Tremendous honour for John
and I was no good but I’ve been involved with them ever since and I’ve been involved with the county as well, in management and Scór and various things, so I’ve been around a long time,” he said.
The year of 2016 had plenty of highs on the playing fields for John and for Kiltegan but there was also a heart-breaking low when club stalwart and dear friend Peter Keogh passed away.
“It was a difficult year. I was Chairman last year and it was a very difficult year, especially with the death of my good friend Pater (Keogh). He would have been a great adviser to me and it’s a tragic loss to the club and to me as a personal friend because I knew him so well and I really, really miss him every day of the week,” said John.
The loss of someone of the stature of Peter Keogh is always a dreadful blow for a club to take but in what was perhaps the perfect response to his passing and the perfect tribute to his memory, the hurlers of Kiltegan went out and, against all the odds that seemed to be stacked against them, claimed the Intermediate hurling crown when they defeated Bray Emmets in Aughrim.
“Winning the Intermediate hurling was fantastic,” said John, “because hurling was at a very low ebb in Kiltegan and I was delighted that the lads took the bull by the horn and that they came and got a team together and they trained hard and reaped the reward in the final. I asked Jeff (Bermingham) to take over the team because nobody else wanted it and he left no stone unturned and our trainer Fran Fitzhenry, from Wexford, done tremendous work and got just reward by winning it,” he added.
Looking at John Timmins last Saturday night there was no denying that this award is something he feels extremely proud of and that the occasion was one which he enjoyed immensely.
“A wonderful occasion for me and my family and I certainly did enjoy it,” he said.