Éire Óg Greystones
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Weekly Notes - 27th February 2008

Football Accolades

The Annual Dinner dance constituted, among other things, a cornucopia of anecdotes which could - if only memory’s hard disc had the capacity to store them – when related, have filled these notes for many a week. A convenience the notes would have been delighted to have had. Yet, even with its limited storage, memory still holds some reminiscences of the event which remain to be told. Surely you, the reader, are entitled to know the names of our football heroes for 2007. The Intermediate Players’ Player was Stephen “Chester” Kelly and Player of the Year – management’s choice – was Conor Monaghan while for the Juniors, they were Colm Taylor and Brian O’Sullivan, respectively. Stephen who is a dual player was, last year, between county, college and club, a member of seven panels. All that and he passed his exams as well! An undoubted leader, his full-blooded engagement at all times was an inspiration to other members of the team. Conor’s accolade was justly earned as his 2007 performance was the very best of those of the many years he has played with the club.

In presenting their trophies to Colm Taylor and Brian O’Sullivan, manager Philip Smullen was high in his praise of their dedication, commitment and reliability which, he said, had contributed to 2007 being the most successful year for the Junior Bs for quite a number of years. Philip felt that Colm’s injury which had prevented his playing in the second replay against Arklow was the key factor in our not advancing to the semi-finals of the championship.

Trip to Galway

A reminder that the bus leaves 2.00pm this Friday and returns Sunday afternoon. Enquiries to cathaoirleach Gerry Walsh – there may be one or two vacancies.

History

Peter Byrne one of those erstwhile “impecunious teenagers” who founded the Éire Óg juvenile club, and now resident in Castleknock, in a communication to the Guestbook on www.greystonesgaa.com informs us the club’s first footballs were purchased with Green Shield stamps. (What? If you admit to remembering them you are definitely not in the bloom of your youth). Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose (the more things change, the more they remain the same) – Felicity Keane the juvenile Rúnaí was showing me recently the Tesco stamp catalogue from which she had chosen bits and pieces for the academies. Peter also tells us that the players travelled on a scheduled C.I.E. bus to play Éire Óg’s very first game which was against St. Kevin’s (now also a distant memory) in Bray. Further he states that Séamus Whooley was not correct in assuming that the Byrne brothers had no background in Gaelic games. In pre-Éire Óg days they, in common with all the juvenile players in the Greystones area, played in the Green and Gold of Kilcoole and with whom, under the mentorship of the late Ned Coughlan, they won a number of underage championships. Peter and his brother Paddy also represented Wicklow at U-14 and U-16. It was the founders’ desire to see Greystones represented in its own right in district and county competitions and this was their motivation in the setting up of Éire Óg.

Sympathy

Within the past few weeks two well known figures in the Greystones area passed away. While not connected directly with the club, their paths frequently crossed those of many in Éire Óg. John Nolan was, for many years, a milkman to many of our members and was a good friend in the time of the fund-raising coffee evenings. Many of us made our acquaintance with Frank Love in his role as a representative of a dry goods company. A west Corkman who played a bit of football in his day, he was well informed on Gaelic football matters in Wicklow and he was always interested in hearing how Éire Óg was faring. Ar dheis Dé go rabhadar beirt.