Club Notes - 29th January

Jack The Joker

No. Drawn - 53

Our popular Jack the Joker Fundraiser will continue this Sunday night in Kennedy’s Live where the Jackpot will be €8,594 as on Sunday night Lorraine and Lorcan were drawn out of the drum and picked card 53 but did not find the Joker, yet they did win €50. Mary Rossiter and Mary Quarry won €25 each.

Get Well Soon

Like all GAA clubs ours is one where we depend heavily on the volunteer spirit of our our underage coaches to keep our Juvenile section alive and in turn to ensure that we have players coming through to keep our adult teams competitive. For a number of years now Benny Flynn has given selflessly of his time to our Juvenile Section and all of us in the club would like to wish Benny a speedy recovery from his recent operation and hope that it won’t be too long before we see him coaching our underage teams again.

Club Bingo

This Sunday our Club Bingo will return to the CBS Hall at 8:30 pm where the jackpot is €1000.

Park Hotel Awards

On behalf of all in the club we would like to congratulate Niamh Briggs on being named the winner of Annual Park Hotel Sports Awards on Saturday night last. As outlined last week Niamh had a fantastic year last year and this award caps a wonderful twelve months for her. To win such a prestigious award is a great achievement for Niamh and her family, and we look forward to following her career for many years to come

Membership

With a number of football Championships due to get underway in the next number of weeks we would ask that all players and indeed non players make a special effort to pay their membership to our Membership Officer Kevin Tobin as soon as possible.

Club Social

Our Club Social has been fixed for Saturday February 15^th in the Park Hotel, and it promises to be a great night where we will be presenting medals to our victorious Senior and Under 21 Football teams and our Junior Hurling Team.  Tickets costing €25 can be ordered from Michael Ferncombe, Kevin Tobin, Niamh Enright, Jonathan O’Donovan, Tiernan Murray or Neil Moore.

Congratulations

On behalf of all in the club we would like to congratulate Ballysaggart on their great win in the All Ireland Semi Final on Sunday last in Tullamore and wish them the very best of luck in the All Ireland Final in Croke Park in two weeks time.

Best of Luck

This Sunday sees the commencement of the Allianz National Football Leagues as Waterford entertain Clare in Fraher Field. Our own Shane Briggs is Captain of the Footballers for the year and we would like to wish Shane and the entire panel the very best of luck for the upcoming season.

GAA National Draw

This year for the GAA are staging a National Draw with some truly fantastic prizes on offer. The prize fund is being fully paid for by Croke Park meaning that 100% of the money the club makes from the draw will be kept by the club. Tickets cost €10 each and are currently available to purchase from any member of the Club Committee or the Juvenile Committee.

Munster Council

All of us in Abbeyside / Ballinacourty GAA Club would like to congratulate Anthony Walsh on his election to the position of Treasurer of Munster Council on Friday night last. Anthony becomes the first Waterford man to hold this position and it is a tremendous honour for Anthony and indeed the Division and County.

Juvenile Notes - 29th January

Minor Football

Our year on the playing fields begins this Sunday morning the 2^nd February with our minor footballers in action against Dungarvan in Dungarvan at 11:30 am. We wish everyone involved the very best of luck.

Indoor Hurling

Indoor training will recommence in the Friary College this Friday 31^st January. Teamer will be sent out to all. U5’s and U6’s are between the times of 18:00 to 18:45 and under 7’s 18:45 to 19:30. To help cover costs a small charge of €2 a child will apply.

Senior Championship Draws

The draws for the 2014 Senior Hurling and Football Championships were held at tonight's County Board Meeting.

In the County Senior Hurling Championship, Abbeyside will play the following:-

Round 1 – Fourmilewater

Round 2 – De La Salle

Round 3 – Passage

Round 4 – Lismore

Round 5 – Roanmore

In the County Senior Football Championship, Ballinacourty will play the following:-

Round 1 – Rathgormack

Round 2 – Ardmore

Round 3 – An Rinn

Round 4 – Clashmore

Round 5 – Kilrossanty

Photo of the Week

Club History Book Launch, 1980

Back Row (L to R): Tony Mansfield, Jack Kiely, Jimmy O'Leary, Greg Fives, Pat Moore, Séamus Fitzgerald, Bobby Buckley.

Front Row (L to R): Danny Lenihan, Matthew Hogan, Liam Enright, Bernard Shields, Tom Regan.

This week's photo shows committee members at the launch of the club's history book Dún na Mainistreach / Baile na Cúirte: The Growth and Development of a GAA Club at the Ocean View Hotel, Clonea in August 1980. Running to 303 pages, the book chronicled the earliest days of the club right up to the playing year of 1979. The book was priced at £3 with a print run of 2,000 and was the first of its kind by a GAA club in Waterford.

Club Notes - 22nd January

Jack The Joker

No. Drawn - 13

Our popular Jack the Joker Fundraiser will continue this Sunday night in Kennedy’s Live where the Jackpot will be €8,342 as on Sunday night Fran Hyslop was drawn out of the drum and picked card 23 but did not find the Joker, yet he did win €50. Sandra Cliffe and Dylan and Chrissie Terry won €25 each.

Club Bingo

This Sunday our Club Bingo will return to the CBS Hall at 8:30 pm where the jackpot is €950.

Park Hotel Awards

On behalf of all in the club we would like to wish Niamh Briggs the very best of luck ahead of the Annual Park Hotel Sports Awards. Niamh had a year to remember in 2013 as she was part of the Irish Ladies Rugby Team that claimed a historic first Grand Slam, with Niamh being one of the leading members of the team. Her contribution to the Grand Slam did not go unnoticed by those involved in Ladies Rugby around the world as in recent weeks she was declared World Player of the Year for 2013, which was fitting recognition for the performances she delivered over the last 12 months. Niamh is always extremely generous with her time and it was very much appreciated by all in the club that she took time out from her hectic schedule to present the medals to our underage players at last Friday’s medal presentation. Once again we congratulate Niamh on her fantastic success in 2013 and wish her the very best of luck on Saturday night and indeed for the year ahead.

Membership

With a number of football Championships due to get underway in the next number of weeks we would ask that all players and indeed non players make a special effort to pay their membership to our Membership Officer Kevin Tobin as soon as possible. Kevin will be in the club grounds on Monday night from 7:30 to 8:30 pm to collect membership from anybody who wishes to pay it.

Club Social

Our Club Social has been fixed for Saturday February 15^th in the Park Hotel, and it promises to be a great night where we will be presenting medals to our victorious Senior and Under 21 Football teams and our Junior Hurling Team.  Tickets costing 25 euro can be ordered from Michael Ferncombe, Kevin Tobin, Niamh Enright, Jonathan O’Donovan, Tiernan Murray or Neil Moore.

GAA National Draw

This year for the GAA are staging a National Draw with some truly fantastic prizes on offer. The prize fund is being fully paid for by Croke Park meaning that 100% of the money the club makes from the draw will be kept by the club. Tickets cost €10 each and are currently available to purchase from any member of the Club Committee or the Juvenile Committee.

Juvenile Notes - 22nd January

Indoor Hurling

Indoor training will recommence in the Friary College on Friday 31^st January. Teamer will be sent out to all. U5’s and U6’s are between the times of 18:00 to 18:45 and under 7’s 18:45 to 19:30. To help cover costs a small charge of two euro a child will apply.

Medal Presentation

Our medal presentation for the victorious underage teams of 2013 took place in the Friary college canteen on Friday night last. This was an outstanding success with no fewer than 80 young children receiving medals on the night. Our MC for the night was Kieran O’ Connor and as usual we thank him for doing a very professional job. We had speeches on the night from our juvenile chairman Michael Ferncombe and our adult chairman Bernard Shields. From everyone involved a special word of thanks must go to Babs Kiely and her team in the Friary for providing refreshments which were enjoyed by both young and old alike.

The medals on the night were presented by our special guest Niamh Briggs from the Irish international ladies rugby team who last year won the grand slam for the very first time. Niamh then went on to win international player of the year which is an outstanding achievement for a local girl with strong connections to the club through her playing involvement with the ladies footballers and through her dad Michael and of course her brother Shane. We thank Niamh most sincerely for taking time out of her busy schedule to present our medals and give the youngsters plenty of advice in her speech.

The teams who received medals on the night were the under 12 hurlers and footballers, the under 13 hurlers and footballers the under 14 hurlers and footballers and the under 16 footballers. All in all on the playing field 2013 was a very successful year for our juvenile section and let’s hope these medals are the first of many for most involved. We would also like to thank all the players and especially their parents for turning up on the night and making the night the success it was.

Photo of the Week

2003 County Intermediate Hurling Champions

This week's photo shows captain John Paul Keohan receiving the County Intermediate Hurling Championship trophy from County Chairman, Paddy Joe Ryan following Abbeyside's thrilling last minute, one point victory over Erin's Own in the 2003 decider played at Walsh Park. The win meant a return to the senior ranks for the first time since relegation in 1997. Others celebrating inlcude John Hurney, Shane Briggs, Mark Gorman, Gary Hurney, John Kindregan, Damien Cliffe, Paul Breen, John Phelan and Laurence Hurney.

Club Notes - 15th January

Jack The Joker

No. Drawn - 23

Our popular Jack the Joker Fundraiser will continue this Sunday night in Kennedy’s Live where the Jackpot will be €8,154 as on Sunday night Fintan Cliffe was drawn out of the drum and picked card 23 but did not find the Joker, yet he did win €50. Stephen O’Reilly and Dylan and Jake Hahessy won €25 each.

Juvenile Medal Presentation

This Friday night our Juvenile Medal Presentation will take place in St. Augustine’s College at 8pm. 2013 was a fantastic year for our Juvenile Section with many Western and County Titles won and this promises to be a great night. As with all these presentation ceremonies we will have a Guest of Honour to present the medals, but this year we really have something special, as this year we have a person who was voted the best player in the world in her sport in 2013. I speak of course of Niamh Briggs who has graciously agreed to take time out of her busy work and training schedule to join us on the night and no doubt she will have some words of wisdom for our young players of the future.

Club Bingo

This Sunday our Club Bingo will move to the Park Hotel at 8:30 pm where the jackpot is €850.

Membership

With a number of football Championships due to get underway in the next number of weeks we would ask that all players and indeed non players make a special effort to pay their membership to our Membership Officer Kevin Tobin as soon as possible.

Club Social

Our Club Social has been fixed for Saturday February 15^th in the Park Hotel, and it promises to be a great night where we will be presenting medals to our victorious Senior and Under 21 Football teams and our Junior Hurling Team.  Tickets costing €25 can be ordered from Michael Ferncombe, Kevin Tobin, Niamh Enright, Jonathan O’Donovan, Tiernan Murray or Neil Moore.

GAA National Draw

This year for the GAA are staging a National Draw with some truly fantastic prizes on offer. The prize fund is being fully paid for by Croke Park meaning that 100% of the money the club makes from the draw will be kept by the club. Tickets cost €10 each and are currently available to purchase from any member of the Club Committee or the Juvenile Committee.

Club Committee Meeting

There will be a meeting of the Club Committee this Thursday night at 8pm in the Clubhouse.

Photo of the Week

U21 County Football Champions, 1971

This week's photo shows Tony Mansfield and Michael Hanrahan with the U21 County Football trophy following a low scoring, yet thrilling encounter with Dunhill in Fraher Field in 1971. The final score was 0-5 to 0-3. The team that day was J. Kiely, John Fraher, M. Ó Floinn, J. Kelleher, N. Cashin, M. Fives, Jim Fraher, F. Shields, P. Flynn, M. O'Connor, A. Barron, M. Kiely, D. O'Connor, M. Hanrahan (Capt.), H. Kelleher. Subs included P. Cashin, R. Hanrahan, E. Cashin, V. Feeney, J. Moloney and J. Beatty. This victory meant back-to-back county titles at the U21 grade.

Club Notes - 8th January

Jack The Joker

No. Drawn - 34

Our popular Jack the Joker Fundraiser will continue this Sunday night in Kennedy’s Live where the Jackpot will be €7,926 as on Sunday night Bernard Gorman was drawn out of the drum and picked card 34 but did not find the Joker, yet he did win €50. Ray Cliffe and Martina Barry won €25 each.

Club Bingo

This Sunday our Club Bingo continues in the CBS Hall where the jackpot is €850.

Club Trip

We are glad to report that all of the club party who went on the club outing to Cardiff (or Liverpool!!) returned safely from what was a great weekend enjoyed by all and which was richly deserved by the players. A special thank you, to James O’Mahony and Michael O’Halloran, who put in so much work to organise the trip.

Team Managers

Anybody who is interested in managing any of our adult teams next year is asked to inform Jonathan O’Donovan by January 8^th.

Club Social

Our Club Social has been fixed for Saturday February 15^th in the Park Hotel, and it promises to be a great night where we will be presenting medals to our victorious Senior and Under 21 Football teams and our Junior Hurling Team.  Tickets costing €25 can be ordered from Michael Ferncombe, Kevin Tobin, Niamh Enright, Jonathan O’Donovan or Tiernan Murray.

Granville Hotel Award

We would like to wish Patrick Hurney the very best of luck ahead of the Granville Hotel/WLR FM GAA Awards night which takes place this Saturday night. Patrick was nominated for the award in recognition of his scoring during last year’s County Senior Hurling Championship.

GAA National Draw

This year for the GAA are staging a National Draw with some truly fantastic prizes on offer. The prize fund is being fully paid for by Croke Park meaning that 100% of the money the club makes from the draw will be kept by the club. Tickets cost €10 each and are currently available to purchase from any member of the Club Committee or the Juvenile Committee.

Sympathy

On behalf of all in the club we would like to send our sympathies to the family and many friends of the late Aggie Hourigan, Murphy Place who passed away recently. The Hourigan family have a long association with our club as her sons and grandsons played with us and continue to play an active role in the club whilst her great grandchildren maintain the link with the club on the playing fields today. We once again send our sympathies to all her family but especially to her sister Rita, daughters Nora, Eleanor and Kathleen and her sons Michael, Paddy, John, David and Declan.

We would also like to send our sympathies to the McDonagh family, Bagenalstown Co. Carlow, on the death of Mr. Michael McDonagh who was a business partner of Jack O’Hare with Adesco who are of course our main club sponsors. The very generous financial support given to the club by Michael and Jack is deeply appreciated by all in the club and we once again send our sympathies to Michael’s family but especially his father James, wife Mary, children Eoin and Orla his sister Maeve and brother Declan.

Photo of the Week

Sponsorship

Abbeyside / Ballinacourty GAA Club Officials (L to R): Patrick Ryan, Joe Cleary, Tony Mansfield, Brian McNamara (background), Pat Moore, Tommy Treacy.

Sponsorship is vital to all GAA Clubs and ours is no different. This week's photo, taken at the club grounds in the early 1990s, shows Tony Mansfield receiving a cheque from the Bank of Ireland, the proceeds of which were used to purchase equipment necessary for the promotion of Gaelic Games in the club.

Club Notes - 1st January

Jack The Joker

No. Drawn - 12

Our popular Jack the Joker Fundraiser will continue this Sunday night in Kennedy’s Live where the Jackpot will be €7,718 as on Sunday night Muriel Mills was drawn out of the drum and picked card 12 but did not find the Joker, yet she did win €50. Fergal Fraher and Seanie Kiely won €25 each.

Christmas Raffle Results

Listed below are the prizewinners in our Christmas Raffle which took place on Monday, 23rd December in Minnies Bar. We would like to thank everyone who sold and purchased tickets for the draw. Your support is greatly appreciated.

1st Prize: €200 - Michael Hanrahan

2nd Prize: Christmas Hamper - Katie O'Regan

3rd Prize: Turkey & Ham - Vera Collins

4th Prize: Cheese & Wine Basket - Patrick Crowther

5th Prize: Bottle of Brandy - Michael Chester

6th Prize: Bottle of Whiskey - Terin Egan Walsh

Club Bingo

This Sunday our Club Bingo continues in the CBS Hall where the jackpot is €800.

Christmas Golf Outing

We held our third Annual Christmas Golf outing in Dungarvan Golf Club on Saturday last and we were blessed with ideal weather conditions. There was another great turnout of club members for the event which was enjoyed by all who took part. The members of the winning team were Conor Clancy, Mark Gorman, Diarmuid O’Hare and Michael Maher. We would like to thank Colm O’Hare for all his work in organising the event, Dungarvan Golf Club for the warm welcome they gave us and our sponsors Alice O’Connors.

Team Managers

Anybody who is interested in managing any of our adult teams next year is asked to inform Jonathan O’Donovan by January 8^th.

Club Social

Our Club Social has been fixed for Saturday February 15^th in the Park Hotel, and we will have more details on this in the coming weeks. It promises to be a great night where we will be presenting medals to our victorious Senior and Under 21 Football teams and our Junior Hurling Team.

Club Committee Meeting

There will be a meeting of the Club Committee this Thursday night at 8pm in the Club Grounds.