Tomorrow marks our first draw in our new Lotto, the community rallies around Shaun Hilmi while The Boys are Back in Town!!! All this and more in this week’s news on the Blues
Tomorrow marks the first draw of the New Community Lotto

Tomorrow evening, Monday, marks our very first community lotto and we encourage all of our players, members and supporters to join online. If you would like to subscribe please click here. The cut off for tomorrow’s draw is 6pm so make sure you have subscribed before then.
The very first jackpot will be €2,100 and will grow by €100 every week it is not won. For further information about how our lotto works please click here.
Shaun Hilmi’s Journey

Shaun Hilmi, brother of senior panalist Craig, played hurling and Gaelic football for Nenagh Éire Óg, is a regular tennis player and a talented athlete with Nenagh Olympic Athletics Club.
In recent months he started to feel discomfort in his hip which, unfortunately, has been diagnosed as Ewings Sarcoma Cancer, a rare condition that only affects 2.93 people out of a million. This aggressive disease has already spread to his lungs and a ten-centimetre tumour has been discovered on his right glute muscle, which was lying on a nerve which has caused him immense pain.
Shaun will have to undergo six cycles of chemotherapy, surgery and possibly radium. That’s without including the physiotherapy sessions and rehabilitation he will have to complete after his treatment to get back 100%. Unfortunately, in the world we live in today, money talks! Shaun’s treatment will be very expensive and which he needs to give him the best possible chance of making a full recovery.
A Go Fund Me page has been set up and we are asking the GAA community to come together and help Shaun complete his journey back to full fitness.
All donations, no matter how big or small, will be greatly appreciated by Shaun and the Hilmi family.
His cousin Jake Morris and Celtic FC star Barry Coffey have started a 30-second plank campaign to raise funds while Republic of Ireland soccer star Shane Long has sent his best wishes. You can follow Shaun’s journey on Instagram.
The Boys are Back in Town

On Wednesday evening last Chairman John Tooher was trilled to, at last, open our gates once again for training as the junior-A hurlers were put through their paces for the first time since last March.
It was fantastic to hear the chit chat, wise cracks and the sound of ash on leather echo around Thomas MacDonagh’s ground once again after the eerie silence of the last few months.
On Thursday it was the turn of the camógs to make a welcome return as the seniors resumed training with an impressive 30 players working their socks off, delighted to be back playing.

Our senior hurlers returned to MacDonagh Park on Friday evening with the panel working hard while maintaining social distancing. Hopefully we will never experience another lockdown and uninterrupted enjoyable evenings of Gaelic games will be enjoyed Coronavirus-free long into the future.

Pride Week

Nenagh Éire Óg takes great pride in being an inclusive club where all members of our community are more than welcome to play, support and volunteer and be an important part of the Nenagh Éire Óg team.
To celebrate Pride Week and we changed all our profile photographs on our social media channels to the one above, incorporating the Pride flag and our crest. Bigotry and intolerance, in any guise, are not welcome in our club and we strive to ensure that MacDonagh Park is a welcoming place for all.
For brilliant GAA-themed article on Pride Week by Joanne and Steven O’Riordan please click here.
Drone Footage
Check out this drone footage, captured by Killian Gleeson, of Shane Hennessy pucking out the ball in MacDonagh Park.
Camogie News
It was great to see a very strong senior
camogie panel return to the pitch this week, all of whom are looking forward to the Senior Championship 2020 where they will face Annacarty at home on the 7th of August.
The committee is working with mentors to get the rest of the teams back onto the pitches after the 5th of July and we will issue further communication on this next week.
In the meantime please ensure you do the following for your child;
- Register with Nenagh Éire Óg, you have to be a member to play and for club insurance purposes.
- Compete the Covid eLearning module https://learning.gaa.ie/covid19learning
Parents and mentors need to complete this. - Complete the health questionnaire for your child.
https://returntoplay.gaa.ie
Parents/Mentors need to complete this also and anyone wishing to be at the complex using the facilities.
Your daughter will be unable to train unless all of the above are completed. We look forward to welcoming everyone back.
Juvenile News
Under eight boys received two new videos last week with football skills to practice at home from Mikey Hynes. Thanks to Mikey for linking in with the group and your demonstration video.
Specsavers Éire Óg Under eight and ten boys and girls fun challenge – “Eye love Éire Óg/Eye on the Ball” – the eagerly awaited final compilation videos of all entries have been circulated and are also available on the club social media sites. The final videos are a wonderful collection of all the children’s individual efforts and celebrations. The good news is each child who submitted an entry will receive a Specsavers goodie bag which will be distributed in the very near future. Well done to every girl and boy who entered and thank you to the parents who worked hard behind the scenes supporting and encouraging our young stars in this challenge. Thank you to Kieran and Niall for all the work you have put into coordinating this event. This was our last hurrah to keep the children’s spirits up while away from the field.
For any child that wishes to return to training and their family feels comfortable around their child’s return we hope to have the children back training in the next few weeks subject to all safety protocols. It has been a long absence from the training field and we cannot wait to get going again. Well done and thanks to all the parents that promoted Gaelic games at home throughout this time. Guidelines and requirements for a safe return to training will be issued on the various group communications.
Under sixteen teams are receiving recorded training sessions to practice skills in the garden. These recorded sessions are also posted on the Éire Og newsletter for anyone to revisit. Management and players are very much looking forward to getting back on the training field.
Thank you to all the parents who encourage and support practicing our games at home each day, this is central to the children maintaining and developing skill levels and ultimately the enjoyment of our games.
Thank you to all those who have already signed up online to the new Nenagh Éire Óg club lotto. Please visit www.nenagheireog.com for anyone else who wishes to join.
Congratulations to Seán McCullough
We send our congratulations to Nenagh Ormond’s Seán McCullough who was recently elected Munster Rugby President for the upcoming season. A fantastic achievement for Seán and for everyone connected with sport in the town.
Supporting Volunteers
Please click on the link to see ways we can support volunteers who are unable to return to club activity due to Covid-19

Greg Browne’s Skills Video
A historic week for the club as we secure the ownership of the new grounds in Streame, the latest return to play guidelines while Lily and Anna both raise €300 for frontline workers. All this and more in this week’s news on the Blues
New Grounds in Streame

After a number of years of hard work, meetings and negotiations we are thrilled to announce that the grounds in Streame are now officially ours with the purchase being confirmed during the week.
The purchase of the ten-acre site just off The Dark Road will secure our club for decades to come after the phenomenal growth of our juvenile and camogie sections over the last twenty years. MacDonagh Park was bursting at the seems with hurlers, camógs and footballers training for and playing our national games and the club was struggling to find time slots to accommodate all of our teams.
The new grounds can be accessed from MacDonagh Park with the old Grey’s Lane providing a passage way from the scoreboard end at the Monaree side to the new site.
A huge amount of work remains to be done over the coming years to transform the grounds into pristine playing pitches and numerous fundraising activities will have to be seriously considered. With that in mind we ask all of our players, members and supporters to please join our lotto online and help us prepare for the next stage in our club’s exciting history.
Return to Play
A chairde,
The following changes to the return to activity guidelines are being made after recommendations from this morning’s Covid-19 Advisory Committee.
These changes were subsequently endorsed by the GAA, the Camogie Association and the LGFA.
This week:
- Open pitches for Adult training next Wednesday, June 24th.
- Open for Minor and below from Saturday, June 27th.
- Both of the above on a non-contact basis and on the understanding that players and all participants have completed the eLearning module and are following the control measures in place (health questionnaire etc).
- On the basis of a maximum of 15 players in a designated area of the field (26 Counties) and 10 players in a designated area of the field (6 Counties).
- Coaching numbers for underage teams to be consistent with Code of Behaviour.
From June 29th:
- Allow contact training and challenge games for all from Monday, June 29th (26 Counties).
- We await guidance from the NI Executive in relation to 6 Counties – non-contact training in the numbers outlined above in the interim.
- We also await clarification on what will constitute a close contact versus a casual contact.
- Restriction on participants-only attending training sessions to be relaxed from June 29th – subject to government specified maximum of 200 people in the ground.
- Allow Club Fixtures from Friday July 17th.
- No change to inter-county dates (Sept 14th for training; competitions to start on Oct 17th as planned).
- All control measures for players, coaches and other team personnel (completion of health questionnaire, eLearning education etc) is to remain in place until advised otherwise; dressing rooms to remain closed until July 20th
- The Advisory Committee is considering the position in relation to other GAA buildings (such as Club bars that are serving food, Gyms, Handball alleys etc). Guidance will be provided in this context before June 29th.
Covid-19 Online Learning
The GAA have launched the Covid-19 education E-learning module on-line to inform club members on the safe return to Gaelic Games guidelines.
This E-learning module MUST be completed by all team mentors,adult players, covid supervisors and parents/guardians of juvenile players BEFORE returning to play/train.
It takes about twenty minutes to complete and you will be issued with a certificate at the end which MUST be presented to the Covid Supervisor before returning to play/training
To complete the module please click here.
Community Lotto

Our new and exciting Community Lotto is now up and running and we encourage all of our players, members and supporters to join online. If you would like to subscribe please click here.
The very first jackpot will be €2,100 and will grow by €100 every week it is not won. For further information about how our lotto works please click here.
Juvenile News

Specsavers Éire Óg Under eight and ten boys and girls fun challenge – “Eye on the Ball” -we are delighted that one of our major sponsors have given us forty goodie bags as spot prizes for a fun challenge. Any child who sends a video of themselves hitting a target with a sliotar or football are entered in a draw for a goodie bag. We have received some ingenious and very original ideas for this competition from our young stars. Snippets of some entries have been circulating on the various groups and the eagerly anticipated final videos will be issued very soon for everyone to enjoy. Winners of the goody bags will also be announced in the coming days, good luck to every girl and boy who entered. Thank you to Kieran and Niall for all the work you have put into coordinating this event. This is our last hurrah to keep the children’s spirits up while away from the field. For any child that wishes to return and their family feels comfortable around their child’s return we hope to have the children back able to train the first week in July subject to all safety protocols. It will have been fifteen long weeks for them away from the training field! Well done and thanks to all the parents that promoted Gaelic games throughout this time.

Under sixteen teams are receiving recorded training sessions to practice skills in the garden. These recorded sessions are also posted on the Éire Og newsletter for anyone to revisit. Management and players are very much looking forward to getting back on the training field.
Thank you to all the parents who encourage and support practicing our games at home each day, this is central to the children maintaining and developing skill levels and ultimately the enjoyment of our games.
Thank you to all those who have already signed up on line to the new Nenagh Éire Óg club lotto. Please visit www.nenagheireog.com for anyone else who wishes to join.
Camogie News

Lilly Morris and Anna Ryan- both under 12’s camóg’s organised a bake sale for frontline workers. They raised an amazing €300 which they have donated to Ireland Thanks You. Well done girls.
Yet another gift for our historians, the first ticket is sold in our new community lotto while we answer the age-old question, is it a hurl or a hurley? All this and more in this week’s news on the Blues
Return to Play

There has been some positive news in recent days regarding returning back to GAA action with the GAA releasing their plan. June 29th will see the re-opening of GAA pitches in a control manner.
The GAA Key dates are as follows:
- June 29: Phase 3 of government re-opening plans & inter-county competitions calendar announced.
- June 29: GAA pitches re-open – club teams can train in small groups of ten, while maintaining social distancing.
- July 20: Full team training can resume
- July 31: club adult & juvenile competitions resume.
- August 10: Access to indoor facilities permitted.
- September 14: Inter-county teams can resume training.
- October 11: Adult club championships to be concluded.
- October 17: Earliest date for intercounty competitions
The GAA are hosting an online webinar regarding the return to play guidelines tomorrow morning at 10am and if you would like to participate, please click here.
Community Lotto

Our new and exciting Community Lotto is now up and running and if you would like to join please click here.
The very first jackpot will be €2,100 and will grow by €100 every week it is not won. For further information about how our lotto works please click here.

Barry Heffernan
A Hurl or a Hurley?
The age-old debate as to whether the ash is known as a hurley or a hurl rages on when hurlers from different parts of the country meet up. Well, we have the definitive answer in this letter from Cork’s Ned Monaghan. Thankfully, we here in Tipperary, get it right and call it by its rightful title, a hurley!

Greg Browne’s Skills Video
Blast from the Past

On February 26, 1977, the now-defunct Sarsfield Handball & Social Club opened their new alley on John’s Street, Nenagh. Mr Michael O’Meara, the then chairman of the Nenagh Urban Council performed the official opening while the alley was blessed by Rev. Michael Sheedy.
According to the report in the Nenagh Guardian, the first game in the alley took place at 7:59pm between Pat and Joe Sheeran from Westmeath and Joe Henchy and Tommy Coughlan, 12th Battalion, Limerick.
Numerous trophies and plaques were presented on the night for various competitions including one to for Br. Wall for an under-18 singles competition and another from Peter and Annette Tobin for a competition of the club’s choice.
The alley was first built in 1932 by Edward Warren & Sons, Sarsfield St. Nenagh and was the site for the CBS school prior to moving to Summerhill.
“They’re a grand old team to play for”
TD, Michael O’Kennedy spoke about respecting the past and in particular the town’s sporting past and in reference to the teams of the past he added, “they’re a grand old team to play for”. While John Ryan, TD, spoke about his childhood playing for the old Shamrock’s Club and was delighted that, given the rivalry between Pound St. and Silver St., the new alley was on “neutral ground”.
To view the programme from the official opening, please click on the link below.
Sympathies
The club would like to express its sympathies to the family and friends of the late Ms. Brenda Gearty, Longford. Ms. Gearty’s daughter Liadhan and son-in-law Mark Hassett have been heavily involved in our camogie section for many years while her granddaughters Maeve and Ruth are members of our senior team.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam
Camogie News
Sympathies
The club would like to express its sympathies to the family and friends of the late Ms. Brenda Gearty, Longford. Ms. Gearty’s daughter Liadhan and son-in-law Mark Hassett have been heavily involved in our camogie section for many years while her granddaughters Maeve and Ruth are members of our senior team.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam

Eye on the Ball
Specsavers Éire Óg Under 8 & 10 boys & girls challenge – “Eye on the Ball”
We are delighted that one of our major sponsors have given us 40 goodie bags as spot prizes for a fun challenge. Any child that sends a video of them hitting a target with a sliotar or football are entered in a draw for a goodie bag. Any kind of creative ideas would be great. Some examples – knock over a bottle from a few metres, hit/kick a ball into a wheelie bin or basketball ring, hit a moving target, etc. Trick shots could also be used.
Club Lotto
The clubs rebranded lotto is available to join online. This initiative will see the club supporting community charities as well as raising much-needed funds to support the continued development of the club.
This week all families will be contacted to encourage them to support the lotto and it is hoped that all families would not only take part in the lotto themselves but also encourage relatives and friends to do so. For as little as €2 per week, you can help secure the future of the club. Visit www.nenagheireog.com to sign up.

Return to Play
The committee is meeting to discuss the safe return of members to the club for training. All current players from all age groups will be contacted via their respective WhatsApp groups in the coming weeks with an update.
Juvenile News
Under eight boys continue to receive two skills/drills to practice for week ahead. This is a chance for the boys to practice their skills rather than competition. The drills will give the boys the opportunity to have their hurls in hand as much as possible by practicing the demonstrated skills for the week. We are incredibly lucky to have the input of our senior players captain, and vice-captain Daire Quinn and Tommy Heffernan showing the drills over the next few weeks. Thank you kindly to both senior players for their time and effort in supporting our under eight stars on this initiative. This week Tommy took the boys through his chosen drills. Thank you to Tommy for taking the time to link in with the boys. If any parent or guardian has any questions please drop a note to one of the coaches.
This week we were treated to the compilation video of the under ten boys hurling competition. There was a prize for the best score and an open draw for all who entered for a further prize. Best score prize went to Adam with a massive score of twenty four and Cian won the open draw. Cian showed his dedication to the club by not letting a broken wrist stop him from participating. Keep up the practicing at home as the time is getting closer to getting back to the field. Our thanks to all the wonderful parents for working so hard to promote hurling at home during this difficult time.
Specsavers Éire Óg Under eight and ten boys & girls challenge – “Eye on the Ball” -we are delighted that one of our major sponsors have given us forty goodie bags as spot prizes for a fun challenge. Any child that sends a video of themselves hitting a target with a sliotar or football are entered in a draw for a goodie bag. Any kind of creative ideas would be great. Some examples – knock over a bottle from a few metres, hit/kick a ball into a wheelie bin or basketball ring, hit a moving target, etc. Trick shots could also be used. Please forward videos to Kieran/Niall for Under ten boys, Niall for Under ten girls, Cathal/Mike for Under eight boys, Kieran for Under eight girls over the next week.
The North Tipperary under fourteen Lockdown League concluded this week. Club prizes for this week were won by Kalum Darcy, Jake Houlihan and Phelim Creagh. Under fourteen management and players would like to thank Paudie Malone GDA for organizing the lockdown challenge.
Under sixteen teams are getting training sessions recorded and sent to parents to practice skills in the garden. These recorded sessions are also posted on the Éire Og newsletter for anyone to revisit. Eight different sessions have been sent out to date and a new session will issue this week.
Thank you to all the parents who encourage and support practicing our games at home each day, this is central to the children maintaining and developing skill levels and ultimately the enjoyment of our games. It is so important that the children do some practice at home to help them enjoy group training and blitzes when they eventually return. In addition, it would be fabulous to see the home coaching translate into an increased number of coaches within the club in the future.
A chance to win up to €25,000 for Nenagh Éire Óg, the names of the charities who will benefit from our new community lotto are revealed while Michael Cleary makes the Guardian’s Finest 15. All this and more in this week’s news on the Blues
This week chairman John Tooher appeared on Tipp FM and revealed the charities that will benefit from the club’s new community lotto where they will receive €500 each throughout the course of the year.
They are:
- Friends of Nenagh Hospital
- Tipperary Search and Rescue
- Make Nenagh Autism Friendly
- Special Olympics
- Pieta House
- St. Vincent de Paul
- Lions Club
- Carmha
- Rape Crisis Midwest, Nenagh
- Special Summer Camp
If you would like to join our exciting new lotto online please click here.
To listen to John’s interview see Tipp FM’s Tweet below.
Help your club win up to €25,000

“Munster – GAA Healthy Clubs” challenge from “Irish Life”
WIN a €2,500 O’Neills Voucher for your club.
Step right up! What better way to get active in your community than with a challenge and a chance to help your local GAA club win a €2,500 O’Neills voucher. Winning clubs must have a minimum of 15 walkers joining the challenge and must be aged 18 years of age or older to participate.
The challenge will be divided across the four provinces, the club with the highest total Average steps per province will win the prize. Track your performance along the way through the MyLife leader board on the MyLife App.
The first step is to ensure your club is registered to take part, click on this link: https://mylife.irishlife.ie/gaa-healthy-clubs-2020
Track your steps* with a fitness wearable (e.g. a Fitbit) or fitness app (e.g. Google Fit for Android or Apple Health for iPhone) connected to the MyLife app. Join the GAA Healthy Clubs Challenge today! *Steps only count towards the challenge from the time you join.
Club Volunteers

Our club volunteers once again went above and beyond the call of duty this week to help the vulnerable in our community. We expressly wish to thank co-ordinators Bartley and Marion Ryan for all their work and our army of volunteers who have been shopping for groceries and collecting medicines for those who can’t venture out.
Our volunteers will continue to provide these services for as long as is required and if you need any assistance please contact club coordinator Bartley Ryan on 086 735 8359.
Michael Cleary makes the Guardian team of the last 30 years

Congratulations to Michael Cleary who was selected at number 10 on the Nenagh Guardian’s Tipperary’s Finest 15, 1989-2019. Michael, an All-Ireland winner in 1989 and 1991, was selected after winning a whopping 76% of the vote with the rest divided between Mark O’Leary (Kilruane MacDonagh’s), Gearoid Ryan (Templederry) and Dan McCormack (Borris-Ileigh).
The full team is as follows:
- Brendan Cummins (Ballybacon Grange)
- Cathal Barrett (Holycross)
- Philip Maher (Borris-Ileigh)
- Michael Cahill (Thurles Sarsfields)
- Conal Bonnar (Cashel King Cormacks)
- Conor O’Mahoney (Newport)
- Padraic Maher (Thurles Sarsfields)
- Tommy Dunne (Toomevara)
- Brendan Maher (Borris-Ileigh)
- Michael Cleary (Nenagh Éire Óg)
- Declan Ryan (Clonoulty Rossmore)
- John Leahy (Mullinahone)
- Eoin Kelly (Mullinahone)
- Seamus Callanan (Drom & Inch)
- Nicky English (Lattin-Cullen)
Camogie News
The under-10 girls continue to practice the skills videos from Éire Óg senior hurlers Daire Quinn and Tommy Heffernan. Congratulations to Aoibh Cahill on winning a prize in the Tipperary County Camogie competition for under-10 girls. Well done to the Éire Óg girls that participated. This week the county is running a competition for the under-8 girls.
Juvenile News
Under eight boys continue to receive two skills/drills to practice for the week ahead. This is a chance for the boys to practice their skills rather than competition. The drills will give the boys the opportunity to have their hurls in hand as much as possible by practicing the demonstrated skills for the week. We are incredibly lucky to have the input of our senior players captain, and vice-captain Daire Quinn and Tommy Heffernan showing the drills over the next few weeks. Thank you kindly to both senior players for their time and effort in supporting our under eight stars on this initiative. This week Daire was the star of the show, Daire sent the boys a video showing his chosen skills to practice for this week. Thank you to Daire for taking the time to link in with the boys. If any parent or guardian has any questions please drop a note to one of the coaches.
This week the under ten boys took part in a hurling competition. The boys were asked to submit videos of themselves completing the challenge to their coaches. There will be a prize for the best score and an open draw for all who entered for a further prize. We look forward to seeing all the skills on display from these future stars.
The North Tipperary under fourteen Lockdown League continues and Nenagh Éire Og are performing strongly with our own Cian Carmody coming out tops in the football challenge last Wednesday, congratulations Cian. Club prizes for this week were won by Kevin Liston, Conor Hodgins and Daniel Connolly, well done to all, keep up the excellent work lads. Credit must go to Paudie Malone GDA for organising this event. Both management and players are looking forward to training together in the coming weeks.
Under sixteen teams are getting training sessions recorded and sent to parents to practice skills in the garden. These recorded sessions are also posted on the Éire Og newsletter for anyone to revisit. Seven different sessions have been sent out to date and a new session will issue this week.
Thank you to all the parents who encourage and support practicing our games at home each day, this is central to the children maintaining and developing skill levels and ultimately the enjoyment of our games. It is so important that the children do some practice at home to help them enjoy group training and blitzes when they eventually return. In addition, it would be fabulous to see the home coaching translate into an increased number of coaches within the club in the future.
Jake Morris
Watch as Jake Morris sets a challenge for the Lockdown League. In this video has challenges the juveniles of the county to see how many squat jumps they can do in a minute
Greg Browne’s online training sessions
Blast from the Past – 1924 Tailtenn Games

The above photograph shows the Irish team that competed in the 1924 Tailteann Games and among them are two of our own, brothers Mick and Jack Darcy who both won All-Ireland medals in 1925 with Tipperary. Indeed, 1924 was an extra special year for Mick as he captured All-Ireland honours with Dublin before returning home to the Premier county.
These games were a celebration of Irish culture and sport held every four years, from 1924 to 1932. It was seen at the time as a revival of the ancient Aonach Tailteann games which were held in Ireland from the 6th to the 9th century and disappeared not long after the Norman invasion and subsequent suppression of Gaelic culture and it was inspired by the Olympic games which were also a revival from ancient times. They were originally held to honour Queen Tailté, who sat at the royal palace on the hill of Tara and all the men of Erinn admired her for both her beauty and accomplishments. Throughout her reign, Ireland was a beacon of peace and harmony. The games were discontinued after Fianna Fáil came to power in 1932 as they viewed them as a Cumann na nGaedhael project.

Croke Park was headquarters for the games and anyone of Irish birth or decent was welcome to participate. It was hoped that these games would unite Gaels scattered across the world. As the games were held not long after the summer Olympics, the top athletics from around the globe participated in the many events which included hurling, chess and soccer.
In hurling Ireland, USA, Wales, England and Scotland played while there was also a hurling-shinty compromised rules game played which Scotland won 2-1. Camogie was supposed to feature also but after a dispute, the Camogie Association withdrew accusing the organisers of having a Free State bias.
A blast from the past from 1984, our new club WhatsApp group is up and running while our new community lotto is proving to be very popular. All this and more in this week’s news on the Blues
New Community Lotto
We hope you and your families remain safe and well during these times and we want to thank you for your generous support for the old Éire Óg lotto over the years. Before COVID-19 the jackpot for our lotto was at €2,100 and in order to close down the old model we are donating €1,000 between two very well deserving community charities.
The new Friendly Lotto will operate as follows:
1. Starting jackpot €2,100 and will increase each week it is not won by €100
2. Four numbers will now be drawn each week from numbers 1-32.
3. Draw takes place every Monday night.
4. The week that the Jackpot is not won, €200 is placed into a separate draw fund.
5. Any week the jackpot is won, €200 is not added to the separate draw fund.
6. Ten tickets will be drawn weekly for 10 weeks to enter this separate draw. The prize fund at the end of this 10 weeks will be €2,000
7. A prize fund of €1,500 will be distributed as follows: €500 for 3 lucky winners with the additional €500 to one of our designated local charities.
8. A player may be drawn more than once in a 10 week period to qualify for the €500 draws.
9. The cost of each lotto ticket remains at €2 for one ticket and €5 for three tickets.
Entry options:
o 52 weeks (50 + 2 free)
o 25 weeks
o 10 weeks
o 3 lines in a week for €5
o Minimum play is for €10 – Play for as little as €2 per week (One line for 5 weeks)
Click here to enter
Club Volunteers

Our club volunteers once again went above and beyond the call of duty this week to help the vulnerable in our community. We expressly wish to thank co-ordinators Bartley and Marion Ryan for all their work and our army of volunteers who have been shopping for groceries and collecting medicines for those who can’t venture out.
Our volunteers will continue to provide these services for as long as is required and if you need any assistance please contact club coordinator Bartley Ryan on 086 735 8359.
Club WhatsApp

A new members’ WhatsApp group has been set up and those who wish to be added please text 083 820 5530.
It will be a ‘no-reply’ service and members will receive club notes, Lotto results and match fixtures when we’re back in action. All new online Lotto players will be added.
Grass in the goalmouths

With all the use our main pitch gets annually, it is unlikely anyone has ever seen grass growing in the goalmouths but due to the current lockdown, we are getting a glimpse at how quickly nature can heal with a lovely covering of grass in the goalmouths. Hopefully it won’t be long before it has been removed by goalkeepers manning the area!

May 2020 GAA Newsletter
The May edition of the GAA’s monthly newsletter is now available to read.
Blast from the Past

In 1984 Tipperary shocked Offaly (how times have changed!), in front of 4,500 spectators, to record a 1-14 to 0-12 win in MacDonagh Park, Nenagh in the second round of the National Hurling League. Carrick Swan man Tom Waters scored the only goal of the game while our own Philip Kennedy came on as a second-half substitute. Both sides were plying their trade in division two at the time and Tipperary ended up winning the league and earning promotion to the top tier. Also in division two were Westmeath, Kerry, Dublin, Antrim, Kildare and Wicklow. By virtue of winning the division two league they also qualified for the knock-out stages of the main competition and defeated Laois 1-14 to 0-9 in the quarter final before Limerick defeated them in the semi-final, 2-10 to 1-10.

Included in this week’s notes is the match programme from the day which was produced by the senior club and all proceeds were donated to the Éire Óg Nenagh juvenile club. Over 1,500 programmes were sold netting the club a tidy £450, a considerable sum in 1984. Indeed, it was very late on the night before that the staff in the Guardian managed to get it printed. As can be seen from the colour of the programme, it was very much an Éire Óg Nenagh orientated publication with articles written by chairman Jerry Quinlan, Chris Middleton, Tommy Mulcahy and Martin O’Connor. The programme, through its advertisements, provides a snapshot of the local businesses at the time, some of which are still in operation today. The club would like to remind our members to please support local in these difficult times.

Sympathies
The club would like to offer its sympathies to the family and friends of the late Elizabeth Flannery, late of Carrigaline, Cork and Nenagh, Tipperary. Ms Flannery is a sister of Billy and the late Rory Flannery.
We also wish to offer our condolences to the family and friends of Margaret (Peg) McCabe (née Sweeney), late of Ballyheigue, Kerry and Nenagh, Tipperary. Ms McCabe’s grandson Brendan (Bob) captained our minors to North and county honours in 2012.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha.
Juvenile and Camogie News
This week the under ten boys took part in a football competition. The boys were challenged to see how many kick passes to a partner they could complete in thirty seconds. The boy’s submitted video’s of themselves completing the challenge to their coaches. There was a prize for the best score and an open draw for all who entered for a further prize. The coaches created a video montage with some very en-trend music of all the entries which provided wonderful entertainment for everyone and is a available to see on the club social media sites.The winners of the prizes were Eibhin Darcy and Karl Boland, well done boys, congratulations and great work. Thank you to Kieran Mularkey for all your hard work on this event, great job and thank you to David Mularkey for assisting with his demonstration video. This week we look forward to a hurling challenge for the boys.
Under eight boys are planning to mix it up for the next few weeks by receiving two skills/drills to practice for that coming week. This is a chance for the boys to practice their skills rather than competition. We anticipate that these skills/drills will give the boys the opportunity to have their hurls in hand as much as possible by playing and practicing the skills for that week. We are very lucky to have the input of our senior players, captain and vice captain Daire Quinn and Tommy Heffernan demonstrating the skills/drills over the next few weeks. Thank you kindly to both senior players for their time and effort in supporting our under eight stars on this initiative. This week Daire was the star of the show, Daire sent the boys a video demonstrating striking and collecting the sliotar on the move. As part of the video Daire set the boys a challenge and we anticipate the boys are using this fabulous weather we are having to practice Daire’s drill. Thank you to Daire for taking the time to link in with the boys. If any parent or guardian has a questions please drop a note to one of the coaches.
Videos of senior Tipperary camogie player Grace O’Brien are available on the club social media sites for players to enjoy and incorporate into their routines to assist all juvenile members maintain and develop their skills by completing their own mini training sessions at home until we get back to training and games in the future.
The North Tipperary under fourteen skills challenge league is up and running and Nenagh Eire Og are performing strongly. Keep up the good work lads. Well done to Paudie Malone GDA for organising this event.
Thank you to all the parents who encourage and support practicing our games at home each day, this is central to the children maintaining and developing skill levels and ultimately the enjoyment of our games. It is so important that the children do some practice at home to help them enjoy group training and blitzes when they eventually return. In addition, it would be fabulous to see the home coaching translate into an increased number of coaches within the club in the future.
We all know you miss the action in the club grounds but we must all remain aware that all club facilities and fields are still closed to everyone. This applies even whether you are maintaining social distancing or not, the grounds are closed to everyone, there are no exceptions. We look forward very much to getting back to action but for now we must remain mindful that you may not enter the club grounds under any circumstances. Please keep up the good work in this regard.
Stay practicing, encourage each other, stay safe, observe the guidelines and mind each other.
Greg Browne’s Skills Video Session Three
Details of our new community based club lotto are announced, two fantastic videos highlighting our under-10s plus another blast from the past. All this and more in this week’s news on the Blues
Volunteers

Our club volunteers once again went above and beyond the call of duty this week to help the vulnerable in our community. We expressly wish to thank co-ordinators Bartley and Marion Ryan for all their work and our army of volunteers who have been shopping for groceries and collecting medicines for those who can’t venture out.
Our volunteers will continue to provide these services for as long as is required and if you need any assistance please contact club coordinator Bartley Ryan on 086 735 8359.

Club Lotto

Nenagh Éire Óg Launches Brand New Community Friendly Lotto
The club are delighted to announce that we are launching our new Community Friendly Lotto in June 2020.
We hope you and your families remain safe and well during these times and we want to thank you for your generous support for the old Éire Óg lotto over the years. Before COVID-19 the jackpot for our lotto was at €2,100 and in order to close down the old model we are donating €1,000 between two very well deserving community charities. We will be announcing our designated Community Charities on next weeks show.
We must adjust and adapt to this new socially distant world that we find ourselves in, with this in mind we are designing a new lotto based mainly around online subscriptions with the hope to meet all our traditional supporters once social restrictions are no longer a part of our lives.
The new Friendly Lotto will operate as follows:
1. Starting jackpot €2,100 and will increase each week it is not won by €100
2. Four numbers will now be drawn each week from numbers 1-32.
3. Draw takes place every Monday night.
4. The week that the Jackpot is not won, €200 is placed into a separate draw fund.
5. Any week the jackpot is won, €200 is not added to the separate draw fund.
6. Ten tickets will be drawn weekly for 10 weeks to enter this separate draw. The prize fund at the end of this 10 weeks will be €2,000
7. A prize fund of €1,500 will be distributed as follows: €500 for 3 lucky winners with the additional €500 to one of our designated local charities.
8. A player may be drawn more than once in a 10 week period to qualify for the €500 draws.
9. The cost of each lotto ticket remains at €2 for one ticket and €5 for three tickets. Online Terms:
o 52 weeks (50 + 2 free)
o 25 weeks
o 10 weeks
o 3 lines in a week for €5
o Minimum play is for €10 – Play for as little as €2 per week (One line for 5 weeks)
Clubforce weblink details on how to apply online will be announce on next weeks show.
The lotto funding is our core day to day financial income for the club and your support is vital if we are to achieve all our goals and ambitions in supporting our local community with our brand of Social Sporting Activities.
We hope you can partake in the fun and while you will be supporting our Senior, Juvenile, Camogie and Handball clubs you will also be contributing to the local charities who are our every day Heroes.
CHARITIES : Local charities are invited to apply by texting our Lotto Co-ordinator on 0858037407.
Club WhatsApp

Our club text system is out of operation at this time. A new members’ WhatsApp group is currently being set up and members will be added by Monday. It will be a ‘no-reply’ service and members will receive club notes, Lotto results and match fixtures when we’re back in action. All new online Lotto players will be added also once it begins.
Juvenile & Camogie News
Coaches from each group will develop a training plan to take our Future Stars through to return of games. Some groups have received their training plans already with remaining groups to receive their plans shortly.
This week the under ten boys and girls provided us with wonderful entertainment through the production of their skills videos. The boys and girls submitted clips of themselves practicing their hurling and football skills over the previous week to their coaches. The coaches did a brilliant job of compiling the clips and adding the infamous Sunday game anthem to the compilation. The finished article was released and proved to be a truly wonderful success, it was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Sincere thanks must go to Niall Cahill for organising the boys and girls videos clips and to Kieran Mularkey for his production of the finished videos. Dreams begin in the back garden, dream big boys and girls.
Additionally, under ten boys were challenged to a football competition this week. The challenge is for the boys to do as many accurate kick passes as they can in thirty seconds to a partner. Each accurate kick and catch earns a point. The partner can return the ball with either a throw or a kick pass. Where a kick pass is used by the partner an extra point is earned. In order to keep the competition even across the group, older boys will start their scores from minus four. To enter the competition boys must submit their thirty second video clip of their kick pass entry to their WhatsApp group. Prizes will be given for best scores and everyone who submits an entry goes into a draw for a separate prize.
Under eight boys are planning to mix it up for the next few weeks by receiving two skills/drills to practice for that coming week. This is a chance for the boys to practice their skills rather than a competition. We anticipate that these skills/drills will give the boys the opportunity to have their hurls in hand as much as possible by playing and practicing the skills for that week. We are very lucky to have the input of our senior players, captain and vice captain Daire Quinn and Tommy Heffernan demonstrating the skills/drills over the next few weeks. Thank you kindly to both senior players for their time and effort in supporting our under eight stars on this initiative. This week Tommy was the star of the show by taking the boys, via video, through the first two drills, thanks Tommy.If any parent or guardian has a questions please drop a note to any one of the coaches.
Videos of senior Tipperary camogie player Grace O’Brien are available on the club social media sites for players to enjoy and incorporate into their routines to assist all juvenile members maintain and develop their skills by completing their own mini training sessions at home until we get back to training and games in the future.
Thank you to all the parents who encourage and support practicing our games at home each day, this is central to the children maintaining and developing skill levels and ultimately the enjoyment of our games. It is so important that the children do some practice at home to help them enjoy group training and blitzes when they eventually return. In addition, it would be fabulous to see the home coaching translate into an increased number of coaches within the club in the future.
We all know you miss the action in the club grounds but we must all remain aware that all club facilities and fields are still closed to everyone. This applies even whether you are maintaining social distancing or not, the grounds are closed to everyone, there are no exceptions. We look forward very much to getting back to action but for now we must remain mindful that you may not enter the club grounds under any circumstances. Please keep up the good work in this regard.
Stay practicing, encourage each other, stay safe, observe the guidelines and mind each other.
Greg Browne Skills Session Two
Greg and Caroline Browne take us through their second skills video above. We will be posting a new skills video from them next week.
Michael Hogan Commemoration Walk

Grangemockler/Ballyneale GAA club in South Tipperary, the home of Tipperary footballer and Bloody Sunday victim Michael Hogan, are organising a Michael Hogan Commemoration Walk on Sunday, 31 May, at 11am in aid of Pieta House and have invited all clubs in the county to take part. Please see their message in the next paragraph.
“We ask you to join us the 31st of May at 11am for our Michael Hogan Commemoration Walk. We will walk/jog/run to remember our Bloody Sunday victims and also support Pieta House. Wear you club or county colours and show your support for a great cause. Take a photo of you/your family taking part & tag #MichaelHoganWalk #Walk4Pieta on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook or Join our club ‘Michael Hogan Walk for Pieta’ on Strava app where you can record you journey & photo.” If anyone has any questions around the event you can contact 086-2560827.
The link to donate will be available on all of their club social media platforms with all proceeds going to Pieta House.
Blast from the Past
Here is another video from the past for you to enjoy. It is the 2013 league clash against Lorrha and Dorrha played in MacDonagh Park on 18 March, 2013 which Nenagh won on a 4-17 to 2-14 scoreline.
MacDonagh Park

Rarely has MacDonagh Park looked so well and not one single ball is being hit in anger. Even the goalmouths are coated in a lovely covering of grass, a sight not seen in many a GAA field for decades. The club wishes to thank Jim Kennedy, Shane Connolly, Cian Connolly, Mel Gleeson and John Tooher for kindly volunteering their time to cut the grass and maintain the grounds during these strange times.
Following recent Garda advice in line with the latest GAA statement and guidelines, we wish to remind our players, members and general public that our fields and facilities remain closed with no exceptions. We ask all to please respect the GAA and HSE protocols and keep all members of our community safe from Covid-19.
Tipperary GAA County Board Draw

The Tipperary GAA Clubs Draw which was due to begin this month has been rescheduled to Friday September 18th. We are confident there will be a full resumption of games activity well in advance of this date to allow clubs promote the draw. Lár na Pairce office personnel have already prepared the New Draw material and this is ready for collection for any individual clubs who wish to make an immediate start. The final receipts for the 2019/20 Draw will not be posted out until August 1st which is just about six weeks before the first draw. Enclosed with the receipt will be details of an easy system for paying the new draw subscription on-line if preferred and thus avoiding promoters calling to members houses during the current pandemic.
Our volunteers continue to help the vulnerable while we have the latest juvenile and camogie news. All this and more in this week’s news on the Blues
Club Volunteers

Our club volunteers once again went above and beyond the call of duty this week to help the vulnerable in our community. We expressly wish to thank co-ordinators Bartley and Marion Ryan for all their work and our army of volunteers who have been shopping for groceries and collecting medicines for those who can’t venture out.
Our volunteers will continue to provide these services for as long as is required and if you need any assistance please contact club coordinator Bartley Ryan on 086 735 8359.

Tipperary GAA County Board Draw

The Tipperary GAA Clubs Draw which was due to begin this month has been rescheduled to Friday September 18th. We are confident there will be a full resumption of games activity well in advance of this date to allow clubs promote the draw. Lár na Pairce office personnel have already prepared the New Draw material and this is ready for collection for any individual clubs who wish to make an immediate start. The final receipts for the 2019/20 Draw will not be posted out until August 1st which is just about six weeks before the first draw. Enclosed with the receipt will be details of an easy system for paying the new draw subscription on-line if preferred and thus avoiding promoters calling to members houses during the current pandemic.
Greg Browne Skills Sessions
Coach Greg Browne has been sending videos to his players to help them keep their skills sharp and we are, thanks to Greg’s generosity, making one available every week for all our players to use. In this session Greg is ably assisted by his daughter Caroline and we hope as many of you as possible make use of it.
Juvenile and Camogie News
Coaches from each group will develop a training plan to take our Future Stars through to return of games. These plans will be communicated to the various groups with some groups being out in front having received their training plans already.
Under ten girls and boys are continuing with their ‘Two Hundred Touch’ challenge this week. The aim of this challenge is to help the children maintain and develop their skills over these two weeks. To guide the children, Challenge Cards outlining the specific skills to be practiced in camogie, hurling and football were forwarded to the under ten groups and we would encourage parents to guide and support the children in practicing these skills each day where possible.
In addition this week the under-10 children are making a skills video demonstrating some of the skills they practiced over the fifty day skills challenges. The children will pick any of the strength & conditioning, hurling, football or family fun games which we did during the daily challenges recently and make a video of themselves practicing the chosen challenge then send the video into the group text where the video will be uploaded to the clubs social media platforms for us all to enjoy.
Under-16 management will be sending out to the group details of hurling drills to be completed at home over the next few weeks. The drills will consist of six individual drills for five minutes each making up a daily thirty minute session for the children.
Thank you to all the parents who encourage and support practicing our games at home each day, this is central to the children maintaining and developing skill levels and ultimately the enjoyment of our games. It would be fabulous to see this translate into an increased number of coaches within the club in the future.
We all know you miss the action in the club grounds but we must all remain aware that all club facilities and fields are still closed to everyone. This applies even whether you are maintaining social distancing or not, the grounds are closed to everyone, there are no exceptions. We look forward very much to getting back to action but for now we must remain mindful that you may not enter the club grounds under any circumstances. Please keep up the good work in this regard.
Stay practicing, encourage each other, stay safe, observe the guidelines and mind each other.

Congratulations to former player Catríona O’Connor who was recently selected at full forward on the Liverpool Wolfe Tones’ team of the decade, 2010-2020. Catríona played camogie with us for many years before relocating in Liverpool. Well done Catríona.
Celebrating & Supporting our Officers – A Wellbeing Webinar
Colin Regan, GAA Community & Health Manager, Alan Kerins, former Galway star, Social Entrepreneur & Executive Coach & Tom Parsons, Mayo star and Chartered Engineer with Jacobs Engineering present a live discussion aimed at Club & County Officers personal wellbeing during Covid-19.
MacDonagh Park

Rarely has MacDonagh Park looked so well and not one single ball is being hit in anger. Even the goalmouths are coated in a lovely covering of grass, a sight not seen in many a GAA field for decades. The club wishes to thank Jim Kennedy, Shane Connolly, Cian Connolly, Mel Gleeson and John Tooher for kindly volunteering their time to cut the grass and maintain the grounds during these strange times.
Following recent Garda advice in line with the latest GAA statement and guidelines, we wish to remind our players, members and general public that our fields and facilities remain closed with no exceptions. We ask all to please respect the GAA and HSE protocols and keep all members of our community safe from Covid-19.

Paul Henry finally announces his arrival in Newtown
Michael Hogan Commemoration Walk

Grangemockler/Ballyneale GAA club in South Tipperary, the home of Tipperary footballer and Bloody Sunday victim Michael Hogan, are organising a Michael Hogan Commemoration Walk on Sunday, 31 May, at 11am in aid of Pieta House and have invited all clubs in the county to take part. Please see their message in the next paragraph.
“We ask you to join us the 31st of May at 11am for our Michael Hogan Commemoration Walk. We will walk/jog/run to remember our Bloody Sunday victims and also support Pieta House. Wear you club or county colours and show your support for a great cause. Take a photo of you/your family taking part & tag #MichaelHoganWalk #Walk4Pieta on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook or Join our club ‘Michael Hogan Walk for Pieta’ on Strava app where you can record you journey & photo.” If anyone has any questions around the event you can contact 086-2560827.
The link to donate will be available on all of their club social media platforms with all proceeds going to Pieta House.
Blast from the Past
Here is another video from deep in the vaults, the 2013 under-16 championship clash with neighbours Kiladangan which Nenagh won on a 2-15 to 0-11 scoreline. We hope you are enjoying these videos and there are loads more to enjoy on our YouTube channel, simply search for “Nenagh Eire Og” on YouTube.
Club Lotto

During the current Covid-19 crises our club lotto has been suspended however, you can still play online by clicking here.
Our volunteers help over 75 vulnerable people in the parish, beautiful wild flowers take over MacDonagh Park while the under-12 camógs enjoy a puck around. All this and more in this week’s news on the Blues
Club Volunteers go above and beyond the call of duty once again

Once again our team of volunteers have gone above and beyond the call of duty this week with over 75 deliveries of food, groceries and medical supplies being made to the most vulnerable in our parish. Some grateful people have even been receiving the Catholic church’s parish newsletter from our volunteers.
Their selfless acts have ensured that vulnerable people have been able to cocoon safely over the last number of weeks as Covid-19 continues to wreak havoc on across the globe.It is during times of crises that we really see the benefit of a tight and caring community and the people of Nenagh and indeed our club, have been more than willing to put the shoulder to the wheel to help those in need.
Our volunteers will continue to provide these services for as long as is required and if you need any assistance please contact club coordinator Bartley Ryan on 086 735 8359.

Juvenile and Camogie News
Éire Óg Juvenile club and Camogie club took break from daily challenges this week after the fifty days of challenges completed since lock down commenced. Coaches from each group will develop a training plan to take our Future Stars through to return of games. These plans will be communicated shortly to the various groups.
Under-ten girls and boys have received a ‘Two Hundred Touch’ challenge to help them maintain and develop their skills over the next two weeks. Challenge cards outlining the specific skills of camogie, hurling and football have been forwarded to the under ten groups and we would encourage parents to support the children in practicing these skills each day where possible. Additionally, this coming week the children will be asked to design a skills video demonstrating some of the skills they practiced over the fifty day skills challenges. The children can pick any of the strength & conditioning, hurling, football or family fun games which we did during the daily challenges recently and make a video of themselves practicing the chosen challenge then send the video into the group text where the video will be uploaded to the clubs social media platforms.

Our juvenile players continue to go to great efforts to display their appreciation of the work being done by the front line workers. This week we saw beautiful art work from Naoise and Bronagh Kelly who paid special thanks to their hard working aunt. Keep sending in your pictures and videos, we love to see them all and no doubt these messages are providing much positivity to the hardworking front line workers.
Some of Nenagh Éire Óg’s Camogie under-12s entertained us all with a video of their virtual puck around. It was a fabulous idea and we all loved seeing everyone out with their hurleys. Thanks to Caitriona Fahy for the video which can be enjoyed on the clubs social media sites and below.
Thank you to all the parents who encourage and support practicing our games at home each day, this is central to the children maintaining and developing skill levels and ultimately the enjoyment of our games. It would be fabulous to see this translate into an increased number of coaches within the club in the future.
We all know you miss the action in the club grounds but we must all remain aware that all club facilities and fields are still closed to everyone. This applies whether you are maintaining social distancing or not, the grounds are closed to everyone, there are no exceptions. We look forward very much to getting back to action but for now we must remain mindful that you may not enter the club grounds under any circumstances. Please keep up the good work in this regard.
Stay practicing, encourage each other, stay safe, observe the guidelines and mind each other.
MacDonagh Park

Following recent Garda advice in line with the latest GAA statement and guidelines, our fields and facilities remain closed with no exceptions. All are asked to respect GAA and HSE protocols. John Tooher, Senior Chairman.
Statement from Tipperary County Board
Following the announcement of the Governments Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business last weekend, plus Croke Parks statement welcoming the proposals, Tipperary Co. Board have issued the following update to their members and clubs on a few areas arising from the continuing Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.
Club Games/Training & Pitches
Following on from Croke Parks statement we are instructing our clubs to continue to refrain from organising on-field activity so therefore our GAA facilities must remain closed until July 20th as part of efforts to prevent gatherings which breach the restrictions.
The GAA will issue detailed advice before any return to play, outlining the steps we have to take to facilitate the re-commencement of our training and games, both in terms of physical engagement and around the use of our facilities.
Tipperary Co Board is confident that we will still be able to play club competitions this year, subject of course to public health guidance. There will be a phased resumption of training at club level to allow players to prepare appropriately for playing games.We can confirm however that no inter-county games are expected to take place before October.
The protection of all the people who play and attend our games is of paramount importance and must come before any on-field activities. Getting our championships and leagues finalised in their present format will probably be impossible so over the coming weeks the County Management Committee and Co CCC will draw up possible scenarios based on the potential time frames available. Naturally these will only be recommendations and will have to be approved by Co Committee before seeking a derogation from Croke Park to change our championship structures agreed at the 2019 Co Committee meeting.
Old Betsey has cut her final blade of grass as exciting new lotto is in the pipeline

In recent days we have received the news that Old Betsy, our mower of many years, has cut her last blade of grass and is on her way to the GAA fields in the sky.
That has meant that the club have to seek a New Betsy to carry on maintaining our playing fields in pristine condition which is going to place a huge financial strain on the club. A suitable new mower is going to require a five-figure sum and with that in mind we have an exciting new club lotto in the pipeline.

Using Zoom, our club executive has met in recent days to formulate a plan going forward for this new style lotto, details of which will be revealed in the coming weeks.
In the meantime club chairman, John Tooher along with Jim Kennedy have been cutting the grass using the mower pictured above which does the job required however, it is impractical in the long term. If you would like to volunteer to cut the grass please contact John and he will be delighted to hear from you.
Team Tipperary
Team Tipperary, a combination of the Tipperary senior hurlers, camógs and LGFA sides as well as the County Board produced a video this week to encourage the people of our county to keep their spirits up and to continue to follow all the advice in relation to Covid 19. It features Seamus Callanan, Conor Sweeney and Aisling McCarthy among other superstars of Tipperary GAA.
You can watch the video here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeZ2Ih6-CCM&t=3s
Jake Morris chats to Jonathan Delaney

In a revealing interview Jake Morris chats to Jonathan Delaney and gives an insight into his mentality and how he ignored tonsillitis and glandular fever to score a cracker against Crumlin in the FAI under-17 cup semi-final. He also reflects on his hurling career to-date and reveals why he choose the small ball over soccer. Click on the link below to watch this brilliant interview. Well done to both Jake and Jonathan. Jonathan also did another fantastic interview with Barry Coffey which can also be viewed on his Vimeo channel.
https://vimeo.com/user113798121?fbclid=IwAR3DPJLuR7AOt1JADMoK4jQ3MulAtfEuS74wLISTb3428YHx3qP7CsguhMA
Scott O’Brien

The Golf Coaches Association of America has released the 2020 NJCAA Division II All-Freshman Team and our own Scott O’Brien is one of only five US student-athletes, nation-wide, to receive the honour.
A student at Parkland College, O’Brien recorded a 73.6 stroke average over ten rounds and was ranked the 16th best player in the US last season. Congratulations Scott from everyone back home. For more information please click the link: https://athletics.parkland.edu/news/2020/5/8/mens-golf-o-brien-selected-to-2020-njcaa-all-freshman-team.aspx?fbclid=IwAR3XBgkCqY_k5z8UFv-Il7VdFrpM1hHZv3RPKMq0_AHEbnXDWCxkSt5fOHc
Wild Flowers in MacDonagh Park

In recent weeks wild flowers have grown in various parts of our grounds providing vital nectar and pollen for our endangered insects and bees as well as food for our birds. The terrace behind the clubhouse end goals is a sight to behold with the beautiful colours that nature’s artists have painted.


Blast from the Past
In 2013 Nenagh Éire Óg met Silvermines in Cloughjordan in the county senior hurling championship. Aided by a Michael Heffernan goal, Nenagh emerged victorious against that year’s North championship runners-up and advanced to the county quarter-final.
Tipperary GAA Clubs Draw 2020/21
The Tipperary GAA Clubs Draw which was due to commence this month has been rescheduled to commence on Friday September 18th. We are confident there will be a full resumption of games activity well in advance of this date to allow clubs promote the draw. Lár na Pairce office personnel have already prepared the New Draw material and this is ready for collection for any individual clubs who wish to make an immediate start. The Final receipts for the 2019/20 Draw will not be posted out until August 1st which is just about six weeks before the first draw. Enclosed with the receipt will be details of an easy system for paying the new draw subscription on-line if preferred and thus avoiding promoters calling to members houses during the current pandemic.
April’s GAA Newsletter
The latest newsletter from the GAA is now available to read and features about Green GAA Clubs to your mental health. To read please click on the link below.
https://www.gaa.ie/api/pdfs/image/upload/nnjrxm30loi2kcmnmdrj.pdf
Sympathies
We wish to extend our sympathies to the family, relatives and friends of Declan Flynn, late of Knockalton, Nenagh and Carrigadrohid, Cork. To his wife Patricia, children Ian, Colin and Laoise, brothers John, Jim, Murt and Frank, sisters Ann, Helen, Mary and Eilish, mother-in-law Margaret Burns, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, relatives, neighbours and the wonderful community in Shandangan and Canovee, his work colleagues in Irish Pioneer Works and Declans large circle of friends in both Cork and Tipperary we offer our sincerest condolences.
We also offer our condolences to the Hynes family on the recent passing of Philip Hynes. To his wife Lily and cherished family Philip, Deirdre and Catherine, sister Nora O’Brien, brothers Pat, Eddie and Michael, grandchildren David, Kate, Aoife, Ian, Jason, Clara and Leah, great-grandchildren, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, brother-in-law and sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, cousins, kind neighbours, relatives and friends we extend our sympathies.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha.
Nenagh Celtic F.C.

Nenagh Celtic F.C. have asked us to advertise a very generous offer by their club to any vulnerable person in the parish. If any vulnerable person requires bottled water they are asked to contact the club through their social media channels or alternatively, you can contact Nenagh Éire Óg by email, eireognenagh@gmail.com or through any of our social media channels and we will be happy to put you in touch.
The water is bottled in Borrisoleigh using 100% recycled plastic.
Club Lotto

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

Day fifty of the juvenile challenge, the winner of Barry Heffernan’s jersey is revealed while the camogie club battle to win nicest jersey in Tipperary. All this and more in this week’s news on the Blues
Helping the Vulnerable

Once again we wish to thank our army of selfless volunteers who have been busy purchasing groceries, fuel, delivering prescriptions and generally helping the vulnerable and over-70s in our community throughout the last three weeks.
It is during times of crises that we really see the benefit of a tight and caring community and the people of Nenagh and indeed our club, have been more than willing to put the shoulder to the wheel to help those in need.
Our volunteers will continue to provide these services for as long as is required and if you need any assistance please contact club coordinator Bartley Ryan on 086 735 8359.
Thank You Niall

Since the current lockdown began one man in our club has gone above and beyond the call of duty to ensure our juvenile boys and girls were kept entertained while maintaining their GAA skills. Everyday, for fifty days, Niall Cahill has organised a daily skills challenge for players and families which has been extremely well received by all. Niall’s initiative and drive in bringing sport and positivity to all in the club and out into the community at a time when it was badly needed and we had no end date in sight is appreciated by all sections of our club.
We also wish to thank all the adult players for kindly setting these challenges and not one person refused when asked by Niall which shows the brilliant and selfless community spirit in Nenagh Éire Óg. We also want to thank Barry Heffernan for donating one of his jerseys as a prize for the juveniles.
We will take a short break now for a week to ten days and when we return, engaging with the different groups will fall back to the respective management groups. We will continue to follow HSE and GAA protocol and that will decide when and how we can return safely to field training.
Winner of Barry Heffernan’s Jersey Revealed
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, thanks to the trojan efforts of Niall Cahill, we have been running daily challenges for our juvenile players which they have been enthusiastically participating in. Tipperary All-Ireland medal winner Barry Heffernan offered one of his championship jerseys from last year’s campaign to one of the juveniles and the winner was Robbie O’Brien from the under-10 team. Robbie will be presented with his jersey by Barry when training eventually resumes.
Barry has a message for Robbie and all of our juveniles.
Community Collaborations Across Nenagh Municipal District

North Tipperary Development Company are delighted to collaborate with several local organisations to help distribute the list of services flyer currently available. Pictured are several organisations that have collaborated to distribute the NTDC CoVid 19 Response Flyer throughout Nenagh Municipal District. Pictured – Joanne McCarthy – NTDC, Denise Kennedy & Jason Fitzpatrick – Nenagh Irish Red Cross, Damian O Donoghue – Nenagh Community Response Tipp North, Mary Jo O Reilly – Nenagh Éire Óg, Tracey Thompson – Tipperary County Council, Member of An Garda Siochana- Nenagh Branch , Philomena Keyes, Seamus O Sullivan, John Bonfield and David Kyne – Tús / Rural Social Scheme.
These flyers are currently being distributed and if you would like to get a copy you can download one here: https://www.ntdc.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Nenagh-Local-Flyer.pdf
Thank You to our Front Line Heroes

There’s no doubt that during these troubled times the country have a lot of heroes from the delivery drivers to the shop assistants to the HSE staff and this week we have shown just some of our appreciation to them for their bravery in keeping the country running and helping our sick while putting themselves at risk. Above are David, Isobel and Anna Mullarkey showing their thanks.
If you want to show your thanks to our front line heroes please email your picture to eireognenagh@gmail.com or send a private message to any of our social media channels.
Handstand Challenge
Last weekend we had some great laughs as our adult players responded to a handstand challenge where they had to put on an Éire Óg top while doing a handstand however, three of our younger players also took part.
This first video is from five-year-old Shane Ryan. Absolutely brilliant Shane. Well done.
While the Coonan sisters, Amy and Lucy also took part.
Check out eight-year-old Julian Zilioniene’s fantastic effort. Well done to everyone who took part.
Juvenile and Camogie News
Éire Óg Juvenile club and Camogie club skills challenge continued each day this week having completed 7 weeks to date. We are taking a short break after day fifty which fell on last Saturday, May second. After the break the coaches from each group will develop a training plan to take our Future Stars through to return of games. We would like to sincerely thank everyone who contributed to and supported this project. Each person who was involved and supported the project should feel very proud to have made it the outstanding success that it has turned out to be. A special thank you must go to Niall Cahill who was so quick out of the blocks at the start of lock-down with this project. Through his initiative and drive on this project Niall has brought engagement, a sense of connection and positivity to the young members of our club and their families during a time when it was most needed and appreciated.
This weeks challenges began with the juvenile members setting a challenge for the adult players, the challenge set was to put on a jersey while in handstand position against a wall. The challenge was duly accepted by many adult members and participation videos can be seen on the clubs Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Focus reverted back to the juvenile players for the rest of the week with challenges around skills development, strength and conditioning and more family fun. Setting the skills development challenge was under eight boys coach, all Ireland champion and world champion handballer Brian O’Brien, mile buiochas B.O.B, A big thank you to the Coonan, Brett and Ryan families for bringing some great family fun to the week. The Finn brothers, Marcus, Alexander and Pierce led the charge with a skills challenge in the sunshine, thanks boys, great job. There was a great response to the family challenges with large numbers of families submitting scores. Our youngest leader to date set a strength and conditioning challenge, under eight Star Ruaidhri O’Brien, he made the challenge look easy and he did it with serious street cred thrown in. Recordings of all challenges can be found on the club Facebook page should anyone like to try the challenges again or take a look back.
Day fifty of the skills challenges concluded with the draw for Barry Heffernan’s Tipperary jersey from last years All Ireland campaign. The draw was open to all juvenile players who registered a participation in the challenges at any stage during the fifty days. Altogether one hundred and fifteen names were in the draw and the lucky winner drawn was Robbie O’Brien from the under ten hurlers. Robbie is a huge fan of Barry’s and was absolutely thrilled to hear the great news that he had won Barry’s Tipperary jersey. Thank you Barry for the very kind gesture of donating your jersey to the skills project and for your support during the project also. We can say with certainty that we all very much look forward to reciprocating that support which you have shown towards our young Stars once you get back to match action.
Community spirit was very much alive and well this week with our young Stars doing us proud by entertaining their neighbors while observing social distance. Brian and Alex Ley featured on RTE radio one because of the efforts they were going to in order to lift the spirits of their elderly neighbors in their estate, well done boys, not all heroes wear capes as the saying goes and this is certainly true of these boys.
Our juvenile players have gone to great efforts this week to display their appreciation of the work being done by the front line workers. The Mullarkey children, David, Anna and Isobel came up with a very novel way of expressing their gratitude by spelling out their thanks using training equipment and hurls and not least themselves to complete their message of support. We had beautiful artwork of appreciation from a number of our young Stars including Evie Hogan, Ben and Jack McCormack, The Coonans and Jackie Hayes Sheedy with her daughters Hannah and Rebecca showing their support. Great work and Im sure those messages are providing much positivity to the hardworking front line workers.
Thank you to all the parents who encourage and support practicing our games at home each day, this is central to the children maintaining and developing skill levels and ultimately the enjoyment of our games. It would be fabulous to see this translate into an increased number of coaches within the club in the future.
Stay practicing, encourage each other, stay safe, observe the guidelines and mind each other.
Blast from the Past
Here is a blast from the past, the North Tipperary senior hurling semi-final from 19th August 1981 when Kilruane MacDonagh’s played Borris-Ileigh in MacDonagh Park. Donie Nealon was the man in the middle.
The game is interesting as it gives us a picture into how our club grounds have evolved over 39 years as well as how the game itself has changed with a much greater emphasis being placed on first time hurling.
The scoreboard brings back memories of having to collect the board with the participating clubs’ name on it from the late Paddy O’Donoghue from what is now the store room by the outer wall of the grounds and carry them all the way to the far end of the pitch and back up again afterwards. There’s also a flock of sheep behind the goals at that same end keeping the grass cut. Indeed, numerous clubs up and down the country used to borrow sheep to keep the grass down and it wasn’t uncommon to see jerseys covered in sheep droppings following a game.
The game was uploaded by the Borris-Ileigh club to their YouTube channel.
They have also uploaded a video from their county final win over Roscrea.
Nenagh Players Entertain Cudville
Alex Ley and his brother Brian have been entertaining their neighbours in Cudville recently and caught the attention of RTÉ reporter Cian McCormack. The talented musicians have been performing on the green in recent weeks, honing their musical talents while keeping the neighbours happy.
You can check out Cian’s RTÉ report here: https://www.rte.ie/news/coronavirus/2020/0428/1135400-tipperary-brothers-music/?fbclid=IwAR21W4L9qdosNCRd5eJ3AH7jg3lhLidnFPOqM-BswVyFjLE_FYV9oDilZ8A
Tipperary Footballers’ Charity Fundraiser
The Tipperary senior footballers and backroom team have been busy shaving their hair, growing moustaches or colouring their hair all in aid of North Tipperary Hospice, South Tipperary General Hospital and Community Suicide Awareness Workers. If you would like to donate to these worthy causes you can donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/tipp-tooball-fundraise
North Tipperary Best Jersey Vote
The Nenagh Guardian ran a vote over the last few weeks to determine who had the nicest jersey in North Tipperary and unfortunately we were defeated by eventual champions Newport in the semi-final. A big thank you to every who voted and well done to the purple and gold men from Newport.
Redemption
However we have a shot at redemption as the Guardian are now having a vote for the best camogie jersey in the county and in the preliminary round we are up against Gortnahoe Glengoole so click on the link below and vote early and vote often! Voting ends tomorrow afternoon.
1991 County Minor A Football Final
In 1991 Nenagh Éire Óg reached the county minor A football final as the reigning county champions and were looking to retain their crown when they faced Arravale Rovers. Unfortunately the West men won this encounter but were made fight all the way by the North men. Check out the video below which we uploaded to our YouTube channel this week. Our YouTube channel features numerous matches from over the years which is bound to keep you entertained during the current lockdown.
Willie Bolger shows he has retained his love for the ancient craft despite living in the land down under. Willie keeps a regular eye on our website and social media accounts to stay up-to-date with all the happenings in Nenagh Éire Óg.
Club Lotto

During the current Covid-19 crises our club lotto has been suspended however, you can still play online by clicking here.
Our online club couch quiz is a massive success, the adults show the juveniles they can dress themselves while Donnacha Ryan and Barry Coffey return to their GAA roots. All this and more in this week’s news on the Blues
Online Club Couch Quiz
Last night we held our very first online couch quiz with the wonders of technology bringing quizmaster Michael Cleary into our homes as he posed the questions using Zoom and participants sent in their answers using WhatsApp.
The evening began with Tipperary stars Grace O’Brien, Barry Heffernan and Jake Morris answering questions submitted by viewers before the first four rounds of the quiz.
Then we had anther Q&A, this time with Racing 92 rugby star and former Éire Óg hurler Donnacha Ryan. We were surprised to learn that the 2.01 meters tall and 115kg man used to drive a Fiat Cinquecento with the driver’s seat pushed forward but also thrilled to discover that himself and Michael Cleary promised to return to junior hurling for one more shot at glory. We look forward to the two of them lining out in the full-forward line in the near future.
The club wishes to thank the organisers Shane Hennessy, James Mackey and Donnacha Quinn who put in trojan work to ensure the evening’s success. We also wish to thank the correctors Mikey Hallinan and Dáire Quinn.
We especially wish to thank our generous sponsors Anna Kelly, Joe Mulqueen (Andy Flynn’s), Costello’s Oil, Cleary’s Daybreak, Mattie Lillis and Sheedy’s Centra. Without their generosity the night would not have been the success it was and we remind all our players, supporters and members to please support our sponsors during these difficult times. We also wish to thank the two Barrys, Heffernan and Coffey for kindly donating jerseys for the raffle.
Congratulations go to Niall “Mousey’ Madden and his Google assistant Clodagh Cleary for winning the quiz with Helen O’Dwyer and Caoimhe Cannon finishing in second and third place.
Helping the Vulnerable

Once again we wish to thank our army of selfless volunteers who have been busy purchasing groceries, fuel, delivering prescriptions and generally helping the vulnerable and over-70s in our community throughout the last three weeks.
It is during times of crises that we really see the benefit of a tight and caring community and the people of Nenagh and indeed our club, have been more than willing to put the shoulder to the wheel to help those in need.
Our volunteers will continue to provide these services for as long as is required and if you need any assistance please contact club coordinator Bartley Ryan on 086 735 8359.
Celtic FC Star Challenges our Juveniles
Celtic FC soccer star Barry Coffey challenged our juvenile players on day 41 with an exercise about spacial awareness and knowing what is going on around the player in possession. Barry, wearing his Éire Óg top and Republic of Ireland shorts, demonstrated his exceptional soccer skills while easily fulfilling the task he posed. Thanks to Barry for taking time out of his busy schedule to help our younger players improve themselves.
In the video below you can see Barry score a goal in his last ever game for the club, the North Tipperary under-16 final against Roscrea in 2015 at six minutes, 40 seconds. Barry came on as a second-half substitute and helped secure the win with his vital finish. Juveniles please note Barry’s exceptional fist pumping abilities which are what first attracted Brendan Rodgers’ attention to the rising star.
Juveniles Challenge our Senior Stars
Our juveniles have been challenged by our senior stars in recent weeks to complete a daily skills task and they have risen to any challenge put to them however, now the tables have turned with the juveniles putting the challenges to our adult players and they have started with a real mean test.
They have demanded our senior players put on a GAA jersey. The challenge sounds simple until you realise that the player must be in a handstand position. Not one to flinch, Pearse Morris has succeeded in this devilish challenge as can be seen in the video above. Numerous other videos of members completing the tasks have been published to our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Well done to everyone who participated and provided us all with a good laugh. The club’s officers have all committed to completing the task as well but strangely some have yet to send in their video. Once they do, it will be published!
Juvenile and Camogie News
Éire Óg Juvenile club and Camogie club skills challenge continues each day having completed six weeks to date. We plan to continue these daily challenges as long as possible to facilitate all underage players that wish to take part involved in club activity on a daily basis.
The daily skills challenges have proven to be a great success with our younger members and their families. In order to monitor and improve this project a short survey was made available for completion. Fifty two families responded with seventy seven children represented and results can be found in the following link: https://forms.office.com/Pages/AnalysisPage.aspx?id=9d0Z_OZymkWQ5NkVBTNaHh4ZVrGYWIlBv4HqwrrLk-FUMFdTMlpNV0dGMzM1UVAyRUtRRkhNM0VFUi4u&AnalyzerToken=kAqKbnDFcop0tSS3VhUSZMMHdNOM3MeH
hank you to those who participated in the survey and gave great feedback. The results will guide us as to how this project will be improved to make it more worthwhile and enjoyable for our Future Stars. .
Watch this space as an exciting new One Club Family Project is in the planning stages and will be announced shortly. Thank you to those involved in bringing this project to fruition.
This weeks challenges were around skills development, spacial awareness and good old family fun. A big thank you to our former juvenile star, current Glasgow Celtic and ROI U19 star Barry Coffey for leading our juvenile boys and girls in the spacial awareness challenge. Barry has had an outstanding few years since he moved to Scotland. We’re all very proud of him, we follow his career and wish the very best for him in the future. Demonstrating the family fun challenge on Saturday evening was the Corrigan clan, their challenge generated lots of family enjoyment and strategising. Much fun was had in the beautiful sunshine completing the challenges this week and on Saturday evening in particular.
It is heartwarming to see so many families doing the challenges together and registering their scores each day. It is never too late for individuals or families to begin participating or just dip in and out of the challenges as it suits, just send your score or participation thumbs up into the group text on the day, all entries are very welcome.
Reminder, 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 to win a great prize kindly given by Barry Heffernan of his Tipperary jersey from last years All Ireland campaign. Barry will present the jersey to the winning child at a training session.
A big thank you to all of the families in the juvenile club who supported the Nenagh Éire Óg table quiz on Saturday night. Our juvenile members posed questions to our club stars on the night, the stars were Grace O’Brien, Barry Heffernan, Jake Morris and Donnacha Ryan. Indeed Jake may be busy building some bridges this week as he was put on the spot with a rather tricky question from one of our U8 boys Ruaidhri O’Brien who asked Jake who his best friend was?…Jake had to think fast!
We are so proud of our adult players in the club who support the challenges on a daily basis and are never found wanting and last week was no different. Our juvenile club look forward to reciprocating the support when we get back to cheering on our senior stars on the other side of these strange times. Senior players will henceforth be known both by name and the specific skill challenge which they championed in support of this project.
Thank you also to all the parents who encourage and support participation at home each day, this is central to the children maintaining and developing skill levels and to the success of the challenges. 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.
Stay practicing, encourage each other, stay safe, stay home and mind each other.
Sympathies
The club wishes to express its sympathies to the family and friends of Colette O’Riordan, Roscommon who passed away recently. Ms O’Riordan’s son-in-law David Peters is heavily involved with our juveniles with her grandchildren playing for the club.
We also extend our sympathies to the family and friends of Paddy Whelan, Waterford. Mr Whelan’s daughter Nodlaig and grandchildren are also involved in the club.
We also wish to sympathise with the family and friends of Margaret Peggy Kennedy, Roscrea. Ms Kennedy’s husband Dan is a former chairman of the North Tipperary board and is currently on the County Hearings Committee.
We also wish to sympathise with the family and friends of Monica (Monnie) Hogan, Ballinderry. Ms Hogan was a great supporter of Shannon Rovers and rarely missed a match.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha
Supporting our Teammates
Below is a brilliant image from Mid Tipp Coiste Ná nÓg with suggestions as to how we can help our teammates during the current pandemic.
1993 North Final
Below is a Tweet from Phil Hennessy which features a photograph of a number of legendary club supporters, some of which are no long with us. It was taken after the 1993 North Tipperary senior hurling final when we overcame the challenge of Moneygall in Cloughjordan.
The full match plus a highlights video can be viewed below.
Barry Heffernan

The GAA published the above picture of Barry Heffernan during the week for people to colour in.
Stewards Required
A chairde,
We have been informed that Covid 19 testing may commence in Semple Stadium during the next few days. The HSE have requested voluntary stewards to supervise the movement and parking of cars. This may suit clubs or individuals in close proximity to Thurles. Any names received will be forwarded to the HSE who will set up a rota system. Names to be returned to the undersigned.
Is mise,
Tadhg De Flóid Rúnaí Choiste Chontae Tiobráid Árann 087-2591747secretary.tipperary@gaa.ie
Club Lotto

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