Tipperary GAA Scene

Sport

BY COUNTY PRO GER RYAN


SENIOR HURLING AND U21 CHALLENGE GAMES

On Friday next, May 17 Tipperary will play Waterford in a senior hurling challenge game in Davin Park, Carrick-on-Suir as part of a series of events in May and June to commemorate GAA founder and first President, Maurice Davin. The senior game is at 7.30pm and will be preceded by an under 21 hurling game also between Tipperary v Waterford at 6pm. As the championship season for both under 21s and seniors draws close both these games should be entertaining contests.  Admission is €10 and €5 for students and senior citizens with id. Juveniles are free. No county board annual passes can be used to gain entry. We would ask supporters to come early.


SKODA SPONSOR OPEN NIGHT

Thanks to Ryan Motor Power Skoda dealers for sponsoring the Tipperary senior hurling and football open weekend at their premises in Clonmel last weekend. Thanks are also due to Tipp FM for broadcasting their Friday evening sports show from Ryan Motor Power. We hope the supporters who turned up enjoyed meeting some of their sporting heroes and we are grateful to all the players who were present despite a busy weekend of games and training.


COUNTY UNDER 21 HURLING PANEL

The county under 21 hurling panel for 2013 is as follows: Niall O’Meara (Kilruane MacDonaghs (Captain), Jimmy Maher (Clonoulty Rossmore), Dara Mooney (Éíre Óg Annacarty Donohill), Justin Cahill (Kilruane MacDonaghs), Cathal Barrett (Holycross Ballycahill), John Meagher (Loughmore Castleiney), Andrew Ryan (Toomevara), Conor Hammersley (Clonoulty Rossmore), John McGrath (Loughmore Castleiney), Aidan McCormack (Thurles Sarsfields), Brian Stapleton (Templederry Kenyons), Michael O'Brien (Thurles Sarsfields), Dara Quinn (Burgess), Tadhg Gallagher (Kildangan), Thomas Cleary (Kilruane MacDonaghs), Stephen Cahill (Thurles Sarsfields), Bill Maher (Kilsheelan Kilcash), Jason Forde (Silvermines), John O'Dwyer (Killenaule), Tommy Heffernan (Nenagh Éire Óg), Liam McGrath (Loughmore Castleiney), Seamus Kennedy (St. Marys, Clonmel), Eoin Fennelly (Mullinahone), Tomás Hamill (Killea), Michael Breen (Ballina), Conor Kenny (Borris-Ileigh). Tipperary will play Limerick in the Bord Gais Energy Munster Under 21 hurling championship on Friday May 31 at Semple Stadium.


LAUNCH OF MUNSTER CHAMPIONSHIPS

The 2013 Munster GAA Football and Hurling Championships were officially launched at the Mallow GAA Complex in Cork on Monday last. Jamesie O’Connor of Clare was the guest speaker. All 11 competing teams were represented at the event by a player and a member of their management team. Tipperary was represented by Michael Ryan (SH Assistant Manager) and Shane McGrath (SH Captain) and by Peter Creedon (SF Manager) and Paddy Codd (SF Captain). The Munster GAA Football Championship gets underway on Saturday week, May 25, with the meeting of reigning provincial champions Cork and Limerick at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. The hurling equivalent starts a week later, on June 2, when Clare and Waterford clash at Semple Stadium, Thurles.

The Munster GAA Football Championship 2013 Fixtures are: May 25: Limerick v Cork, Gaelic Grounds, Limerick, 7pm; May 26: Kerry v Tipperary, Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney, 2pm; June 1: Waterford v Kerry/Tipperary, TBC, 7pm; June 16: Clare v Limerick/Cork, Cusack Park, Ennis, 3.30pm; July 7: Munster Football Final, TBC, 2pm.

The Munster GAA Hurling Championship 2013 Fixtures are: June 2: Clare v Waterford, Semple Stadium, Thurles, 4pm; June 9: Limerick v Tipperary, Gaelic Grounds, Limerick, 4pm; June 23: Cork v Clare/Waterford, TBC, 4pm; July 14: Munster Hurling Final, TBC, 4pm.

Well done to Munster PRO, Ed Donnelly on organising the launch. Full details of all Munster championship fixtures at all grades can be found on www.munster.gaa.ie. Also go to www.tickets.ie to purchase tickets for Munster championship games.


THE TIPPERARY ASSOCIATION DUBLIN AWARDS DINNER

The annual Tipperary Association Dublin Awards Dinner and Function will take place on Saturday May 25 2013 in the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel, Newlands Cross, Naas Road, Dublin 22. Complimentary pre-dinner drinks will be served from 7pm. The main award winners this year are: Tipperary Person of the Year 2012: Martin Quinn and Hall of Fame 2012: Mickey “Rattler” Byrne. Tickets, priced at €40 each, must be booked and paid for in advance to: Pat Ryan, 11 Foxfield Grove, Raheny, Dublin 5. (Mobile: 087 6376663). Cheques/drafts payable to Tipperary Association Dublin. Closing date: Monday 20 May 2013. The combination of Martin Quinn as Person of the Year and Mickey “The Rattler” Byrne as Hall of Fame has created great excitement both in the county and in Dublin. The function on the May 25 promises to be a great night. Come along and support the very deserving 2012 winners.  A limited number of rooms have been reserved in the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel at the special B & B rate of €35.00 per person sharing - €70.00 for double/twin. Anyone wishing to book a room should contact Liam Myles, President of the Tipperary Association Dublin (Mob.: 087 2866018 or email: liammyles1@yahoo.ie) before the 20 May 2013.


JAMES HOLOHAN PERPETUAL CUP

James Holohan that great stalwart of the G.A.A from the Kilsheelan Kilcash GAA Club who passed to his eternal reward in March 2012 was specially remembered on Friday evening last with the presentation of a cup in his memory to Tipperary County Board. The ceremony took place in Ryan Motor Power Skoda dealers on the occasion of the open night with the County hurlers and footballers. Terry Cunningham, Chairman of Killurney Sports and Social Club, of which James was a former Chairman presented the cup to Michael Bourke Vice Chairman of the County Board and Chairman of the Competitions Control Committee. The club had presented the cup to the Kilsheelan Kilcash Club who decided that James memory would be best honoured by having the cup played for in the new County senior hurling challenge cups competition. Present for the ceremony with the County Board officers and Kilsheelan Kilcash club members were James’s wife Bridget, sisters Vera, Kathleen, Sheila and his brother Eddie, family and friends and members of Killurney Sports and Social Club. Thanks are due to all those associated with the presentation of this cup in memory of James.


BRENDAN CUMMINS ON KEEPGING GOING FOR 19 SEASONS

As part of a new 6 part series of interviews on player welfare, GAA.ie spoke to long-serving Tipperary goalkeeper Brendan Cummins about what it takes to make it to the top of the inter-county game and to stay there for 19 consecutive championship seasons. See the GAA news and videos section of the GAA.ie website for the full interview.


SPORTS WRITER WORKSHOP SET FOR DOOLIN WRITERS WEEKEND

Do you have aspirations of being a published Sports Writer? Do you fancy yourself as a young Con Houlihan? Have you ever thought of putting pen to paper and writing your own Sports book? If yes to any of these, then you need to come along to Doolin on the May 25 for the Sports Writing Workshop as part of the inaugural Doolin Writers’ Weekend in County Clare. Featuring Tipperary’s most renowned GAA writer, Seamus J. King (A History of Hurling, 1996, Gill & MacMillan plus many other publications), Sports writer Trevor Keane (Running through Walls, 2012, DB Publishing) and Sports photographer John Garrett (Be Inspired, Images & Stories of Limerick Leaders, 2012) the 3 hour workshop is aimed to give up-&-coming writers the tools they need to get their sports book from an idea on a notepad to a bookstore shelf. All three authors will share their experiences and will give aspiring writers the inside track on getting published. This workshop aims to build on the experience garnered from 20 successfully published books and will cover top tips for structuring your book, getting your ideas on paper, sourcing a publisher and promoting your book once it’s hit the book shelves. The Weekend promises to be a literary feast with something for everybody including features workshops, lectures and readings by some of Ireland’s leading writers, intermixed with live traditional Irish music sessions in the North Clare hotel. Details regarding ticketed Doolin Writer’s Weekend events are available from www.doolinwritersweekend.com. Please contact Hotel Doolin at 065-7074111 or info@hoteldoolin.ie to book any of the events or workshops