This week we meet Paddy Murphy and Zoey Gratton, we partner with Centra Nenagh to help the most vulnerable in our community and Barry Heffernan’s 2019 championship jersey is up for grabs. All this and more in this week’s news on the Blues.

We Are Community 

Through our Healthy Club Project, Nenagh Éire Óg is helping the community by delivering groceries, fuel and items from local pharmacies to the elderly and most vulnerable. The club put out a request for helpers to complete these tasks and were overwhelmed with the response from players and members from both our GAA and camogie sections and currently have a team of over fifty people who have been busy these past two weeks. We have partnered with Musgraves and Centra in Nenagh and anyone who needs groceries delivered are asked to phone Centra on 067-31830 or alternatively they can ring club coordinator Bartley Ryan on 086 735 8359 if require any assistance whatsoever.

Covid-19 Guidelines

We all want to get back to our normal lives where we can go to MacDonagh Park to meet up with our friends, return to training, play matches and just generally enjoy life. However, in order for us to do just that it is important that we follow the latest guidelines from both the government and HSE so that we can slow down the spread of the virus and help prevent people in our community from getting sick and possibly even dying. The sooner people comply with all the guidelines the sooner this virus vanishes and we can all get back to doing what we love best, watching and playing Gaelic games.

MacDonagh Park

Following a directive from Croke Park we wish to advise our members and the wider community that our grounds at MacDonagh Park are now closed. This includes the use of all pitches and property for recreational purposes, including walking, casual games or gatherings. We once again respectfully ask our players, members and the wider community to respect this directive and not to enter our grounds for any reason whatsoever.

Sport for Business – 30 Under 30 – Paddy Murphy

All of us who know Paddy Murphy recognise his leadership qualities both on and off the pitch and now the All-Ireland minor and under-21 medal winner has been acknowledged for his abilities by Sport for Business. The William Fry sports and litigation lawyer has been busy in recent times advising clients operating within the sports industry including governing bodies, clubs, competitions, county boards, the IRFU, Six Nations, Tipperary GAA and Horse Racing Ireland. It is a well-deserved recognition for a man who works hard both on and off the pitch. Well done Paddy from everyone in the club.

You can read Sport for Business’s article about Paddy here.

Let’s get to know Paddy a little better!

Name: Paddy Murphy

Occupation: Solicitor, specialising in sports law and litigation

Schools/College Attended: Gaelscoil Nenagh for primary school, CBS Nenagh for secondary school, UL & UCD for college

Favourite Position: Centre forward

Achievements with the club to date: u12,14 & minor county titles, u12, 14, 16 & minor north titles, 2 x north senior titles

When and where did you first start playing GAA? 1998 when I was eight with Nenagh

Biggest influence on your GAA career: Michael ‘Skippy’ Cleary

What sporting event would you most like to attend? the rugby World Cup final with Ireland playing

To date what is your favourite moment in sport? Winning the under-21 All Ireland with Tipp in 2010 What has been your biggest disappointment in sport? Losing the 2018 county final because we didn’t perform

Favourite Venue: Nenagh

Favourite G.A.A. player: Noel McGrath – a class hurler & sound fella who has come through life challenges

What sportsperson would you most like to meet? Roger Federer – a magician on the tennis court

What is the hardest part of your sporting life? Balancing my job in Dublin with training in Nenagh – both are equally demanding

Toughest player to mark in training? Barry Heff -he’s strong, fast, good in the air & a sticky marker

Who is the ‘joker’ on the panel? Conor McCarthy

What advice would you give to young players? Work hard on your hurling skills – it’s easy for players to get fit and strong but your skills will separate you from the average player

If you won the lotto what would be the first thing you would buy? A new Tesla

Favourite holiday destination: Guatemala

Favourite Film/TV Show: the Stranger was pretty good. Game of Thrones too

Favourite book you’ve read? Commit by Enda McNulty for sports psychology

In ten-years time…. I hope to be a leading sports lawyer with at least three county medals

Let’s Meet Zoey Gratton

Check our website tomorrow when we will find out a little more about another two seniors, Shane Hennessy and Megan Grace

Juvenile and Camogie News

Nenagh Éire Óg Juvenile club and Camogie club skills challenge continues this week having completed sixteen days so far. We aim to continue it as long as possible to keep all underage players that wish to take part involved in club activity on a daily basis.

Huge thanks must go to the adult players in the club that have taken part in the challenge. It is hugely uplifting to see the high level of enthusiasm from them in ensuring the juvenile players skill levels have increased throughout this difficult time. Thanks also to all the parental involvement at home each day. There is a huge amount of coaching taking place each day by parents and this will no doubt lead to an increased number of coaches within the club in the future.

Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine.

Thank you to all of our juvenile members and their families who took time last Thursday evening to participate in the national show of appreciation for health care workers. Well done to all who participated.

Thank you to senior hurler & Senior Hurling All Ireland winner Barry Heffernan who has kindly given us a Tipperary jersey from last year as a prize for our underage skills challenge. Any child that regularly takes part in the challenge will have their name entered into a draw by their coach once we return to training. Barry will present the jersey to the winner at a training session. Well done Barry 👏👏👏

Families Mental Health

Check out the following poster for clever ways of maintaining both your and your family’s mental health during these few weeks of isolation.

Nenagh Library

One of the great facilities the town offers is our wonderful library and with our movements restricted during the current Covid-19 crises why not check out their free online services which can help pass the time? You can join the library for free and get eBooks, audiobooks, online magazines and newspapers or even take language and other courses for free. 

Further information about all the library offers can be found here.

Free and Fun Workouts

For anyone that’s missing out on physical activity or for those who wish to have fun family exercise you should check out Joe Wicks channel on YouTube where every morning at 9am he posts new and fun PE videos for you to try at home. These are proving a global hit and a great way to work off excess energy both for you and the children.

You can access his YouTube channel here.

Daffodil Day

We have all been touched by cancer at some stage of our lives and this year, the Irish Cancer Society’s main fundraising drive, Daffodil Day, was cancelled due to the current pandemic however you can still contribute to this wonderful cause by texting DAFFODIL to 50300 to donate €4.

Here’s The Cranberries song Daffodil Lament.

Club Lotto

During the current Covid-19 crises our club lotto has been suspended however, you can still play online by clicking here.

Here is a poem, written in 1869 by Irish-French poet Kathleen O’Meara (1839-1888) titled And People Stayed Home. It seems appropriate for the times we are living in.

“And people stayed home

and read books and listened

and rested and exercised

and made art and played

and learned new ways of being

and stopped

and listened deeper

someone meditated

someone prayed

someone danced

someone met their shadow

and people began to think differently

and people healed

and in the absence of people who lived in ignorant ways,

dangerous, meaningless and heartless,

even the earth began to heal

and when the danger ended

and people found each other

grieved for the dead people

and they made new choices

and dreamed of new visions

and created new ways of life

and healed the earth completely

just as they were healed themselves.”

As Covid-19 continues to wreak havoc, here is this week’s news

“Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars” – Martin Luther King

Wise words from the great civil rights campaigner Dr. Martin Luther King as the Covid-19 virus continues to wreak havoc across the globe. This week the club put out a call for volunteers and we were overwhelmed with the speed at which members demonstrated what stars they are by offering their services to help the more vulnerable in our community and already some have been busy dropping off food and vital medicines to those in need. 

We especially wish to thank Bartley and Marion Ryan, who are co-ordinating the volunteers, for all of their efforts. 

If you wish to volunteer or indeed require help from any of our volunteers please contact Bartley at 086 735 8359

Adult Players

Another group of stars in the club are our adult players who have been setting daily challenges for our juveniles to complete. This has had the benefit of keeping our juveniles active while at the same time keeping their skills sharp. You can check out these fantastic videos on our social media platforms. A special thanks goes to Niall Cahill for co-ordinating these challenges. 

MacDonagh Park

The club wishes to remind people that during the pandemic, MacDonagh Park and all of its facilities are closed and we respectfully ask people to please stay away. 

Sympathies

All of us here in the club wish to extend our sympathies to the Gratton family following the recent passing of Ms Ann Gratton, Turnpike. Ms Gratton’s grandchildren all play for the club with Zoey and Adam currently part of our senior teams. 

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.

All-Ireland Final Appearances

Five-times All-Ireland medal winner Mick Burns enters the field followed by Liam Devaney

This week journalist and clubman Brian McDonnell complied statistics on the number of players from each of Tipperary’s clubs who have represented the county in All-Ireland hurling finals from minor right up to senior and we here in Nenagh Éire Óg are proudly sitting in sixth place with 38 players while Thurles Sarsfields lead the pack with a whopping 117 players. 

Brian’s article can be accessed here.

From the North division we are currently in third place, one behind Toomevara who are on 39 while Roscrea lead with 46 players. For more information on the North division please click here.

The full list of Nenagh men to have played in All-Ireland hurling finals have been added to the “who we are” section of the website and we wish to thank Brian for supplying the information. 

The full list of players are: Mick Burns (9), Jake Morris (4), Michael Cleary (3), Conor O’Donovan (3), Michael Heffernan (3), Barry Heffernan (3), Denis Finnerty (2), Devere Reynolds (2), Michael Shaughnessy (2), Philip Kennedy (2), Paddy Murphy (2), Jack Darcy (2), John Heffernan (2), Edward McGrath (1), Phil Hennessy (1), Michael Gilmartin (1), Pádraig Kennedy (1), Tony Tierney (1), Paddy Kearns (1), John Flannery (1), Mick Hynes (1), Donie O’Brien (1), Seán McGrath (1), Phil McGrath (1), Jack Nolan (1), Billy O’Brien (1), Harry Sheehy (1), Michael Ryan (1), Brendan McGrath (1), Conor McCarthy (1), Michael Kennedy (1), Brian Heffernan (1), Kevin Tucker (1), Hugh Maloney (1), Mick Kearns (1), Gerry Quinlan (1), Frank McGrath (1), Mick Darcy (1)

Mick Darcy also won an All-Ireland senior hurling medal with Dublin in 1924 while the club has four players who represented the county in All-Ireland football deciders. Mark Sheahan won an All-Ireland B title in 1995 while Kevin Coonan became the first man from the North division to captain the county to an All Ireland in 1998 when he led the team to the junior title. Also on that team were clubmen Jim McAuliffe and Chris Bonar. 

Check out Michael Cleary’s skilfully scored goal below in the 1991 All-Ireland final when he craftily curled the sliothar around the Kilkenny back’s hurley and placed it perfectly into the top corner of the Cats’ goal.

Happy Mothers’ Day

“A Mother is one who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take.” – Old Irish Saying

On behalf of all the boys and men in the club, we wish all the mothers out there a very happy mother’s day. 

New Club Gear

The juvenile club are working closely with sponsors A Sportsman’s Dream on new club gear which we hope will be ready to sell once the current pandemic has passed.

A GAA activity for our young writers

Click on the Twitter post below for further information on a writing activity for our juveniles with the chance of featuring in the next GAA newsletter.

The men of 1964 in the pre-match parade prior to the North senior hurling final

A crude attempt at colourising the men of 1964 who defeated Roscrea, 5-12 to 2-5, in the North Tipperary senior hurling final.

Club Lotto

During the current Covid-19 crises our club lotto has been suspended however, you can still play online by clicking here.

In these challenging times for our country and indeed the globe, here are this week’s notes

We are Community

During the current crises the club are offering their help to members of our community. If any vulnerable person needs items collected from chemists or shops you are asked to contact 086 735 8359 and we will do our upmost to help. 

COVID-19

Following the government’s instructions on Thursday and those of the GAA, we have taken the unfortunate but essential decision to close MacDonagh Park to all activities until March 29th. 

A statement, signed by the officers of the club, has been posted to the doors of the clubhouse and we ask all members of the community to please stay away from MacDonagh Park. 

Perhaps the advice of journalist Shane Brophy is best heeded in these uncertain times.

A message from the Uachtarán and Ard Stiúrthóir

Club Lotto

This weeks lotto jackpot was not won.

The 5 x €50 lucky dip winners were…..

Ann Gallagher, Richmond
Mary Reddan, St Josephs Park
James Williams, Cloughjordan
Peg Ryan, Silver Street
Carmel White, Yewston

If you would like to join the club lotto online you can do so by clicking here. 

Due to the current situation, the club lotto has been temporarily suspended. All tickets sold since the last draw and all online sales will be included when it resumes. 

Some interested faces at the Bloody Sunday lecture last Monday night in the Abbey Court Hotel delivered by John Flannery of the Ormond Historical Society and Tipperary GAA Bloody Sunday Commemoration Committee

The lights are on but there’s nobody home. MacDonagh Park will remain closed until March 29th.