5 people from different era's to remembered in one weekend

Kirwan Park in Touraneena is the place to be this coming weekend if you have an interest in the G.A.A. in Waterford.

A ‘Jamboree Weekend’ in association with the Gathering will take place in the Parish over the weekend. Kicking off on Friday evening, activities are planned for right throughout the weekend till Monday evening.

The weekend’s activities get underway on Friday evening with a ‘Memories’ evening in the Sliabh gCua Community Centre in the village starting at 8pm.

While this is the opening activity of the weekend, it for many could well prove to be the main highlight of the weekend for many that will be present in Touraneena over the weekend. And as a gesture of good will to those that attend on Friday evening admission to the Community Centre is Free to everybody, so if you want to be assured of a seat, make sure you are in before the 8pm scheduled start.

The weekend will get underway with an exhibition of set dancing. Over the past four plus decades, Monnie Hallahan has worked extremely hard to keep Set Dancing alive in the Sliabh gCua area and has coached many teams to win numerous County, Munster and All-Ireland finals at Juvenile and adult levels of competition.

The name Donnacha O Dulaing will be a familiar name to many older people in the area. Donnacha in the past worked with RTE and over a period of time walked in many areas of Ireland including through Touraneena. In the early 1980’s having got to know a number of people in the area, he brought the RTE Camera’s to Touraneena and set up at the homes of Tom Cowmey and Danny Cotter in Tinalira where a programme was recorded and later shown on television.

Many will have long forgotten about this programme, but on Friday evening it has been arranged that the programme will be shown in the Community Centre and will remind older people of characters like Ned Parker who appeared in the show.

Local woman Teresa Fitzpatrick will later lead a group of people in an array of traditional Irish Music, while Brendan Tobin and other members of the Aisteoirí Sliabh gCua Group will entertain those that are present with a short play.

Throughout the evening a number of photo’s will be on display in the Community Centre. Some of these are of fairly recent times but others will be a reminder of times past to those present, especially ones which include people from the area or who worked locally who are no longer with us.

The high light of the night could well prove to be the 20 minute snippet of the recently recorded documentary type programme of the history of the Sliabh gCua/St Mary’s G.A.A. Club. There were some fantastic stories on the night of recording from its contributors namely Michael Quinlan, Declan Fitzpatrick, Tom Power, Fr. Brendan Canon Crowley, Tommy Hickey, Piery Butler, Monnie Hallahan and John Walsh.

The evening will allow people the chance to come along and enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and meet and chat with friends new and old

To finish up the night, there will be a free draw for all the people who joined the club as a member this year with the winning member receiving a €200 voucher for Ger Wyley Sports. There will also be a draw for the juvenile members who joined our senior club this year.

And as is always the case in the Sliabh gCua area, tea and refreshments will be served on the night.

On Saturday, the attention switches to Kirwan Park, and football will be the main theme of the day.

At 2pm, the Na Déise Ladies Football Club will play near Neighbours Ballymacarbry. The winners of this game will be presented with the Touraneena Parish Perpetual Trophy. The team will include a number of players that were part of the Na Déise team that won the Under 12 ‘A’ County Final recently against Comeragh Rangers in Stradbally, so it will be a chance for many to congratulate them on their success.

At 3pm, the first ever Marathon in the Sliabh gCua will take place at Kirwan Park. 84 people have signed up to take part in the event and maybe on the day some others may even be roped in to take part.

Don’t worry if you have not been in training for this event. Nobody will be asked to walk or run a distance of just over 26 miles or 42kms. Each person taking part will be asked to walk or run just half a Kilometre. Cards were available over the past few weeks and people were asked to guess the accumulated finishing time of all taking part. The person who predicts the time or who comes closest to the overall time will walk away with €250. There may be some that may not have seen the cards but I am sure that one or two will be available on the day up to the time that the marathon starts.

On the day, there will also be a fun run for the kids and teens with a view to promoting simple fitness and fun and there is word doing the rounds that a certain mouse from Disney will be participating in this event also!!! Last year, you might remember Mickey Mouse visited Touraneena for a few hours and was a hit with the children present on the day.

At 4pm, the attention turns back to football. The Barlow Cup which the Sliabh gCua/St Mary’s G.A.A. Club played for in the past will once again be played for in 2013.

This is going to be a game with a difference as the game will be fought out by those two great rivals, The Comeragh Warriors and the Finisk Fighters.

The Comeragh Warriors will comprise of a ladies football team north of an imaginary line through the centre of the parish while the Finisk Fighters will be from south of the line. 

The rival selectors for this game have gone into battle in recent weeks to try and get the best players available to them. The Warriors team will be selected by Theresa Butler, Marie McDonald and Nuala Dunne while Kate Tobin, Eleanor Hickey and Deirdre Coffey will be in charge of the Fighters.

At 5-30, the men from both sides of the line will enter battle. Three Knockboy men will be in charge of the Warriors – Tom Power, Tomás O’Meara and Michael Quinlan will be pitting their wits against Joe Coffey, Mossie Cliffe and Seamie Skehan who are in charge of the Fighters.

It is understood that in the past few days, some players have taken out their boots and had them polished and we are told that John Fitzpatrick, Albert Burke, the Butler brothers and cousins, the Whelan’s. Condon’s and the Hearne’s could be ready to battle for the Jimmy O’Keeffe Memorial Cup.

And if you still have the appetite for some more football, at 7-30pm, Sliabh gCua’s Intermediate Footballers will play Kill for the Ned Burke Memorial Cup.  There will be an added incentive for the winners as the along with the trophy, the winning team will also walk away with an impressive €500 gear voucher.

On Sunday, the attention switches to Hurling. Five clubs will be present in the field to take part in three competitions, Brickeys, Ballygiblin (from Cork), Naomh Brid, Fourmilewater and Saint Mary’s.

The first game of the day is fixed for 1-30pm when Naomh Brid’s under 10 hurlers take on their counterparts from the Brickey Valley. After the game will take be presented with the Michael Kiely Memorial Cup.

At 2-30pm, Naomh Brid are back in action, this time in under 12, when they take on Ballygiblin from North Cork for the Bob Keane Memorial Shield. Twelve months ago this competition was played for the first time and resulted in a win for the North Cork side who finished with a late surge to win the shield.

This will be followed by the meeting of Saint Mary’s and Fourmilewater for the Bob Keane Memorial Cup.

This is the second time that this competition will be competed for. Last year, Saint Mary’s proved too strong for Mount Sion.

In addition to the Cup, just as in the Saturday evening game there will be a €500 gear voucher for the winning team.

Through Sunday, a Sharpshooter competition will also take place at Kirwan Park. Entries to this competition will be taken up to 2pm on Sunday with the competition getting underway at 2-15pm.

The Competition will be run as a knockout competition with an open draw. Each player will get 10 shots at a target with the player that puts the most sliothars through the target progressing to the next round. Men, women and juveniles are all entered into the one draw. It is open to everyone, so if you would like to see how accurate you are with your shooting, why not show up at Kirwan Park on Sunday before 2pm and enter. A degree of luck is attached to this competition and in the final, a budding Paul Flynn with the same eye for goal could well finish behind someone that never caught a Hurley before Sunday.

On Monday evening, the Annual Dan Fraher Long Puck will take place. Teams of three cost €60 for adult teams and €30 for a team of three who are under 16. Registration is in Kirwan Park at 5-15pm on Monday evening and once the competition is over, a free BBQ will be held at Kirwan Park afterwards.

This coming weekend is a platform to remember and acknowledge the contribution both as players and volunteers of former members who are now deceased of the Sliabh gCua/Saint Mary’s G.A.A. Club.

The memory of five such members will be central to the weekend’s activities as memorial trophies in their honour will be presented to winning captains of various teams over the duration of the weekend.

Two of these legendary figures were near neighbours and good friends for many years in the townsland of Clonegegale. Ned Burke and Jimmy O’Keeffe were members of the Sliabh gCua junior football winning team in 1936.  Their exploits on the playing pitch have often been relayed in stories over the years. Ned went on to hold down positions on the clubs executive board including a very successful stint as club chairman.

Bob Keane’s contribution to the club will never be forgotten. He was the “kit- man” for near on 40 years and the club’s original “first aid” man while the Renault 4 was packed to capacity when following the Sliabh gCua/St. Mary’s teams around the county for many years. Bob it could be said was better than any doctor. Many will recall the day when a player went down injured and he went in with his bag, only to discover that he had not put freeze spray into the bag before leaving home, instead putting in an air freshener, fly spray or some other such product which he covered up and spayed to the injured players injury after which he got up and was able to play the remainder of the game with no side-effects.

Michael Kiely was a playing member of the local football and hurling teams in the late 70’s/early 80’s before going on to play for the Thurles Kickhams club. Dan Fraher came from Skeheens and as a young man he moved to Dungarvan. He worked at his own shop at Grattan Square, and after the Gaelic Athletic Association was founded in November 1884, he quickly became one of its most active members filling a number of different positions. Fraher Field in Dungarvan is named in his honour.

The names of all five will be fittingly remembered next weekend and their contributions to the club over the years will be rightly acknowledged.