Cuan Ríthe club, Ballyclough, pulling for Ireland
The Cuan Ríthe (Harbour Kings) club recently added to their growing list of accolades, the Sid Doherty Memorial Trophy won at the Scottish Tug-O-War Association’s Dundee International event
A Ballyclough (Mallow) based indoor tug-o-war club is making a name for itself winning indoor competitions both on the domestic front and at international level.
The Cuan Ríthe (Harbour Kings) club recently added to their growing list of accolades, the Sid Doherty Memorial Trophy won at the Scottish Tug- O-War Association’s Dundee International event, with their team of Frank Dwane, Paudie O’Sullivan, Martin Hogan and Ronan Casey.
The club’s eight strong team compete at indoor tug-o-war events all over Ireland north and south, as well as in international competitions where ever the indoor sport is popular in the world.
Last November they competed and won the All-Ireland 680kg weight category competition, which was held in Newcastlewest, Co. Limerick. In Cavan they contested the 640kgs category, and in Clonmanny in Co. Donegal they were in the 600kgs category winning a bronze medal. They also took the Andrew O’Malley Cup competing in Leitrim at the 68okgs weight.
The team’s Ronan Casey, who hails from Cahir, Co. Tipperary won a gold medal at the World Championships which were held in China last year, while his clubmate Paul Hogan won the 560kg weight section.
“We could be pulling at any weight from 560kgs to 720kgs, and in between at 600kgs, 640kgs or 680kgs,” explained Ronan. The club which has thirteen members started off pulling in the open air at carnivals and other events around the country for a period of ten years, before opting to move indoors to contest to compete on the indoor circuit some five years ago.
“Since then we have concentrated our pulling on the indoor tug-o-war circuit. This is done on a specialised rubber strip about two feet wide and demands a high degree of skill and accuracy to ensure an even and co-ordinated pull by the eight team members.
“The success rate of the Cuan Ríthe Club from Ballyclough in Ireland and at international level is an indication of the skill levels they have reached in the sport, which continues to grow in popularity around the country. The other members of the squad are Michael Hartnett Sean Hounahan, Con Buckley, Michael Sheehan, Dave Collins, Alan Collins, John O’Malley and Stephen Keating.
Among the members of the Cuan Ríthe Club are Martin and Paul Hogan, whose names may be familiar to readers as the father and son, who competed along with mother Louise and stepson Dylan on the RTE One Television series Ireland’s Fittest Family last season.
The north Cork family was coached by fellow north Corkonian Anna Geary, and reached the final of the series coming home in fourth position. Martin showed his fantastic resilience when he won the ‘Hang Tough’ section, when, suspended from a beam 25 metres above the water, holding on for a record seven minutes and forty seconds.
Martin, a native to Tipperary, who now lives with his family near Buttevant, has been a member of the tugo-war club along with his son Paul for the past ten years.
They are presently building up to compete in the European championships that will be held in Mayo next September and the world championships which are on in 2020 in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal.
The club is financed through sponsorship and through their own fundraising events.
The club would like to express sincere thanks to the other fellow members, Frank Dwane, Cahir, Paudie O’Sullivan, Rockchapel, Martin and Paul Hogan, Ballyclough, and the management of JMR Tiles Mallow, for affording the team training facilities on their premises.
The club is wished continued success in their endeavours to garner further national and international honours for Ireland in the sport.