Tipperary GAA Scene 18th Oct
by County PRO Ger Ryan
DROM AND INCH WIN FIRST COUNTY SENIOR HURLING TITLE
Congratulations to Drom and Inch on winning the county senior hurling championship on Sunday with a 2 point victory over Clonoulty Rossmore on a scoreline of 1-19 to 2-14. It’s a great achievement for Drom and Inch to win their first title and it surely banishes all the heartbreak from their 3 previous defeats at this level. Seamus Callanan was a very proud recipient of the Dan Breen Cup from County Chairman, Barry O’Brien and delivered a great speech that captured the mood and importance of the occasion. Well done to Johnny Ryan of Drom and Inch on receiving the Man of the Match award, kindly sponsored as usual by John Quirke Jewellers Cahir. Drom and Inch will now go on to represent Tipperary in the AIB Munster Club championship quarter final where they will play Waterford champions, Ballygunner on Sunday October 30th at Semple Stadium. Hopefully the celebrations will have quietened in time for them to refocus for the tough challenge Ballygunner will provide. We extend commiserations to Clonoulty Rossmore. They will rue some missed chances and will be very disappointed to lose two finals in a row. However, they have many fine players and with several to return from injury they can look forward to 2012 with optimism. They played a big part in what was a great occasion on Sunday and contributed handsomely to a fine sporting game. Well done also to referee Pat Gibson who did an excellent job and can be very happy with his performance in his first county final. Ger Corbett and his team deserve great plaudits as usual for an excellent programme and despite recent bad weather caretaker, Philly Butler, had Semple Stadium in immaculate condition. Well done to everybody who contributed to the staging of Sunday’s games.
SEAMUS O RIAIN CUP FINAL
Well done to Moycarkey Borris on defeating Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams by 1-18 to 0-13 to win the Seamus O Riain Cup final which preceded the county senior hurling final on Sunday. William Dempsey was presented with the Seamus O Riain Cup by Sean Nugent, Vice Chairman of County Board and Eugene Ryan, Secretary of the North Board and son of the late Seamus O Riain. Kieran Morris of Moycarkey Borris was Man of the Match.
COUNTY SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINALS
The county senior football semi-finals will be played this Sunday October 23 at Holycross. Clonmel Commercials will play North Tipp selection, Thomas MacDonaghs, at 2pm and Moyle Rovers will play Arravale Rovers at 3.30pm. The County Final is scheduled to be played on November 6 at Leahy Park, Cashel.
COUNTY INTERMEDIATE HURLING FINAL
Gortnahoe Glengoole will play Aherlow in the County Intermeidate Hurling Final at Golden on Saturday October 22 at Golden at 3.30pm. Gortnahoe Glengoole were defeated by Borrioskane in last year’s final and are seeking their first title since 1988. Aherlow, having won the 2009 junior A football title and last year’s senior football title, are seeking their first title at this grade. Johnny Ryan of Boherlahan Dualla will be the referee. The game will be preceded by the county minor B hurling semi-final replay between Drom and Inch and Skeheenarinky.
COUNTY JUNIOR A FOOTBALL FINAL
The County Junior A Football Final between Ballylooby Castelgrace and Kildangan will be played on Saturday October 22 at Boherlahan at 2.30pm. Kildangan are seeking their second title at this grade having previously won in 1990 and Ballylooby Castelgrace are seeking their first title at this grade.
KILRUANE MACDONAGHS TEAM OF 1985 HONOURED
The county senior hurling champions of 1985, Kilruane MacDonaghs, were guests of honour at the County Senior Hurling final on Sunday last. They were introduced to the attendance between the 2 games. After their county final win in October 1985, they went onto to achieve further success by winning the All Ireland club title the following March, defeating Buffers Alley in the final. Thanks to the organising committee, Seamus King, John Costigan and Pat Carey for doing their usual excellent job and to the Tipperary Star for sponsoring the event.
ALL STARS
Good luck to Tipperary’s All Star nominees for the All Star awards announcements on Friday night next, October 21st. Good luck also to Padraic Maher who has been nominated for Hurler of the Year along with Michael Fennelly and Tommy Walsh of Kilkenny. The awards are sponsored by Opel for the first time and are also the first joint GAA and GPA awards. They will be televised live on RTE.
THE LATE BILLY MCLOUGHNEY RIP
Tipperary County Board extends its sympathy to the family of the late Billy McLoughney, former Tipperary hurler, who died recently. Billy played with Kildangan and subsequently finished his career in the black and white of Kilruane MacDonaghs. He played for the Tipperary minors in the All Ireland final of 1950 and subsequently became a member of the senior panel at the end of the 1950s. He won an All Ireland senior medal playing in the full forward line in 1961 in Tipperary’s one point victory over Dublin. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam uasal.
BENNY DUNNE RETIRES
Benny Dunne announced his retirement from inter-county hurling last week. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Benny for his great contribution during his ten years on the panel since he joined it in 2002. Now 31, Benny won 1 All Ireland, 3 Munster and 1 Allianz League medal during that time. He was team captain in 2005 and also acted as captain in 2007 when John O’Brien was unavailable due to injury. He made his competitive debut for Tipperary at senior level against Derry in March 2002. His championship debut was against Clare later that year. He made 39 senior championship appearances for Tipperary and scored 5-31. He played on every line of the field except in goals. He was on the under 21 panel in 2000 and 2001. Benny always showed huge determination to bring success to Tipperary. He is held in very high regard by his fellow players, by team management and all associated with Tipperary hurling. He never sought the limelight but worked quietly in the best interests of the team at all times. He will be missed very much. We wish him and his wife, Elaine, well for the future.
TIPPERARY GAA YEARBOOK 2012
The 2012 Tipperary GAA Yearbook is being compiled at present and the Yearbook committee under the Chairmanship of Seamus King is seeking articles and information for inclusion. Clubs that have accomplished any unique achievement in 2011 such as winning a major title for the first time, achieving a double, opening new dressing rooms or a new grounds, etc are requested to send through an appropriate article for inclusion. The Yearbook committee are looking to all clubs to submit any obituaries of their deceased members in the last 12 months. The maximum number of words for an obituary is 150 and please include the club name and the years also, e.g. 1935-2011, as well as his/her GAA achievements and a photograph of the deceased person. The deadline for sending information is November 1 2011. You can e-mail completed work to Seamus King at seamusjk@eircom.net or John Smith, Secretary Yearbook committee at johnsmiththurles@eircom.net. All photographs must be named and can be e-mailed to Seamus King or John Smith. Photographs can also be posted to John Smith, c/o Tipperary GAA Office, Slievenamon Road, Thurles.
CAMOGIE
Good luck to Drom and Inch and Cashel for the County Camogie final which will be played at The Ragg on Sunday October 23 at 3.30pm. It wll be preceded at 1pm by the senior B final between Silvermines and Moneygall. Congratulations to Jill Horan on being nominated for a Camogie All Star award.
MUNSTER JUNIOR A LADIES FOOTBALL
Congratulations to Aherlow on winning the Munster Junior A football title last Saturday by defeating Dromina of Cork.
“THE GAA COUNTY BY COUNTY” IS LAUNCHED
Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael Críostóir Ó Cuana officially launched “The GAA – County by County” recently. This new publication, a sequel to “The GAA – A People’s History” launched in November 2009, as part of the Association’s 125th Anniversary. is part of the ongoing GAA Oral History Project commissioned by the Association with the project undertaken by Boston College, Dublin. “The GAA – County by County”, authored by Mike Cronin, Mark Duncan and Paul Rouse tells the story of how the GAA has left a unique imprint on every Irish county and Irish communities overseas with people and place, sport and identity at the heart of this book. Organised county by county, the highs and lows of on-field activity are charted and the various forces that have shaped the personality of the GAA across each county – social, economic, geographic and political – are examined. With a compelling mix of text, images (many previously unseen) and first-hand accounts from participants in the GAA Oral History project, this is a seamless blend of the scholarly and the popular, providing fascinating insights into why the GAA has developed as it has in different places. Priced at €29.99/£26.99 and published by Collins Press, the book is now available in all reputable book stores across the country.
TIPPERARY GAA SCENE
Information concerning all areas in the GAA will appear in this section in the future. If you wish to include any item of interest in future articles, please contact the County Public Relations Officer Ger Ryan at 086-8149146 or via e-mail at pro.tipperary@gaa.ie on or before 3: 0pm on Monday. Visit the Tipperary GAA web site at http://tipperary.gaa.ie to keep up to date with all the latest news in Tipperary GAA circles.
