Happy 20th to Menapians AC
Club came into existence on St. Valentine’s Day 2001
MENAPIANS AC was formed in February 2001, and celebrated its 20th birthday last Sunday.
Since then it has gone from a membership of ten to just under 300 when the club was at its peak a few years ago.
It started out as a senior club until 2005, when John ‘Bobser’ Dempsey and Jimmy O’Neill came up with the idea of forming a juvenile section. This turned out to be a great move and made Menapians one of the strongest clubs in the country.
The first committee was: Chairperson, Ann O’Neill; Secretary, Mag Malone; Treasurer, Derek Rossiter; PRO, Jimmy O’Neill; Committee: Kevin Cogley, Shane McCormack, Glen Robinson, Alan Mahoney.
Five Chairpersons have served over the 20 years, with Ann O’Neill followed by Mick McKeon, Shane McCormack, Jimmy O’Neill and Dave Percival. Mick is currently serving for his second term.
The club started in Division 1 of the National League in the 2001 season and finished second which earned promotion to the Premier Division, and they have been there ever since.
They made the top four in the top flight about ten years ago, an astounding achievement for a club with no facilities and no track.
Menapians were always known as a sprinting club but as early as 2002 they were winning cross-country and road titles locally.
Aoife Byrne finished eleventh in the Dublin City Marathon women’s section with a time of three hours seven minutes when being coached by Mick McKeon.
Róisín O’Reilly is one of the leading Junior athletes in the country and has competed in the European Youth Olympics at steeplechase. Ciara Dolan is another improving Junior distance athlete.
The club includes a committed group of middle distance road runners led by Darren O’Grady and Catherine O’Connor who herself has an impressive collection of titles locally and nationally.
Jimmy McDonald excelled in race walking with Masters world titles, and he was also an Olympian with a top six placing, so Menapians are more than just a sprinting club.
Paul Crowe has won numerous Junior, Senior and Masters titles in discus, shot etc. and has represented Ireland on many occasions.
Craig Maher made a little bit of history in 2006 when he became the club’s first Juvenile national medal winner in the Under-14 shot putt.
Other throwers of note include Eimear
Halpin, Ian Bennett, Ger Donovan, Katie Young, David Murray, Nathan Murphy, Chloe Doyle and Eoin Doyle, some of whom were coached by Eamon McEvoy and Pádraig Kelly.
At one stage Menapians were the best relay club in the country, both indoor and outdoor. Names like David McDonald, Sam O’Neill, Luke O’Neill, Shane O’Neill, Conall Clancy, Aaron Smith, Conor Kilgannon, Conor Wilson, Tony Stafford, James O’Rourke, Josh O’Connor, Kevin Cogley, Alan Mahoney, Shane McCormack, Michael Deady, Barry Upton, Leon Reid, David Hynes and Francesca Reville were all feared whenever they appeared at the nationals. Most of the above were winning individual titles as well.
David Hynes was the first Wexfordman to win the Senior 100m title. He also won the 200m indoor and outdoor.
Leon Reid won the Senior indoor 200m and 60m and picked up a bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games.
David McDonald, another great sprinter and long jumper, has won many Juvenile and Junior titles, and so too have Aaron Smith and the O’Neill twins, Sam and Luke. Lisa Somers was the first female Juvenile national medal winner for the club.
Tony Stafford and Annie Stafford, great long jumpers and sprinters, are two more athletes who won a lot of national titles.
Conor Wilson, now working for Athletics Ireland, was another great athlete as a juvenile.
Norman Stephenson, a former international triple jumper, was another stalwart in the National League team over the years.
Kevin Cogley and Shane McCormack are well known throughout Ireland for their coaching ability but also did the business when they competed, as did Alan Mahoney.
The current crop of athletes are finding it hard to train and stay motivated with the Covid restrictions. Most of them have not competed for over a year. Club coaches are always in contact with them setting up Zoom sessions etc.
These athletes now are hoping to take the club forward over the next few years and are every bit as talented as those that went before them.
April Keeling, Ailbhe White, Ruby Reynolds, Eimear Halpin, Adam Leahy, Anoushka Nolan, Liadh Dwyer, Grace White, Ciara Dolan, Trini Jurisoo, Nathan Murphy, Liam Berry, Morgan Haydon, Brooklyn Meyler-Smith, Ciara Enright and Róisín O’Reilly are just a sample of the very talented athletes who are the future of Menapians AC.
The coaching structure within the club has always been very good, but improvements are always sought across all the events.
The club cannot operate without the help of the coaches and committee. Helen Sinnott organises the annual club road race and teams up with Siobhán Doyle to arrange many fundraisers.
Pádraig Kelly does Trojan work on behalf of the club and keeps everybody on their toes along with Micheál Kinsella, the Treasurer.
Menapians are also lucky to have people like Catherine Hartigan, Steve Wilson, Maggie Malone, Mick McKeon and Pádraig Kelly who selflessly act as officials at provincial and national meets.
Menapians AC still doesn’t have a venue they can call their own, but this has not stopped them competing at local, national and international levels.
These are just a few highlights from the past 20 years. It is not possible to print everything their great athletes have achieved, but the club hopes to have a celebration night later on in the year.
They also want to say thanks to the media, sponsors, athletes, coaches and parents who have supported the club since its inception.