Historic success for Claregalway
September 02, 2010The GAA boasts extraordinary depth and scope. There is so much going on all the time and every single competition matters enormously to those involved. Especially All-Irelands! When the young girls of Claregalway stormed to the All-Ireland Peil Na nOg Division One crown in early July, the win represented a momentous landmark for ladies football in the club, for the club in general, and also for the community as a whole. To each individual involved - and also to their supporters and well-wishers, this was every bit as big as landing the Liam McCarthy or Sam Maguire in September.
Jimmy Gavin had the privilege of managing Claregalway's All-Ireland winners. The former Mountbellew footballer has been coaching since the late 1990s and took charge of the Claregalway girls four years ago, having managed various boys teams in the club prior to that. He took two boys sides to national finals at Mosney and brought the girls to last year's Feile in Kildare, where defeat in the final group game spelt their demise. But that experience stood everyone in good stead and helped Claregalway go all the way in Derry / Tyrone in 2010, culminating in a 3-2 to 0-4 victory over St Laurence's (Kildare) in the decider.
"It means absolutely everything to the club," Jimmy notes. "We're a relatively-new ladies club, founded in 2002, and this team started out at U10 level four years ago. They played in a tournament organised by Kilkerrin-Clonberne that year and got to the final, so we had a good team on our hands from the word go. We've stuck with more or less the same crop, with a few fresh faces added through the schools in the Claregalway area."
The county Feile crown was culled in March after a total of five games - three in the round-robin stage followed by a semi-final and then a 1-3 to 1-2 defeat of arch-rivals Kilkerrin-Clonberne in the county final. Claregalway had also won the Galway girls Feile in 2007 and 2009. Jimmy's daughter, Eimilie Gavin, featured on all three of those sides, while a number of others have won two county Feile medals.
The 2010 All-Ireland Feile was held in Tyrone and Derry. Claregalway, who brought a contingent of 30+ girls, were hosted by the Sperrin Og club in Greencastle, nestling in the foothills of the Sperrin mountains in County Tyrone. They played their host club in their first assignment on the Friday evening and ran out 8-7 to 1-2 winners. The parade was held in Celtic Park that evening and the second match was against the home club of Brian Dooher and Stephen O'Neill - Clann na Gael - on the Saturday afternoon. Following a 10-4 to 0-2 triumph, Claregalway closed out their group games with a 9-9 to 0-2 win over The Banner from Clare (who are previous Feile champions). On the back of those three convincing group victories, they went into the knockout phase of the competition in decidedly good nick.
"That put us in a semi-final against defending champions Ballyboden St Enda's on the Saturday evening at a south Tyrone venue," Jimmy continues. "The girls produced a brilliant performance and held the Dublin side scoreless to win by 1-3 to 0-0 in a tough and tight game. It was three points to no score for most of the second half and that is a very dangerous lead.
"All six Feile finals were played in Celtic Park on the Sunday evening and we were the second-last game, followed by the boys Division One final. We gave a great first-half performance against the wind to lead by 1-1 to 0-2 at half time. That set the scene for our win, really, and the girls were completely overjoyed after the final whistle. They put huge effort into this over the past few months and went there very focussed on winning it out. They are mainly first years and second years and a few of them are still in National School. Actually, one of the girls celebrated her twelfth birthday up there.
"Seven of the girls had also won All-Ireland U14 medals with Galway this year, beating Dublin in the final. We have some great talent here and hopefully most of them will go on to play with the club at adult level and bring us up to senior. We're junior 'B' at the moment, having won the junior 'C' last year. Our aim is to go junior 'A' and then intermediate over the next couple of years.
"None of this success would have been possible without the input of so many people in Claregalway. The backroom team was completed by Joan Gavin - a Kerry woman who won an All-Ireland with Dublin about 20 years ago, Darragh Leonard, Tim Hynes, Mike Brennan and we had invaluable assistance from several others including Siobhan Lynskey, Elaine Goldrick, Rita Healy and Eileen Conroy Broderick, not to forget committee members Mary Conlon, Pauric Keane and Gerry Moran."
The team was generously sponsored by Super Valu, Claregalway, which is overseen by the Hughes family, who are deeply entrenched in the GAA scene in the town. Jimmy Hughes, who hurled for Galway, enthuses: "It was terrific for the whole parish and this win has given everybody a real lift. We have been senior in the men's section of the club for the past five or six years and now we have a ladies All-Ireland title coming in. So the football club is clearly moving in the right direction.
"Traditionally, it's a hurling parish more than anything else, with Carnmore having given the likes of Sean Murphy and Padraig Fahy to the county team for many years. Football is only recently starting to make strides, with the girls now taking over. They are brilliantly organised and everything is ran like clockwork.
"We got involved in the sponsorship three years ago and it's a pleasure to be associated with the club. They are so powerful at underage, with both the lads and the girls representing Galway in Feile this year. Ladies football here is just terrific at the moment and I'm confident they'll be a force for many years to come."
Jimmy Hughes lined out for Carnmore for 20 years from 1969 and contested county finals against Tommy Larkins and Ardrahan in 1971 and '75 respectively. He also represented Galway at minor and U21 levels and had one season on the senior panel.
His late brother Michael founded the business, which has its roots in the town going back as far as 1932. Today, Jimmy is joined in the running of the family business by his brother Martin as well as Michael's three children, Eva, Mary and Mike. Super Valu, Claregalway is a focal point in the community and a massive supporter of the local GAA scene. Jimmy's father PJ played for Galway in the 1940s and had the distinction of lining out against Cork in an All-Ireland semi-final during the course of that decade.
The Claregalway girls panel that scooped the 2010 All-Ireland Feile Peil Na nOg Division One title: Deirdre Cullina, Megan Glynn, Ciara Burke, Ruth Horkan, Rachel Fahy, Eimilie Gavin, Karen Dowd, Siobhan Gavin, Lorna Hannon, Ciara Campbell, Ciara Cummins, Roisin Holland, Anna Goldrick (captain), Niamh Fahy, Emma Connell, Louise Brennan, Emily Keane, Orla Murphy, Natasha Hynes, Caoimhe Connaughton, Rachel O'Brien, Ellie Glynn, Shauna Hurney, Samantha Burke, Cliona Lynskey, Karen Healy, Morgen Conroy Broderick, Jenny Carberry, Rionna Greally, Shauna King. Tweet
