Castletown club of the year
Special appreciation award for long-serving O’Brien
THEIR COUNTY Senior football championship-winning feats were duly recognised at the inaugural Gorey District G.A.A. awards in the Ashdown Park Hotel recently when Castletown-Liam Mellows secured the club of the year accolade.
This first venture proved a resounding success, with a large turn-out for a very successful occasion which saw several unsung heroes in the clubs getting some reward for their sterling work.
The eleven clubs in the District lent their full support to the awards, with Gorey following in the footsteps of New Ross and Wexford where similar events are long established at this stage.
And the good news is that Enniscorthy District will be following suit, with their first function to be held on January 31 next.
In a good year for the Gorey District, county titles were also won by Ballygarrett (Intermediate ‘A’ hurling), Buffers Alley (Junior ‘B’ football), Askamore (Under-20 hurling Roinn 1) and Craanford (Under-20 hurling Roinn 1B), while four clubs are still in contention for Under-20 football honours.
A special appreciation award was presented to Jack O’Brien of Buffers Alley, the District Secretary from 1983 to 2010 before taking over as Chairman, a position he retains going into 2020.
The first Hall of Fame recipients are Tony Doran (Buffers Alley) and the Ferns St. Aidan’s pair of Tom Guinan and Dominic Murphy (Ferns St. Aidan’s).
Meanwhile, the eleven clubperson of the year award winners were Margaret Power (Askamore-Kilrush), Seán Breen (Ballygarrett-Réalt na Mara), Eamie Fortune (Buffers Alley), Tommy Masterson (Castletown-Liam Mellows), Alan Byrne (Clonee), Betty Shortle (Craanford), Pat Furlong (Ferns St. Aidan’s), Kevin Geoghegan (Kilanerin), Tony Molloy (Naomh Eanna), Michael Curley (St. Patrick’s), and the legendary Bill Owley (Tara Rocks).
The organising committee comprising Jack O’Brien (Chairman), Michael Maguire (Ferns St. Aidan’s, Secretary), Brian McDonald (Tara Rocks), Mick Lyons (Craanford), Murt Fleming (Ballygarrett-Réalt na Mara) and Mary Foley (Buffers Alley) did an excellent job, with the latter producing a lovely twelve-page full-colour programme as a fitting souvenir.
Invited guests included Martin Storey, Wexford’s All-Ireland winning captain in 1996, and Derek Kent, Co. Chairman.
And already the work in planning for 2020 is under way, as the District A.G.M. last week saw the election of Jack O’Brien (Chairman), Michael Maguire (Secretary), Brian McDonald (Treasurer) and Aisling Maguire (Ferns St. Aidan’s, P.R.O.).