Car Boot Sale. Our club car boot sales are a fixture of Bank Holiday Mondays in Blarney. Traders, buyers and a variety of colourful characters congregate at the club grounds for the car boot sale, and it’s always a fun occasion with plenty of bargains to be had. The next car boot sale takes place on October 30th. See blarneygaa.ie for more.
Club na nÓg. Our U6 hurlers played their first ever hurling blitzes in September when they took on Eire Óg and Brian Dillons. The boys had two great days and showed off their skills in front of their parents and mentors. Blarney fielded two teams at the blitzes and it was clear that the boys are making great progress. The future’s bright! The U7s and U10s were also in action on home turf on the 10th of September, with the latter taking on Killavullen. The U9 team were in hurling and football action this month. In hurling the lads played Nemo Rangers on Saturday the 23rd in Blarney. Great skills were displayed by both sides with some tremendous scores taken. Many thanks to Nemo for the games. This is a great group of 25 hurlers who are constantly learning and improving. They’ve shown a really positive attitude all year and will no doubt do well in the finals. The footballers played in the last blitz of the year in St Finbarr’s on Saturday the 30th. In wet and windy conditions, the lads took on St. Finbarr’s, Mallow and Carrigtwohill. The boys showed great skill and determination, and took some great scores. The U11s had a great end to a busy season as they won their end of season league finals in Clonakilty on the 30th. The first team beat neighbours Inniscarra in the semi-final in what turned out to be a cracker of a game. They then progressed to the final and beat St. Michaels. The second team were beaten in their semi-final but also put in a great performance winning their 3rd place final. Well done to all the players and coaches across Club na nÓg. It’s been a great year!
U14 hurlers. On Saturday afternoon the U14s were successful in the semi-final of the hurling league, defeating Cobh in Blarney on a scoreline of 5-10 to 0-12.
Camogie. The Blarney Camogie Junior C team had a busy month, reaching the county final after defeating Kinsale in the semi-final. The girls took on Millstreet in the county final on Friday the 29th in Ovens. Despite a brave effort, they fell just short and were defeated by 4-15 to 5-8. Nevertheless, it’s been a very positive year for camogie in Blarney.
Parish Hurling Leagues. On Saturday 16th September 2017 Blarney GAA hosted their annual hurling parish leagues finals for boys aged 7 to 10 years of age. This was a very successful year for the Club na nÓg in Blarney GAA who had 108 boys participate in four highly competitive and fun games of hurling. In the U7’s/U8’s group the winners were Team Clare and in the U9’s/U10’s group the winners were Team Munster. In attendance on the day to present the children with their medals goodie bags and trophies were Cork representatives from Blarney GAA, Mark Coleman (Cork Senior & U21 Hurler); Declan Hanlon (Cork Minor and All-Ireland U17 Champion); Conor Power (Cork Minor panelist); and Shane Barrett (Cork All-Ireland U17 champion). The children were also treated to holding the Munster Senior Hurling Cup and the U17 All-Ireland winners’ cup whole posing for photos with Mark Coleman, Declan Hanlon, Shane Barrett and Conor Power. On a day of fun enjoyment and giving to children in Blarney GAA a local business man Paddy O’Leary of Supervalu Blarney presented the chairman of Club na nÓg Niall Hayes, 100 Gaelic footballs for all of the children Under 8 years of age in the club which was very much appreciated by Blarney GAA. Sean O’Riordan a local and very successful coach presented trophies to all of the kids who won in the annual skills competition and well done to the new category winners this year which was the most improved players of the year. Well done to all the children who played in the parish Leagues and the skills competition. It was a great success this year with a tremendously talented group of kids coming through.
Mark Coleman Nominated for Young Hurler of the Year. Blarney’s Mark Coleman has been nominated for the prestigious Young Hurler of the Year award alongside Conor Whelan of Galway and Conor Gleeson of Waterford. It was a fantastic breakthrough season for Mark at senior inter-county level and he’s still involved with the Blarney U12 and UCC senior hurlers in the county championship. Mark has also been exceptionally generous with his time this year, attending numerous club functions particularly at underage level. Everyone at the club would like to congratulate Mark and wish him the very best of luck!
New U8 Kit. Our under 8′s were presented with a fantastic set of jerseys in September. Many thanks to Brian Barry and his company SBM Drylining Ltd for the generous sponsorship of this set of jerseys. It is great to see our future Blarney/Rathpeacon stars looking so well
Room Rental and Parties at Blarney GAA. The club hall, meeting room and astroturf pitches are available to rent. Very competitive rates and wide range of groups catered for. Birthday parties are very welcome! Call Martin O’Shea at 086 4099907 for more.
2017 Club AGM. The 2017 Blarney GAA Annual General Meeting will take place next month, at 7.30pm on October 24th.
Junior B Hurlers Win Muskerry Championship. The Junior B hurlers claimed victory in the Muskerry Championship on Sunday, defeating Cloughduv on a scoreline of 5-10 to 4-11. Conditions weren’t ideal for hurling after the heavy weekend rain but both teams still served up a very entertaining game, watched on by a large crowd. Blarney started strongly and had the the better of the majority of the first half, to lead by 3-5 to 2-5 at half time. Cian Sexton, Colm Sheehan, Rob Morey and Donal O’Leary all weighed in with some fine scores to leave Blarney in the ascendancy. On the resumption a missed Cloughduv free, followed by a Colm Sheehan score saw Blarney 4 points up after 35 minutes. Cloughduv fought back to level the game but Blarney kicked on again, with Cian Sexton and Luke Madden both claiming excellent goals to leave Blarney in control of the game with 15 minutes remaining. To Cloughduv’s credit, they kept plugging away and a scrappy goal brought them back to within 3 points. Blarney stubbornly weathered the storm and saw out the win, to great scenes of celebration. Captain Mark Phelan picked up the cup on behalf of the team. In his victory speech, Mark gave special mention to Frank Downey, Donal O’Donovan, Connie Mahony, Davy O’Brien, Kevin Murphy and all of the very hard-working back-room team who made the win possible. The lads now march on to the county semi-final which will likely take place in mid-October. Blarney: James Mulcahy, Mark Phelan, Dan McSweeney, Colm Kiely, Cian O’Mahony, Padraig Conway, Keith Bradford, Wayne Shine, Conor Foley, Colm Sheehan, Rob Morey, Robbie White, Donal O’Leary, Cian Sexton, Luke Madden. Subs: Shane O’Keeffe, David Sheehan, Shane Spillane, Niall Hayes.
U16 Football Champions. Our U16 footballers claimed the Rebel Óg East B1 football championship on Saturday September 30th, defeating Canovee by 3-15 to 4-8. It was a well-deserved win for a very hard-working and dedicated group of players.
U21 hurlers. Our U21 hurlers fell just short against Blackrock in the opening round of the championship. On a blustery day in Ballincollig the lads battled hard but were pipped at the end on a score line of 1-14 to 1-17.