Healing Mass:
Sincere thanks to all those who attended the healing mass for Thady O’ Sullivan, one of our senior players, in Firies Church, on St. Stephens’s morning. We join all in our community and beyond to wish Thady a full recovery.
Sympathy:
We extend our sincerest sympathies to our senior player Kieran Carroll, on the recent death of his grand-father, Pa Clifford. May Pa Rest in Peace.
A.G.M. at 7.30 p.m.
The AGM of our club will take place on THIS Friday January 3rd in the clubrooms, at 7.30 p.m. Our club has had a very busy and successful year both on and off the pitch. From our under 6’s to our seniors-all age groups have had a varied and fun programme of activities and games. If you would like to be part of this very forward thinking and welcoming club, then you need to come along to our AGM and get involved. Personally speaking, you will get back far more than you give! We look forward to seeing you there.
Medal Presentation and Club Awards Night:
A very enjoyable night was had at our End of Year Awards Presentation Night in Larkins Bar on Saturday December 28thlast. Our secretary, Mike Carroll addressed the large gathering and reminisced on the year gone by. All good wishes were extended from those present to our senior player Thady O’ Sullivan.
Linus Óg Burke was one of our first presentations on the night –receiving his ‘Junior C Player of the Year Award’ from Henry Scanlon. Dwight Bacalso was then presented with the ‘Junior B Player of the Year Award’. Well done to you both.
Ciarán O’ Connor was a very popular winner of the under 23/ Young Player of the Year. Mike Carroll pointed out that despite his position in the back line, Ciarán is no stranger to making attacks up the field and popping over a score when the opportunity arises! James Daly presented Ciarán with the Shane Daly Memorial Shield, in memory of his late brother Shane. Well done Ciarán on your award and best of luck for the coming season.
We were very privileged to have young Conor Giles to present ‘The Johnny Giles Memorial Shield’ (in memory of his late dad) to our ‘Senior Player of the Year’ -Pa Wrenn. Mike Carroll commented on Pa’s commitment to the senior panel, always endeavouring to make training despite his busy and un- predictable work schedule as a paramedic. Pa was also commended for his ‘never give up’ attitude on the field of play and most importantly for being an excellent role model for the younger players coming up. Well done Pa on a richly deserved award and to Conor on doing a wonderful presentation.
Our final presentation of the night was for Club Person of the Year. With so many in our club giving so much of their time, this is always a difficult one to decide. However, this year, there was notably one person who stood out amongst all the rest. The very worthy recipient was our Lotto Officer, Eileen Spring. Eileen’s work load as Lotto Officer has increased hugely over the past year and she has coped admirably with it. Not content with that, Eileen is also assistant treasurer at present and she is always eager to help out with underage training too. Our club chairman, Podge Leane presented Eileen with her award. Comhghairdeas Eibhlín agus maith thú.
Fundraising Lotto Jackpot is now: €11,600
Our next Lotto draw will take place on Friday January 10th, with €11,600 on offer. We will also have €200 for a Match 3- along with our 6 consolation prizes.
Huge congratulations to our Match 3 winner, Niamh Twiss who won €400 in our lotto draw on December 28th last, in Larkin’s Bar. What a lovely financial boost to start 2020! Drawn numbers were 17, 26, and 19 with 23 being the bonus number.
We also had an in house special draw with two fantastic hampers on offer as prizes. 1st prize went to Florry Doherty, Milltown and 2nd prize went to Dan Kelliher, Steeple Meadows. Congratulations to you both. Our annual yearly lotto ticket holders Raffle distributed 11 super prizes.
1st:€50 voucher for Burkes Butchers was won by Pat O’Shea, England.2nd: €50 Topshop voucher was won by Aoife McAuliffe, 3rd: €25 Spar: Mike McCarthy, 4th:€25 Spar Voucher: Sarah Hogan, 5th prize: €25 Larkins Bar and Restaurant: Willie Mangan, 6th prize: €25 Larkins Bar and Restaurant: David Lovett
7th :€25 Knightly’s Bar and Restaurant, Castlemaine: Padraig Ryan,Ballinoe, 8th prize:€25 voucher for Cronins Statoil, Castlemaine:Conor Giles, 9th prize:€25 voucher for Almas: Bart O’ Sullivan, 10th prize:€25 Almas Voucher:Colm Cronin, and finally 11th prize:€25 voucher for O’ Doherty’s Pharmacy: St. Joseph’s Primary School, Castlemaine.
Congratulations to all the lucky winners and sincere thanks for your support of our Fundraising Lotto. Sincere thanks to our hosts Mike, Caitriona, James and staff for their hospitality on the night.
Parish Charity Fundraising Tournament: Crumlin Children’s Hospital.
Despite the wind and rain, a very successful day of fundraising was had at our annual Parish Charity Fundraising Tournament in the Dragon’s Den, Killorglin on St. Stephens Day. 52 players in total played on the day- which is testament to the superb ‘giving spirit’ in our club. Special thanks to Garry Murphy and his team for all the work they put in to coordinating this event. 6 teams entered in the league: Callinafercy/Kilderry-(who were going for a 3 in a row), Milltown Upper, Ballyfinnane/Castlemaine, Brackhill, Milltown Lower and The Exiles.
After many games, the Ballyfinnane Castlemaine team were crowned champions for 2019-having defeated Milltown Lower in a very close contest. Their captain, Jerome Flynn received the winning cup from club chairman Podge Leane. Comhghairdeas to the Exiles /Minors who won the Shield Final and to Milltown Upper who won the Plate Final.
At our Club Awards Night, Dylan O’ Neill was presented with the ‘Junior Player of the Tournament’. Dylan has had a great season with his club in 2019 and is also enjoying much success with I.T.T.
Eoin O’ Brien was chosen as the ‘Senior Player of the Tournament’ having put in a tremendous performance in all the games. Eoin has been out for a lengthy spell due to injury over the past year. We are delighted to see that Eoin is fully recovered and we wish him well for the 2020 season.
Míle buíochas to our referees on the day- Brendan Twiss, Henry Scanlon and Linus Burke. You all did a wonderful job. We are also very grateful to James O’ Mahony from the ISK, for giving us complimentary use of their all- weather pitches.
Finally… gura míle to all those who came along to support the players. I’m sure it would have been far more comfortable for many of you to sit beside your cosy fires at home!
Progressive 31 Card Drive:
Resumes on Tuesday January 7th at 9 pm Sharp. We look forward to seeing you then for cards, tea and Larkin’s Brack!
Save the date:
Mark Easter Sunday, April 12th, 2020, Ballygarry House Hotel, into your diary for our club fundraiser “Taking the Mic”. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for all the updates! It promises to be a great night of fun! Beidh craic mór againn gan dabht!
