Golden generation laid foundations for Blarney camogie
Diarmuid Sheehan Blarney camogie club has always been progressive going back to its founding in the sixties
LARNEY Camogie Club is, like clubs all over the country, stuck between a rock and a hard place right now. Plenty members looking to play the games they love locked out of their second homes as the COVID-19 emergency continues to play havoc with the world.
The girls of Blarney had been looking to 2020 as yet another year of growth however the shutdown put an end to all that and now their fields around the Muskerry club are silent – for how long who knows.
Club chairperson Ann Coleman knows exactly why everyone is frustrated right now but she still supports the measures that have been taken to stop the spread of the virus.
“We have about 200 members now from starters all the way up to adults. We try to field teams at all grades with one adult side. The plan was that next-year we would get that up to two adult sides but for now we just all have to wait and see.
“The club is definitely on an upward curve and we have been seeing the numbers increase year on year for quite a while now. The club provides a vibrant and positive environment for young girls to come into and all love the game of camogie.
“All at the club are very positive about the future and the hope was that we would be able to amalgamate and make it the Blarney Hurling, Football and Camogie Club going forward. That would help us in the area of fundraising as well as making sure that all the members of the club feel part of the club. We have some wonderful facilities here in Blarney and it is great that all the players can have access to those.”
Coleman knows well the challenges that face the club going forward but is hopeful that after the shutdown that players will flood back to camogie.
“We had a strong membership signed up for this year before the shutdown and I am hoping that when we get going again that all those, and perhaps more, will look to get out and get active. All the members I meet can’t wait to get back to it so we are all hoping that will happen soon however right now it is hard to imagine any change in the near future.
“For us the key is to keep the young ones interested. Particularly the girls going from sixth class to secondary school – that is where we need to keep them involved. We will continue to give kids the help they need and I am positive the club will come out of this stronger than it went into it.”
While Ann looks to the future of the game, history will always play its part in a club like Blarney as GAA clubs are steeped in the past. There is nothing a GAA club likes more than celebrating the achievements of past teams because history is key to what GAA clubs are all about. Sporting clubs up and down the county have treasured moments from their past that bring the young and the not so young together to honour the heroes of the past.
Just over 50 years ago, Blarney Camogie Club celebrated one of its most famous days and, while half a century has passed since that glorious day, the detail of what was achieved has remained as clear in the heads of those that participated as if it were only yesterday.
Recently Blarney Camogie Club’s most successful ever panel came together to celebrate the anniversary of the clubs greatest period and all involved were proud to be associated with the club achieved.
Blarney Camogie Club was founded by a Fr Tom Browne back in 1964 and soon joined the ranks of the Cork County Junior grade.
As was the way at the time, getting young girls involved in sport proved a challenge to the club, but right from the off Blarney were in a position to field a team and the story of one of Cork’s oldest camogie clubs began.
One year after the club’s first game a hugely talented set of players made it all the way to the runners up spot in the junior county league. Progression continued as the club went a step further the following year taking the top prize in the county League with players of the quality of Pauline and Mary Humphreys, Marie Mackey, Mary Doherty and Mary Heelan all doing their best to bring honours to the young club.
Twelve months later Blarney made a significant leap forward with their first County Championship win they also retained their league title – their first significant double. 1968 saw the club secure their first ever promotion, to intermediate, and right from the off success came their way with the county league title heading back to Blarney.
1969 was another huge year for the club as they collected their second league title on the bounce (their fourth league in-a-row) before claiming the Intermediate County Championship crown later in the year elevating the club to that of two grade champions.
Far from being one hit wonders, Blarney was enjoying their golden generation and made the most of all the talent they had at their disposal with four of the next four intermediate league titles (1970, 72, 73 and 74).
Titles dried up for a period before the club eventually had to close its doors as numbers failed to materialise and teams became difficult to field but there was to be a second chapter to the story of this club – a story that keeps delivering to this day.
After over 20 years without an organised club, Blarney Camogie Club rose again from the
1969 was another huge year for the club as they collected their second league title and a County crown
ashes in 1999 and from that day to this the club has continued to thrive. After reforming the club competed at junior and bagged the county title in 2019, all of 50 years after the club’s most historic day – that 1969 Intermediate crown.
Between 2018 and 2019 the club has managed to get three players onto All Ireland winning Cork minor teams with Olivia Murphy and Orla Cremen making the grade in 18 with Cremen again doing the deed in 19, this time joined by Jennifer Murphy.
The club also brought through three girls to play for the Rebel county at Under 14 last year with Katie Kelleher, Niamh Power and Amy Bannon all getting their reward for impressive displays over the previous year or more.
From a club that was out on its feet in the latter part of the last century, Blarney Camogie Club was able to boast over 100 members at Under 12 alone last year which all bodes well for the future of this spirited and progressive beacon of light for young girls interested in sport in the mid-Cork area.
Blarney Camogie Club may have taken a two decade hiatus but now, after celebrating 21 years back in the fold, the club is looking to the future and looking to make many more good days ahead to keep all in the locality involved in what is a genuine good news story in the Blarney area.
Celebrating the successes of the past is a sure fire way of making sure that the current wearers of the Blarney colours know what it is like to be part of something bigger than the individual and know what it is like to be remembered for achieving something that has never been done before.
Blarney Camogie Club currently has a host of young stars of the future making their own history right now and with time on their side they are sure to bag themselves many special memories, but for now the players listed below will take their time to remember and celebrate what it was like to be part of Blarney’s greatest ever camogie side.
Pictured at reunion of the famous 1969 Intermediate Camogie Champions was Marie Crowley Mulcahy, Kathleen Doherty Conway, Kathleen Hurley Ward, Mary Cronin O’Leary, Mary Humphrys O’Connell, Cora Humphrys, Celeste Mulcahy Foley, Betty Burke White, Anna Gaffey Lane, Nuala Kiely O’Brien, Angela Gaffey Dooling, Pauline Humphrys Hegarty, Mary Heelan Casey and Eileen Spillane O’Sullivan.