Club Achievements

Work on the publication of the club history and the story of the GAA in Nenagh is making steady progress with PJ Maxwell doing all the preparations, research and organising for Donal Murphy who has commenced writing. Other club history committee members include Jim Minogue, Sean Minogue, Mick Hynes, Paddy Bourke, John Tucker, Joe  Hanrahan and Noel Shoer. Tony Flannery, a Nenagh native, resident in Dublin has also provided a huge amount of information from the archives. In anticipation of what is certain to be a GAA book to treasure and make the club proud, the following is a brief historical review to whet the appetite.......125 year club history submission...more

A brief overview

Hurling has a long history in  Nenagh, being played there long before the founding of the GAA. The  first game played under the new rules after the founding of the GAA was between a Nenagh team John Mitchells and a Lorrha selection. However we have to wait until 1915 for Nenagh to win its first Senior title (North Tipperary) when they defeated Moneygall in the final. Some of the names on that team were Frank McGrath. Billy Flannery, Bill Coonan, Mick Egan and  Martin Ayres.

Following 1915 and a troubled period in Irish history, hurling was forced to take a back seat and it was not until 1926, with the emergence of the Red Rovers that hurling came to the forefront again. This Red Rovers team was drawn from a small area of the town around the Birr Road and the Turnpike. The team was drawn from a small number of families, with very many brothers being involved. They subsequently changed their name to Eire Og. Some of the prominent players from that period were Bobby and Tucker Morgan, Chris Kennedy, Dick Hogan, Paddy Rohan and John “Hyder” Ryan.  The old Nenagh club was still in existence at this time, drawn mainly from around Pound Street and there were many sterling duels between these two teams. It was after witnessing one such duel that a local curate, Fr. Hayes decided to try to amalgamate the two teams. He succeeded and the clubs united in 1947 under the name St. Mary’s.

The new club had instant success winning the North Intermediate Title and County Junior Title in its first year. Some of the people involved in this new St Marys team were Jack Nolan, Billy O' Brien, Eddie John McGrath, Tom Brophy, Jimmy Spearman, Toddy Bolger, Chris Kennedy, Bart Coffey etc. They contested a North Senior Final in their early years but success at senior level eluded St. Mary’s. There were however many successes at minor level with one particularly noteworthy occasion in the 195O’s when they won the North Minor hurling and football titles on the same day with 11 of the hurlers going straight back onto the field to assist in winning the football. St. Mary‘s survived as a club until the mid 195O’s when, during a low period, it was decided at an AGM to change the club’s name to Eire 0g.  The first big success for this club came when it won the North Senior Championship in 1957

and again in 1964 The club has since won North senior titles in 1992, 1993, 1998, 2001

and a County Senior Title in 1995.

St Marys and Eire Og, have supplied very many players to Tipperary, especially at Minor level. It was a common occurrence during the 40’s and 50’s to have two and three players from the club represent Tipperary at Minor level and many of these Tipperary teams won All-Ireland’s – there are a lot of All Ireland Minor All-Ireland hurling medals, held by players from the club.

At Senior level, the most prominent player from the club is of course Mick Burns who holds 5 All-Ireland senior medals and Johnny McGrath , a member of the 1958 All-Ireland team.

Many other players from the club have played senior with Tipperary down through the years but 1989 stands out as a milestone for the club with 3 players – John Heffernan, Conor O Donovan and Michael Cleary on the Tipperary team that finally bridged an 18 year gap to capture an elusive All-Ireland.