Junior Bs Win League Blarney 2-14 Ballincollig 3-6. 
Our Junior B hurlers finished the year on a high picking up the Muskerry Junior B Hurling League title in Ovens this afternoon. Blarney got off to a great start with corner forward Donal O’Leary finding the top corner of the net a few minutes into the game. Soon after O’Leary added a point which gave the team a solid foundation early in the game. The pitch conditions were heavy and Ballincollig fought hard for every ball making the game a real battle. Robert White and Damien Hyde worked hard in the middle of the field with Shane O’Keeffe supplying quality ball to the full forward line. Colm Sheehan popped over a few frees in the opening half with Niall Hayes scoring four from play during the 60 minutes. Ballincollig scored two goals in quick succession 20 minutes into the game leaving the green and white just one point behind. However the real turning point in the game occurred soon after, with the Ballincollig corner forward seeing red for grabbing Daniel O’Donovans face guard. Blarney went in three points up at the break. Mark Phelan was the extra man playing in front of the full back line and showed his skill reading the game to lead from the back. Early in the second half, Blarney had more possession but did not make it count on the scoreboard. Ten minutes in, Shane O’Keeffe was moved in full forward and soon found the net with great strike following a great build up play among the forwards. Both sides exchanged points before Ballincollig scored their third goal leaving only a margin of 3 points between the sides. However strong team work ethic followed by points from Sheehan and Hyde at the end ensured Blarney brought the cup home. Blarney deserved their win and this win will give the team confidence to drive on again in 2016. Shane Jordan, Mark Phelan, Daniel O’Donovan, Michael McNamara, Alex Dineen, Cian O’Mahony, Padraig Conway, Robert White, Damien Hyde, Shane O’Keffee, Colm Sheehan, Niall Hayes, Donal O’Leary, Brian Jordan, Patrick Doyle. Cian Sexton for Brian Jordan, Edward Hurley for Donal O’Leary, Stephen West for Patrick Doyle, Paul O’Donovan for Michael McNamara, Bryan O’Connor for Niall Hayes. Car Boot Sales Return Next Year Many thanks to all volunteers, traders and customers who attended our last Car Boot Sale of the year. It was a wet bank holiday Monday but everyone present were still in good spirits.
Our Car Boot Sales will return again in 2016. Thanks for all your support with this year’s car boot sales.
Annual General Meeting The Blarney GAA AGM will take place on Sunday 22 of November at 3pm in the clubhouse. All members are strongly encouraged to attend.
Cian O’Mahony – What the club means to me.
“My earliest GAA memory is from when I was about 4 years old and my grandfather took me to get my first hurley. My grandfather was a proud Limerick hurling man and he had convinced me that I had the greatest hurley that was ever made. The hurley lasted a good couple of years and it was with this stick that I made my first forays with Blarney GAA. Ann Holland and Pauline Hegarty used to train the under 8’s on a Saturday morning at the time. I suppose that they were the precursor to the club beag that we have today. They taught us the basics and did a great job given that a lot of the team that won the minor county in 1997 would have started under their tutelage. The club has given me many happy memories from the under 8’s right up to playing with the adult teams. I never quite made it to Intermediate level but have had plenty of great days soldiering on with the Junior A’s and Junior B’s. I have made some great friendships through playing with Blarney. There are many people that I would never have met had it not been for the club. I didn’t play for a couple of years when I was living up in Dublin but I started again when I returned to Cork. I would really encourage anyone who used to play when they were younger, but for whatever reason stopped playing, to return to the club and start again. It is a decision that I am very happy that I made. It is hard to beat the feeling of satisfaction you get be it from a training session or a match. The underlying strength of the club comes down to the people that give their time and effort in all the different aspects of what makes a successful club. Training and mentoring teams are the bread and butter of the club and Blarney has a lot of great people driving it on – from Niall Hayes and co. in the Club Beag all the way through to Mick O’Mahony and his team with the Intermediate hurlers. There is also all the “behind the scenes” work that isn’t seen – from our club delegates through to the organisation and running of car boot sales. Every effort comes together to make the club work as well as it does and I have huge respect for everyone involved. My time playing with the club is nearly at an end but I’m looking forward to getting involved in coaching and seeing my own children wear the red and white of Blarney in the future.”
U11s Win League
Congratulations to our Fe11 hurlers who defeated Ballinora in the league final on the 15th of October last in Ballincollig. A great win to finish off a fantastic year of hurling and football for the team. Well done lads & to all who helped out in the background this year. The future looks bright.
Cork GAA Club Draw Many thanks to all who subscribed to this years draw. Your continued support is greatly appreciated. The September and October draws took place on Friday last, unfortunately no Blarney winners. You can still enter online www.corkgaadraw.ie and view the prizes on offer for the coming months.
Success In Grant Application We were delighted to hear Blarney GAA have been allocated a grant of €110,000 in Sports Capital Programme announced last month. The Programme aims to foster an integrated and planned approach to developing sports and physical recreation facilities throughout the country. Blarney GAA submitted an application for the construction of an astro turf facility on club grounds. As a progressive club, we have up to 500 members of all ages to cater for. An Astro turf is one of our strategic goals and we are delighted with this funding. Huge thanks to all who contributed in putting our application together. This funding will enable the club to continue to build on and off the field. Other facility developments that have already been completed over recent years include; The upgrading of our main pitch, which is now one of the top pitches in Cork. A top class second pitch, a ball wall, a gym which is up and running for nearly 12 months now and a gym instructor who is available to all teams within the club. We are very grateful to all members, club sponsors and to those in the community of Blarney for the continued support on and off the field.
Dónal Ahern Memorial 5km Run/Walk The Dónal Ahern Memorial 5km Run/Walk is on Saturday the 28th of November in aid of Build4Life/Cystic Fibrosis (CF). Online registration will open in the coming days and people can also register on the morning of the run at the Blarney GAA Clubhouse from 9.00 a.m. – 10.30 a.m. Race numbers will be distributed here on the morning of the race. The proceeds of this year’s event will go towards the development of a much needed inpatient unit for children with CF in Cork University Hospital. We encourage everyone to support this great cause in memory of Donal, who was an active member of Blarney GAA club before he lost his battle with Cystic Fibrosis.
What Blarney players played with Cork Minors? 2015 – Both Mark Coleman and Conor McCarthy lined out for the minor hurlers. Conor was not involved for their first game when they beat Limerick in Páirc Uí Rinn. Limerick won their qualifying game to meet Cork again, which they won in the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Conor lined out at corner back and Mark had a man of the match performance at mid field. 2012 – Barra O’Connell played a starring role at centre field for the minor hurlers that year, and were unlucky to lose out to Limerick. Barra was also on the panel the previous year. 2006 – Joe Jordan became the second Blarney man to play at centre back for the minor hurlers and picked up a Munster medal that year. They lost to Galway in the All Ireland series. 2004 – Mark McCarthy one of the most versatile players ever, Mark played at corner back on the minor team winning a Munster title, but Cork lost out in the Semi-final to a Galway team that included Joe Canning. 2002 – Darragh McSweeney played at corner back, lost to Tipp in the Munster final and were beaten by Galway in the All Ireland series. 1989 & 1990 – Brian Sheehan had the most illustrious minor career being a dual player with the county teams. Brian first played with the hurlers in 1989 but were defeated by Clare in the first round at Killmallock, a team that included many of the famous players who went on the win 2 All-Irelands in 1995 and 97. In 1990 Brian played at wing back and won a Munster medal. In the All-Ireland final Cork drew with Kilkenny, this was the Curtin raiser to the 1st part of the famous double of 1990. Unfortunately Kilkenny got the better of Cork in the replayed final in Thurles. Also that year Brian played with the Cork Minor footballers, and were beaten by Kerry in the Munster final. 1973 – Denis Harrington (station road) was a panel member of the minor football team that year and won a Munster medal. Cork lost out to Tyrone in the All-Ireland Semi-final. 1970 – David O Brien played in goal and won a Munster medal beating a very good Tipperary team by a single point, this win was achieved through the scoring exploits of Séance O Leary and the marvellous saves that Dave made that day to keep Tipp at bay. Dave reproduced all his excellent goalkeeping skills in the All-Ireland final that day in the hallowed ground of Croke Park and keeping a clean sheet in the process. Earlier that year in 1970 Dave along with 4 other Blarney players Kieran O Connor, Donal Buckley, Harry Kennedy and Joe O Donovan won the Hearty Cup and the All-Ireland college’s titles with the North Mon. not bad going to win 2 All Irelands in one year. 1965 – Jim Coakley played in the half forward line against Limerick and Cork were narrowly defeated by a Limerick team that included many stars of the 1973 team that won the senior all –Ireland. 1964 – This was the first time that Blarney had 2 players on the minor panel, Denis Hurley (groves, and granduncle of Colin Murphy) who played at centre back and John Mitchell (brother of Bernie and Jackie) sub goalie on the team that went on to win both the Munster and All-Ireland titles. John Mitchell went on to win an under 21 All-Ireland hurling medal and a county with U.C.C. 1941 – Tom Ahern won Munster and All-Ireland minor medals. Tom only resided in Blarney for a short time before moving to Dublin. 1937 – John P. Creedon (father of Niall and Sean) won both a Munster and All-Ireland medal playing in the half back line. This was the first year that Christy Ring played for a Cork team. 1928 – Denis Lynch (father of current executive member Martin) lining out at full forward won a Munster and all-Ireland minor medal with Cork that year which was the first year that the minor championship was played. Another member of that team was Joe Lee from Glen Rovers and who was Peter Philpott’s grandfather.