by PRO Joe Bracken
ALL-IRELAND HOMECOMING ROUNDUP
After a whirlwind week, a sense of calm is reluctantly descending upon the Premier County still basking in double All-Ireland Hurling glory. Following on from the tremendous homecomings in Semple Stadium and Borrisoleigh last week, the last major reception for the Liam McCarthy Cup was in Upperchurch on Saturday night last, home to winning manager Michael Ryan, full back James Barry and Co. Chairman Michael Bourke. The huge attendance gave their local heroes and fellow team members a fantastic reception as they were paraded through the village by pipers to an open air reception.
This scene was replicated the length and breadth of the county in most cases without cup or player, as all Tipperary Supporters shared in the welcome triumphs and relived the magic of September 4th in all its glory throughout the week.
It was indeed a week to savour as the county bedecked in Blue and Gold welcomed friend and stranger alike to share and enjoy the tremendous atmosphere that comes with winning All-Ireland titles. In partaking in festivities the mood was jovial and above all else always wholehearted and accommodating as the county revelled in the national interest of the outcome and the spectacle which was the Semple Stadium Homecoming, made special thanks to the thousands of supporters who turned out on the night.
The good folk in Irish TV were in touch to say that a flavour of that Semple Stadium Homecoming on last Monday night will be shown on its channel this Wednesday evening, September 14th at 7pm. So if you wish to relive some of the homecoming once again, tune into Irish TV on Sky channel 191, Freesat 400, eircom’s eVision channel 191, free to air boxes and online at www.irishtv.ie and www.irishtv.com
ALL-IRELAND CUP VISITS
In relation to All-Ireland Cup visits, senior team management and the Co. Board are very conscious that all our senior inter county players are either in full time work or colleges and their availability will be very much confined to their own local area. So based on this the following procedure was adopted for club and school cup visits;
Clubs must first discuss a visit to your local schools with the local County Games Development Administrator (GDA) as they have the responsibility of co-ordinating cup visits for clubs and schools.
Priority will be given to clubs and schools that had players involved in either the All-Ireland Senior or Minor Hurling panels but the onus will be on those clubs and schools to have their own local county players available so a date will have to be selected to suit them.
The Games Development Officers will sit down on a weekly basis and plan the schedule of visits for the following few weeks based on expressions of interest.
Clubs without a member on the panels may avail of a cup only visit, but the onus is on the club to secure the services of a panel member to accompany the cup if they are in a position to do so.
The Co. Secretary will be in charge of bookings for all commercial purposes and can be contacted by email secretary.tipperary@gaa.ie or 0504 22702.
We look forward to the co-operation of clubs and schools in this regard as we celebrate our two great All Ireland titles.
TIPPERARY FIXTURES
A busy weekend gone by at divisional level saw Mullinahone claim the South SH Championship with a one point win over Killenaule in the final which was held in Clonmel on Sunday last on a score line of 2-15 to 1-17. While in the Mid Final which was held in Templetuohy, Loughmore-Castleiney eventually got the better of Drom & Inch after extra time also by a one point margin, 1-20 to 2-16.
The successes of CJ Kickhams Mullinahone and Loughmore-Castleiney continue a recent hurling tradition in both clubs which seemed unlikely a few short years ago. Mullinahone’s tradition in Football began in the early 20th century when they annexed 4 County Senior Football titles between 1912 and 1929. The South club have also won six South Senior Football titles, the last in 1945. During the 1980’s helped in no small way by the emergence of John Leahy on to the Tipperary hurling scene, Mullinahone began to achieve success at underage level, winning the County Under 21 B Hurling title in 1988 and a County Junior A Hurling title in 1989 followed by South Intermediate Hurling titles in 1990 and 1991 which saw them reach the Senior Hurling grade where they won their first South title in 1993. In the intervening 23 years, Mullinahone have been the dominant force in the South Senior Hurling Championship and Sunday’s victory was their 13th South title to go with their sole County Senior Hurling title to date in 2002.
Loughmore-Castleiney’s football pedigree is well known having won their first Mid and County Senior Football titles in 1940. Since then, they have dominated the Mid Football scene, winning 55 Mid Senior Football titles and will be looking for their 56th on Sunday next (see fixture details below). In addition, Loughmore have won 12 County Senior Football titles, the most recent in 2014. On the hurling front, successes were few and far between until an underage renaissance began in the 1970’s, the first signs of which returned the County Minor Hurling title of 1976. 3 Mid Under 21 Hurling titles followed in 1979, 1981 and 1982 and Loughmore reached the Senior Hurling ranks courtesy of winning the 1980 Mid and County Intermediate Hurling titles. Success at Senior level would not be far away and in their third year at the grade, captured their first ever Mid Senior Hurling title in 1983 with a victory over the defending Mid, County and Munster champions Moycarkey-Borris. Since then, Loughmore have captured 12 Mid Senior hurling titles (more than any other Mid club in that timeframe) and also brought Dan Breen back to the parish on 3 occasions in 1988, 2007 (when they also won the Munster title) and 2013 (the year of their unique Double success).
This Sunday, September 18th at 1.30pm in Leahy Park Cashel, Clonoulty-Rossmore and Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams meet in the West Senior Hurling Championship Final. In the North SH championship, Kiladanagan and Kilruane MacDonaghs meet in the final in Cloughjordan at 2pm.
In the County Senior Football Championship ‘Group 3’ round 3, Loughmore-Castleiney take on Éire Óg Annacarty-Donohill in New Inn this Wednesday night, September 14th at 8pm. No rest for Loughmore-Castleiney as they then line out in the Mid SF Final against Upperchurch-Drombane in The Ragg on Sunday next at 12noon.
Now that the inter-county scene is finished it is full steam ahead at county level to ensure Munster deadlines are met and with the full co-operation of clubs these dates will be achieved and clubs are thanked in advance for making this happen.
For a full round up of all fixtures and results across the Premier County please view the county website at https://tipperary.gaa.ie
COUNTY BOARD DRAW
The County Board Draw was held in the Old Mill Bar, Carrick-On-Suir hosted by Carrick Swan GAA Club.
Congratulations to the main winner on the night of a Renault Megane or €15,000 who was Con Hogan, 9 Inislounaght, Marlfield, Clonmel with Marlfield Club selling the winning ticket.
Second and third prizes were sold by JK Brackens Club with the second prize of a Cheltenham Trip (for 4) or €5,000 going to Walter Doyle, Roscrea Rd., Templemore and third prize of Australian Flights for 2 (or €3,000) going to Tadhg Guidera, Rockforest, Knock, Roscrea. Congratulations to Walter and Tadhg as well and indeed all the winners on the night.
Local grand prize winner for July Bridget Fitzpatrick was presented with the keys of her new Renault Megane, sponsored by Cleary Motors, Thurles.
16-T-LIAM NUMBER PLATES
To commemorate the success of Tipperary Senior Hurlers in capturing the 2016 All-Ireland title with a 2-29 to 2-20 victory over Kilkenny, a unique number plate is now available for sale retailing at €5.
Supporters are advised that proceeds from the sale of our product will go directly to the Tipperary Players Training Fund.
The following outlets in Tipperary are currently selling the number plates so don’t miss out; Borrisoleigh:- Shanahans Centra, Borrisoleigh; Cahir:- John Quirke Jeweller; Carrick-on-Suir: Applegreen Centra (Anne Skelly); Cashel:- William Boles Electrical; Clonmel:- Ronan Quirke Pharmacy; Nenagh:- Starr’s Drapery; Roscrea:- Market House Pub (Paul Phelan); Templemore:- O’Connell’s Centra; Thurles:- Lar na Pairce and in Tipperary Town:- Tod O’Rahelly Sports and Greenes Stationary.
ALL IRELAND U21B FINAL
Semple Stadium played host to the All-Ireland U21A and B Hurling Finals last Saturday, with Tipperary interest to the fore in the Mayo setup in the U21B final. Donall O’Brien (Silvermines) was on the backroom team which lost out to Meath in that final. Incidentally, Donall was in goal for Mayo when they won their first Nicky Rackard Cup title with a 2-16 to 1-15 win over Armagh in Croke Park back on June 4th.
TIPPERARY GAA SCENE
Information concerning all areas in the GAA will appear in this section in the future. If you wish to include any item of interest in future articles, please e-mail at pro.tipperary@gaa.ie on or before 3.00pm on Monday. Visit the Tipperary GAA web site at https://tipperary.gaa.ie to keep up to date with all the latest news in Tipperary GAA circles.
