Connor and his son Oisín enjoyed a kick about together at the home of GAA as part of a 'Warriors for Humanity' charity game for Self-Help Africa.

They later played at the after-match celebratory banquet in the Hogan Stand Event Centre that night - probably making history as the first father and son duo to play both in Croke Park on the same day!

O’Connor’s sporting credentials have been well-established too. He won two Cork county senior championship football medals with Duhallow.

Liam, an internationally-acclaimed accordion player, recently played at Electric Picnic.

Tomorrow (Thursday) he and his band will join the Celtic Tenors to entertain the sell-out crowd at the much-anticipated rugby clash between Munster and world champions South Africa.

The Irish maestro has brought his dynamic accordion-playing to other sporting occasions, including two Ryder Cup golf tournaments, seven All-Ireland Final appearances in Croke Park and recently made a superb contribution playing alongside the Artane Band on the RTÉ All-Ireland programme 'Up For The Match'.

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And, not one to sit still, Liam's next plan is to bring legendary hurling manager Brian Cody as the guest speaker for the annual Liam O’Connor Show at St Brendan’s College, Killarney on Thursday, December 1 at 8pm.

Cody is regarded as the greatest hurling manager of all time, having steered the senior Kilkenny team for 25 years, becoming the county's longest-serving manager and the most successful in terms of the number of major titles won. In all, during his extraordinary reign that ended with his retirement this year, Kilkenny won 43 major honours, including 11 Senior All-Irelands.

Also appearing on what promises to be a momentous night will be the St Brendan’s College Choir and Music Group, and O’Connor’s own family band featuring Saoirse on vocals, concertina and keyboards, Oisín, who plays guitars, keyboards and percussion, and Cillian on drums.

“This is my ninth year as part of the show which has now become one of the annual highlights in my schedule of gigs," Laim told the Killarney Advertiser.

"To have such an inspirational figure as Brian Cody along to share his wisdom about sport and life is truly an honour for us all. It’ll be a great way to end what has been a busy and exciting year for me.”

St Brendan’s College has a fine reputation on the music front, not least because of the skills of two remarkably dedicated music teachers in Niamh O’Connell, Mish O’Donoghue and Principal Seán Coffey whose leadership is the key to creating an amazing synergy, Liam, who lends his musical dexterity to the college on a regular basis, added.

"Of course the students are amazing in St Brendan’s. The chapel concert is a very happy place with all the great music."

Tickets for the St Brendan’s College concert are available from ticketstop.ie.