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.

Mr O Meara set a target challenge for his class this week @ActiveFlag @PDSTpe @IrishPrimaryPE @GdaNorthTipp @nenagheireog pic.twitter.com/re76wK1DNx

— Nenagh Community National School (@nenaghcns) May 15, 2020

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

@nenagheireog I might be living in Newtown but when the door gets its final coat I think they’ll know it’s a Nenagh house 😂 pic.twitter.com/9f9OcIB6zU

— Paul Henry (@NenaghTipp0) May 16, 2020

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 31^st 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.

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.

This is Evie Hogan (5) who has painted some rainbows to show her support for the front line staff. She has done it as gaeilge.
Bogha baisti agus go raibh maith agat!

Show your support by sending your picture to eireognenagh@gmail.com or private message any of our social media pic.twitter.com/E8w6RzCZFW

— Nenagh Éire Óg (@nenagheireog) May 2, 2020

Here are the Coonan family thanking our frontline workers for all their efforts in recent times.

If you have any paintings, pictures or photographs that you'd like shared on our social media channels please send us a private message pic.twitter.com/a0d7haOp3b

— Nenagh Éire Óg (@nenagheireog) May 1, 2020

We're looking for photographs, pictures or paintings with message of support for our frontline staff. Send them to us via social media channels or at eireognenagh@gmail.com

In the photograph we have Jackie Hayes Sheedy with her daughters Hannah & Rebecca showing their support pic.twitter.com/2cVPHmUj3z

— Nenagh Éire Óg (@nenagheireog) May 1, 2020

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.

Our youngest participant Amy Coonan has completed the challenge. Super stuff Amy 💪💪👌👌👌 pic.twitter.com/bOOjUeUCl3

— Nenagh Éire Óg (@nenagheireog) April 27, 2020

Juvenile camogie star Lucy Coonan brilliantly completes the challenge. Well done Lucy! pic.twitter.com/QDHrhCxA8v

— Nenagh Éire Óg (@nenagheireog) April 26, 2020

Check out eight-year-old Julian Zilioniene’s fantastic effort. Well done to everyone who took part.

Julian Zilioniene from our under-8 team completes the challenge. Great work Julian 💪💪💪💪 pic.twitter.com/ijsjKVddZU

— Nenagh Éire Óg (@nenagheireog) April 29, 2020

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

The man, the myth…the mullet👌😂 https://t.co/gR98pffUV5

— Robbie Kiely (@robbiek6) May 3, 2020

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.

Preliminary Round – Who has the Best Camogie Jersey in Tipperary? Nenagh Eire Og or Gortnahoe/Glengoole

— NenaghGuardian (@NenaghGuardian) May 3, 2020

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.

On the other side of the fence….

Seán White & Seán Mulcahy pass the ball across the fence during #ActiveHomeWeek @ActiveFlag
Mr Prout's Senior Infants pic.twitter.com/wnAZuGJQ3q

— Nenagh Community National School (@nenaghcns) April 29, 2020

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.

Thanks to everyone who joined the @nenagheireog quiz last night, great success👏🏻, big thanks to @DonnachaRyan for telling a few right yarns and MC @level8lifestyle #Club

— Shane Hennessy (@ShaneHennessy3) April 26, 2020

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

pic.twitter.com/EqtXPi3ngw

— Mid Tipperary Coiste Na nÓg (@MidTipp_Coiste) April 20, 2020

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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.

Auld Naynagh legends here in happy days…after 1993 North Senior final in Clough. Supported the club through thick & thin! Included from back left, Connie Casey RIP, holding cup is Peg Kennedy RIP, Noel Coonan, Michael O' Kennedy, Chris Kennedy RIP, Oliver Tucker RIP. pic.twitter.com/1B2g5tTSRA

— Philip Hennessy (@PhilipHennessy7) April 19, 2020

The full match plus a highlights video can be viewed below.

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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.

1991 North Semi-Final 🏁 Kilruane MacDonaghs V Nenagh Éire Óg in a packed MacDonagh Park Cloughjordan.
Dinny Cahill and Conor O'Donovan in for the pull. Eamon O'Shea in support. pic.twitter.com/tdmk3CVKkU

— Kilruane MacDonaghs (@MacDonaghsGAA) April 26, 2020

Thanks to @nenagheireog for a great evenings entertainment. Well done to all involved @level8lifestyle MC for the evening well done. #club #familyfun #community @ShaneHennessy3 also great q&a with nenagh stars.

— Stephen Ryan (@ryanstephen83) April 25, 2020

Congrats to all concerned @nenagheireog on the excellent quiz tonight and particularly @jkctoymaster. Well played 👏

— kevcoz (@kevcoz1) April 25, 2020

All set for Nenagh Eire Og couch quiz. Well done to James Mackey, Shane Hennessy and Donnacha Quinn. The future of the club is in safe hands 👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/O4LgSJevCC

— Enda Costello (@Endacost) April 25, 2020

An exciting club quiz in aid of Nenagh Day Care Centre, our volunteers continue to aid the vulnerable in our community and an important survey for our juvenile section. All this and more in this week’s news on the Blues

Exciting Club Quiz for Nenagh Day Care Centre

Nenagh Éire Óg are holding an Online Family Table Quiz at 7:30pm on Saturday the 25th of April – the first of its kind within the county! What better way to spend a Saturday night in lockdown?

Registration is €10 per family and there will be a raffle on the night with some great prizes in store including a Q&A session at half time with Irish Rugby Star Donnacha Ryan.

The quiz will be streamed via Zoom and promises to be a night of great fun! To register or for any queries text/Whatsapp 0879492471, 0876693645 or 0851120299. Proceeds will be shared with Nenagh Day Care Centre and the quiz is open to all, not just club members.

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.

Thank you to our senior players

Throughout the last number of weeks the senior hurlers, footballers and camógs have been making short videos with skills challenges for our juvenile players. The generosity of spirit has been heartening to see and we all wish to thank the players for putting so much effort into this. 

We also wish to thank Niall Cahill and Catherine McTiernan for all their help with this initiative and of course without the enthusiasm of the families and players it would not be the massive success it is. And remember Barry Heffernan’s 2019 championship jersey is up for grabs for one of the lucky participants.

Having watched Killian Gleeson’s skills video during the week, Richie, Noel and John have confirmed that the senior hurlers will be training with blindfolds on in future to develop their kinesthetic awareness abilities. You can see Killian’s video here:

Condolences

The club would like to extend its deepest sympathy to the wife and family of the late Matt O Meara, Toomevara. Matt was a stalwart of Toomevara serving in a number of capacities including as a player, secretary and mentor with many teams. 

To his wife Norah, daughter Ciara, sons Shane and Aidan, son-in-law Aidan, daughters-in-law Andrea and Violeta, grandchildren Donncha, Aoileann, Aodhan, Lily-Anne and Sean, as well as his many cousins and friends we offer our condolences

https://rip.ie/death-notice/matt-o-meara-toomevara-tipperary/420526

We also extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of John O’Shea, Patrickswell, Limerick. John’s son-in-law, Darragh Droog, has been involved with our senior hurling team for a number of years now. 

To his wife Eileen, daughters Donna and Suzanne, brother Denis, sisters Maureen (O’Shea), Evelyn (Stoneham), Ann (Hartnett) and Joan (Murphy) and his many relatives and friends we extend our deepest sympathies.

https://rip.ie/death-notice/john-o-shea-patrickswell-limerick/420624

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha

YouTube

We have been making a number of past matches available to view on our YouTube channel over the last few weeks and this has proved to be very popular. Here is another game for you to enjoy. The 2013 clash with Moneygall in Cloughjordan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oef-WKjgqdU

Best Jersey in North Tipperary

Now we all know that our jersey is the nicest jersey not just in North Tipperary but the whole of the GAA universe and now we have a chance to officially confirm our status as the Nenagh Guardian are currently running a poll on Twitter to decide the best jersey in the division.

In the first round we went head to head against Ballina and came out on top and for the next round we need your help. So please keep an eye on the Guardian’s Twitter account for the quarter final competition and vote early and often for Nenagh Éire Óg.

The Guardian’s Team of the Decade

In last week’s edition of the Guardian Shane Brophy, Liam Hogan and James Hayden picked their North Tipperary club team of the decade and we were delighted to get two players, Michael Heffernan and Hugh Maloney, onto the starting fifteen with Barry Heffernan settling for a place on the bench.

You can see the team in the photograph above and remember please support local businesses during these difficult times and buy the local paper on Wednesday.

1960 Silver Street, Street League

Here is a photograph of the Silver Street, street league team from 1960 coloured in by Rob Toohey. Rob has a superb collection of local characters from times past on his Facebook page and for a wonderful trip down Nostalgia Lane, his page is well worth checking out.

Can anyone name any of the people in the photograph? If yes please email us on eireognenagh@gmail.com or contact any of our social media channels.

If you have any Nenagh GAA related photographs please email them to eireognenagh@gmail.com or private message any of our social media channels and we would be thrilled to publish them.

Juvenile & Camogie News

Éire Óg Juvenile club and Camogie club skills challenge continues each day having completed five 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 can you please complete the below survey which is completely anonymous. The results will guide us as to how this project could be improved to make it more worthwhile and enjoyable for our Future Stars.

Survey

The survey can be accessed here.

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 and fun which involved striking on the run and blindfolded catching. Parents and children alike participated by entering either a participation thumbs up or a score to their respective group text. Much family fun was had in the beautiful sunshine completing the challenges this week.

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.

We are so proud of our adult players in the club who support the challenges on a daily basis and are never found wanting. Our juvenile club look forward to reciprocating the support when 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.

Rody Boland’s

On the link below is an interesting article about our main club sponsor, Rody Boland’s, and how the interior and exterior of the pub made its way from Mitchel Street to Rathmines. The interior was more or less perfectly preserved from when the pub in Nenagh closed down in the 1930s to when it was moved to its new home in Dublin. 

From Nenagh to Rathmines. How a long forgotten Tipp pub was moved to Dublin.

1977 County Minor Champions

We posted the above photograph on our social media channels and once again it attracted a lot of attention. It is of the 1977 minor hurlers which captured the club’s second county title at that age group, the first coming in 1969. The beat Silvermines in the North final and Loughmore Castliney in the county decider. The match programme from this game can be accessed here.

If you have any photographs from the past that you would like published please email eireognenagh@gmail.com or contact any of our social media channels.

The following are reports from the Guardian from both the North and county finals with Brian Heffernan also receiving the Player of the Week accolade following his performance against Silvermines in the North final.

Download (PDF, 773KB)

Download (PDF, 928KB)

 

Download (PDF, 748KB)

Download (PDF, 871KB)

All-Ireland Finals Online – Free to Watch

The GAA, in conjunction with the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, have launched the GAA Digital Archive at Croke Park providing free access to past GAA matches to internet users around the world.

113 All-Ireland finals since 1961 are included in the archive and provincial finals from 1961 also feature. The new archive also includes All-Ireland club finals since 1989.

In all, over 500 football and hurling matches were retrieved from broadcasters and information such as date, result, venue, referee, scorers and teams and substitutions was added.

A look back at the 1969 county minor winning side, more games released on our YouTube channel and our Facebook page reaches a significant milestone. All this and more in this week’s news on the Blues

Happy Easter

Beannachtaí Féile na Cásca ar chuile dhuine idir óg is aosta sa bhaile is thar lear.

The club wishes all our of members, players, supporters and the wider community a happy Easter. This Easter marks the 104th anniversary of the 1916 Rising when Thomas MacDonagh, the man whom our grounds are named after, and his comrades struck a huge blow for Irish freedom. If you would like to learn a little more about the Cloughjordan native, please see our Easter 2016 newsletter below which contains lots of information about him.

https://www.nenagheireog.com/wp-content/uploads/Easter.pdf

We Are Community

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.

MacDonagh Park

Thank You

Once again we wish to thank our senior stars for providing daily fun challenges for our juveniles to help keep their skills sharp. The generosity of  adult players in doing this is very much appreciated by the entire club. We also wish to thank Niall Cahill for coordinating all of this and of course Barry Heffernan who kindly donated one of his championship jerseys which will be given to one of the juvenile participants.

Juvenile News

Éire Óg Juvenile club and Camogie club skills challenge continues each day having completed four weeks to date. Our plan initially was to complete a fourteen day challenge programme while schools were closed, the situation has continued however as have our daily challenges and we aim 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.

In addition to challenges which focused on fundamental movement, hurling and football skills this week included some fun activities which made for great fun in the beautiful warm sun.

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 into the group text on the day, all scores are very welcome. If you haven’t already stepped out of your comfort zone and get involved, have a go this week.

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 huge amount of thanks must go to all of the adult players in the club who have taken part in the challenge to date. It really is hugely uplifting to see the high level of enthusiasm from them in ensuring the juvenile players skill levels increase throughout this difficult time.

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.

Happy Easter to all of our wonderful children and families. Stay practicing, stay safe, stay home and mind each other.

Club App

We would like to remind people that our club app, which was designed by Seán McTiernan, is available to download for those with Android phones. This fantastic communications tool is a brilliant way to stay up to date on all club news and fixtures.

Website

Our website www.nenagheireog.com got a facelift recently and we wish to thank Seán McTiernan for all his hard work in this regard.

1969 County Minor Title

In 1969 our minor hurlers captured the club’s first county minor title after they defeated Moycarkey Borris 8-8 to 1-7 with John Grace scoring 1-7, Denis O’Connor getting 3-0, with Martin Hogan and and Willie Condon scoring 2-0 each while Willie Brennan scored Éire Óg’s other point.

Incidentally we have won county minor hurling titles in the following years: 1969, 1977, 1978, 1991, 1992, 2008, 2012, 2013 while we have won one minor county football title in 1990.

Click on the link to read the Guardian’s match report from November 1st, 1969.

Download (PDF, 1.06MB)

Facebook

Our club Facebook page reach a significant milestone this week as Emmett Ryan from Clonmel became our 3,000th follower. Thanks to everyone who follows us on all our social media channels. Remember you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

YouTube

We have made a number of matches available to view on our YouTube channel recently to help people pass the time. Please visit https://www.youtube.com/c/nenagheireogtipperary to watch these matches. Below is our 2015 county semi final against Drom & Inch which was decided by a last second point by Dáire Quinn, AET. 

PJM Fitness

Senior hurler Pearse Morris has set up a brand new Facebook page for his coaching services where he regularly posts updates on positivity, motivation and fitness. You can like his page at the following link: https://www.facebook.com/CoachMorris1/

Lotto

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

Our senior players continue to set fun challenges for the juveniles, a plea to shop local while our efforts to help the vulnerable in our community continue. All this and more in this week’s news on the Blues

We Are Community

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.

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.

Thank You

Once again we wish to thank our senior stars for providing daily fun challenges for our juveniles to help keep their skills sharp. The generosity of  adult players in doing this is very much appreciated by the entire club. We also wish to thank Niall Cahill for coordinating all of this and of course Barry Heffernan who kindly donated one of his championship jerseys which will be given to one of the juvenile participants.

The Late Br. Pat O’Connell

We wish to extend our sympathies to the family and friends of the late Brother O’Connell who has recently passed away. Since 1967, Brother O’Connell worked extremely hard to promote the Rice Cup competition and won it in 1969 when he took charge of Our Lady’s Templemore after they defeated Charleville. He later transferred work to St. Joseph’s CBS, Nenagh and won it for a second time as manager in 1988 when they defeated Ard Scoil Rís, 2-8 to 1-2. The 1988 side featured a number of Nenagh Éire Óg players including Pádraig O’Kennedy, Liam Walsh, Frank McGrath, John Tucker (0-1), Michael Loughnane, Mervyn Scanlon (0-1) and Eddie Guerin who scored 1-3 in the final.

He took on the role of secretary, chairman and president of the Rice Cup committee and coached hurling in Nenagh CBS for many years with countless numbers of our players benefitting from his expertise. In 2017, St. Joseph’s CBS made a presentation to him to thank him for his many years of service to the competition and it was made by former Nenagh Éire Óg player, Mr. Paul Dolan.

Those of us who were taught by Br. O’Connell will remember an enthusiastic, kind-hearted and caring man who always had the interests of the students first. His enthusiasm passed on a love of Science and Religion to all his pupils. 

To his brothers Sean and Daniel, sisters-in-law Chrissie and Noreen, his nephews, nieces, Brothers in religion, relatives, the staff and students of Nenagh CBS and his wide circle of friends we offer our sincerest condolences.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

Sympathies

The club wishes to extend its sympathies to the Jones family and in particular to Taff whose mother Megan from Ynysddu, Torfaen in Wales passed away recently. 

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam

We also wish to extend our sympathies to the family and friends of the late John McKenna, Ballygraigue and Cookstown, Tyrone. John’s grandson Pearse Morris is currently part of our senior hurling panel while his granddaughter Ceri played camogie with us for many years. Jason McKenna, another grandson, is another former player with the club.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

1991 League Final

We have been posting old photographs to our social media channels recently and one which garnered a lot of attention this week was the one above of Michael Cleary accepting the Hogan Cup from North Tipperary board chairman, Borris-Ileigh’s Billy Ryan after we had beaten Borrisokane, 2-12 to 0-13, in the North league final. For our younger members, the North League was a huge competition back in the 1980s and 1990s as the winners got to play the runners up in the North senior championship final for the right to represent the division in the county championship. The finals often attracted well over 1,000 supporters and both Toomevara and ourselves won the Dan Breen Cup coming through this route. 

The Nenagh team that day was Seamus Kennedy, Fergal Hynes, Conor O’Donovan, Frank Moran, Denis Finnerty, John Heffernan, Michael Grace, Philip Kennedy (0-2), Jim Nagle, John Kennedy (0-1), Michael Cleary (0-7), Con Howard, Michael Kennedy (1-0), Neilly Corbett (1-1), Eddie Tucker. Substitutions: Paul Kennedy for Grace, Barry O’Brien (0-1) for Howard. 

Journalist and clubman Brian McDonnell tweeted that the jersey worn in the photograph should be re-issued and sold as a retro club top, a suggestion that was certainly popular on social media. However, the Nenagh Guardian’s Gerry Slevin had a different suggestion in the paper that week and issued a stinging criticism of the club’s attire and shortly afterwards a new set was purchased, in sky blue and navy and we have been wearing those colours since. 

Incidentally, Gerry Slevin was very complimentary of the performance of full back Conor O’Donovan and awarded him the Guardian’s Player of the Week accolade. It is interesting to note that Michael “Babs” Keating, the then Tipperary manager, had no issues with Conor and Michael playing a league match for their club two weeks before a knockout Munster championship semi-final against Limerick. Indeed, it did the lads no harm whatsoever as Tipperary defeated Limerick 2-18 to 0-10 with Michael Cleary scoring 0-5.

If you have any photographs relating to our club, particularly from the 1970s to today, please email them to eireognenagh@gmail.com or alternatively send them via private message to any of our social media channels. People love looking at them and it is a great way to pass the time in these difficult days.

Shop Local

We request that where possible, people shop in our fantastic local businesses to help them through these difficult times. Many of them have been very generous to our club over the years in terms of sponsorship and purchasing advertising signs in our grounds and they will continue to do so into the future if we support them now. We also ask you to purchase the Nenagh Guardian on Wednesday. The local paper has been an extraordinary promotor of Gaelic games for well over a century and its archives are a phenomenon resource when it comes to researching games from the past. It would be a shame to lose any of these businesses so please support them now, when they need our custom more than ever. Many businesses are now selling online so please check their social media and websites for further information.

Juvenile News

Éire Óg Juvenile club and Camogie club skills challenge continues each day having completed three weeks 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. This week included some fun activities such as Bin Ball which was a nice throwback to last years Cúl Camp.

Family scores can be registered daily, it is fantastic to see so many families doing the challenges together. It is never too late to begin participating, just send your score into the group text on the day, family scores 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.

Sincere thank you must go to Niall Cahill for running the daily challenge and also to all of the adult players in the club who have taken part in the challenge to date. It is hugely uplifting to see the high level of enthusiasm from them in ensuring the juvenile players skill levels increase 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.

Wonderful Artists

We were thrilled to received two wonderful drawings from two exceptionally talented artists and camógs in the club, Amelie and Rebecca, both aged eight, who kindly sent us in these two brilliant pictures of camogie players in full flight. The pictures certainly brightened up our week. Thank you girls for the wonderful drawings.

The Peters Family on RTÉ

Many of our younger members are enjoying their time off school and have been continuing their education watching RTÉ’s early morning educational programme. Imagine their surprise when who should put up on screen cheering on Éire Óg but the Peters family. Have a look in the video below!

GAA Activities for Children

The GAA have added lots of fun activities for children on its website including pages to colour in as well as an educational portal for primary school children. 

You can access it here.

Matches on YouTube

This week we have made a number of games from 2013 freely available to view on our YouTube channel. These include the drawn and replayed county semi-final games against Kiladangan. To watch these search Nenagh Éire Óg on YouTube.

The GAA Newsletter

The March edition of the GAA Club Newsletter is now available.

This month’s edition includes the following.

• A message from GAA President, John Horan, and GAA Director General, Tom Ryan, on the Association’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
• GAA Community and Health Manager, Colin Regan, describes how clubs around the country have rallied together to help their communities during the current health crisis.
• Details of the GAA’s partnership with SuperValu and Centra to help feed Ireland’s elderly and the most vulnerable in communities across the island at this most challenging time.
• The importance of looking after your mental health at this stressful time, and the resources that are available should you need help.
• A schedule of upcoming coach development sessions.
• Essays from young GAA members around the country on what their club means to them.

You can read and download the March edition of the GAA newsletter here.

Club Lotto

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

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

Name: Zoey Gratton
Occupation: Student Teacher
Schools/College Attended: Gaelscoil, Nenagh College, Mary I and Hibernia
Favourite Position: Wing back
Achievements with club to date: County medals at all levels bar Senior
When and where did you first start playing GAA? Nenagh 2000
Biggest influence on your GAA career: My family
What sporting event would you most like to attend? NBA game
To date what is your favourite moment in sport? Beating Silvermines in the county intermediate semi-final
What has been your biggest disappointment in sport? Losing the munster intermediate club final
Favourite Venue: MacDonagh Park
Favourite G.A.A. player: Paudie Maher
What sportsperson would you most like to meet? Messi
What is the hardest part of your sporting life? Maintaining fitness over Christmas
Toughest player to mark in training? Alanna Morris
Who is the ‘joker’ on the panel? Ellie Spain
Tell us a joke: Why do cows wear bells? Because their horns don’t work
What advice would you give to young players? Always do your best
If you won the lotto what would be the first thing you would buy? A car
Favourite holiday destination: Canada
Favourite Food: Enchiladas
Favourite Drink: Apple juice
Favourite Music: The Script
Favourite Film/TV Show: Brooklyn 99
Favourite book you’ve read? Hunger Games
In ten-years time I hope to be….. Successful primary school teacher and healthy
One thing you may not know about me…… I’m a ciotóg and love Irish

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

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.

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

You can read a full match report from this game at the following link: http://www.nenagheireog.com/index.php/a-look-back-at-the-1964-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.