Sympathies to the Fouhy and Buckley families
Watergrasshill GAA Club wish to extend our sincere condolences to Sheila, Jenni, Catherine, Arlene and the wider Fouhy and Buckley families on the untimely passing of Pat. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dílis.
REELING IN THE YEAR 2021
The eighth instalment of our Reeling In the Year feature brings us back to August 2021.
Unfortunately, August 2021 saw us lose another prominent member of our community. Bernard Burke passed away unexpectedly on August 10th, 2021. Bernard was originally from Ballylooby, Co Tipperary but was woven into the fabric of Watergrasshill for many years. Bernard was involved with Over The Hill cycling club and could also be found on many a GAA sideline supporting not just his son Donagh, who is a member of our U17 and U18 panels but indeed was an avid supporter of hurling, football and camogie across the parish. We remember Maureen Jade, Hazel and Donagh in our thoughts and prayers. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.
August brought yet more silverware to Watergrasshill with Brendan Lehane and Mick O’Driscoll winning both Munster and All-Ireland honours with the Cork minor team. Swiftly followed by Seán Desmond and Dáire O’Leary bagging All-Ireland U20 honours defeating Galway in the final in Semple Stadium. 6 All-Ireland medals in 6 weeks is an amazing achievement for the parish, which everyone involved with club and indeed across the parish take great pride in. And of course we congratulate their families and are so proud of these young men who wear the red and white both of Watergrasshill and Cork with pride.
On the club scene, centre-stage were the U15 Féile team. Féile is a national celebration of our games and over the years we’ve forged great links with clubs from Belfast to Galway and West Meath however 2021 was a more local affair with local teams playing in qualifiers before moving into a knockout for national games later in the year. Usually run at U14 age, a change for 2021 meant that the U15 group got their day in the sun having missed out in 2020 due to Covid. Their first game was against Aghabullogue and the Hill won on a scoreline of 3-05 to 2-01. The second game was against Mayfield and the Hill won this game 3-06 to 0-04. The third game was against Erins Own and the Hill lost this game 1-05 to 0-02.
The combination of games resulted in 3 of the 4 teams in our section finish with 2 wins each, so the rules stated that the team that conceded the least over their 3 games would determine the winner. Watergrasshill had conceded the least and were declared the winners of our side of the competition.
Crosshaven won the other half of the competition and the Hill played them in the quarter final. The Hill started strongly and held the advantage for most of the game and won the Féile quarter final on a scoreline of 4-10 to 0-07. The lads eventually went on to defeat Erin’s Own in the East Cork semi-final 3-9 to 0-6. Unfortunately, the boys lost out to St Colman’s in the final but this group had a tremendous 2021 and there are brighter days ahead for sure.
Squad: Fionn Fitzgerald, Ciaran Linehan, Darragh O Bric, Donnacha Forde, Conor O’Mahony, Darragh Collins, Ethan Bowman, Coran O’Neill, Bobby Kelleher, Cathal O’Brien, Dean Field, Ryan Loftus, Mike O’Riordan, Luke Doran-Good, Shane O’Callaghan, Leon O Sé, Cathal Sheehan, Billy Ryan, Richard Kelleher, Eoghan Forde, Darragh O’Neill, Donnacha O’Leary, Jack Counihan and David Barry.
Coaches: Darragh O’Callaghan, Ger O’Brien, Martin O’Riordan and Derek Casey. Thanks to Michael Bowman (Covid officer and substitutes co-ordinator) and Dermot O’Mahony for their help on the day as well as those who did umpire and sideline duty for us.
A shout-out too to the girls from Watergrasshill who won their Féile competition played-off in glorious sunshine in Cloyne - the girls literally took centre-stage when they brought the cup back to Watergrasshill, when they were presented on stage as part of the “Picnic In The Priory” event, run by the Priory Court residents association - well done girls.
Cúl Camp also made a welcome return in August. Running from 16th to 20th August. Thankfully, the weather held out and a fantastic week was had by all. As the curtain came down on a great week, visits by Cork Senior player Niall O’Leary, Cork U20’s Dáire O’Leary, Sean Desmond and Diarmuid Kearney as well as Cork minors players Brendan Lehane and Micheal O’Driscoll along with Adam Rooney from Carrigtwohill made the week extra special. Special mention to all the volunteers who gave their time to make the camp such a success.
On the field, there were also league wins for the U15, U13 and U12 teams. Our U10 team also hosted Sars and Carrig Na bhFear in blitz in the hill, whilst our U9s headed to Cobh to play Aghada and Cobh. All in all a much welcomed busy August. A month where the sadness of loss was matched with the joy of games, the thrill of victory and the pain of defeat.
LOTTO
There was no winner of the lotto jackpot this week. Numbers drawn were 6, 26, 27, and 32. Lucky dip winners are Nora Reidy, Oliver Manley, Brian O’Leary and Nataile Sarts. Congrats to you all. Next week’s jackpot is a fantastic €11,700 and draw will take place Monday, February 7. Tickets are on sale in some of the village businesses like The Hut Bar, The Fir Tree, Johnny’s Shop and our new Lotto stand in Ross’s Centra. Tickets can also be purchased online via our club website. The club would like to take this opportunity to thank all our members and supporters of the Watergrasshill GAA Club lotto. The lotto is a vital source of income for the running of all our teams within the club and for future development of our facilities, so we ask you to please support it if you are in a position to do so. Remember, if you’re not in you can’t win.
PITCH SIGNAGE
As we enter a new decade, we do so with great optimism and excitement here at Watergrasshill GAA Club. Later this decade we will celebrate our centenary year, which will be a special milestone. While it’s important to celebrate the past and the history of the club, it’s also important we look forward to the future. With this in mind, the club will shortly be undertaking a development project, to prepare the club for the future and further position ourselves at the centre of our community. Part of this project will be the development of our existing club grounds. To that end we will endeavour to raise a revenue stream from advertising, while giving businesses the opportunity to advertise their services and reach a wider audience within our community.
With the playing numbers on the increase our facility will be a busy spot over the coming years, and we would love to have your name and business positioned in the hearts and minds of all those who visit on a weekly basis. We are offering advertising space via pitch signage, 3000mm wide x 750mm high. These are a 5-year gloss laminate, flash mounted to 0.2mm skin diabond sign. If you would be interested in this opportunity to advertise and support our club, please contact Claire O’Leary on 087-6239297 or any member of the club who can provide assistance.
REBELS’ BOUNTY DRAW
Support from across the parish and beyond has been fantastic and we’ve now surpassed our minimum target, meaning that proceeds from every ticket sold go directly back into our community. We’ve also now set up an internal monthly draw for a €50 prize for all Rebel’s Bounty ticket holders giving 31 chances to win per month, that’s 372 prizes over the 12 monthly draws.
The Rebels Bounty draw is an initiative of “One Cork” to give clubs a significant opportunity to raise funds. Proceeds from every ticket sold above minimum targets go directly to our clubs in Watergrasshill and Glenville. We had a fantastic response in 2021 and tickets are now up for renewal. We are asking all members and supporters to renew again this year and support this very important fundraised for both clubs. The 2022 prize fund is over €500,000 with 30 chances to win every month. Entries can be made online or through any club member. If you need any assistance, feel free to contact Brian or Paud or please email rebelsbounty@gaa.ie or hillglenvillerebelsbounty@gmail.com. Your support is greatly appreciated with much needed funds going directly into supporting your club and your community, míle buiochas duitse go léir.
CLUB SHOP
We have partnered with O’Neill’s sportwear to provide an online shop for all of our club merchandise and training apparel. Club crested clothing is available to buy, from shorts to jerseys to training tops and tracksuit bottoms, for adults and juveniles in various sizes.