McGrath, John
March 04, 1994
Former Waterford hurling star John McGrath is now one of the country's top businessmen
In the 1960s John McGrath wooed Waterford hurling fans with some fine performances for the Decies and the Abbeyside chairman picked up numerous honours during the course of a distinctive club and inter county career. These days however, the former Waterford player is meeting with success in an entirely different field - as a businessman. The Waterford Joinery, the Clonea Strand Hotel, the Gold Coast Holiday Complex and Village and the Gold Coast Golf Club constitute four thriving commercial successes of the McGrath family of Dungarvan, who last year celebrated their 25th year in business. And they are currently in the process of adding another string to their rapidly increasing bow. Nothing like dividing your eggs out into a number of different baskets! Despite the fact that he is obviously one exceptionally busy individual, John McGrath found time earlier this week to have a bit of a chat with Hogan Stand and to reflect on his own days as a gritty dual player. We discovered that the high flying businessman is still a true gael at heart ... and he can talk a good game with the best of them!
Up until last year the McGrath family were proud owners of Waterford Joinery Ltd., the Gold Coast Holiday Cottages and Clonea Strand Hotel, but in July of 1993 they purchased the beautiful nine hole par '72 golf course which is situated beside their Holiday Village. They are now planning to open a brand new hotel beside the golf club, a hotel which will be called the Gold Coast Golf Hotel. Building work on this exciting new venture began in October of last year and it is expected that the hotel will be ready to open this June.
At the Gold Coast Holiday Village, holiday makers can enjoy all the comforts of home in a relaxed holiday setting. The impressive complex, which was erected by the McGrath family in 1980, would have to be seen really to be believed. The holiday complex is ideal for people who like to do things their own way, under their own steam and in their own space while on holiday. Scenically located at Ballinacourty overlooking Dungarvan Bay, residents can avail of and enjoy all the amenities of the Clonea Strand Hotel which is located just down the road. The Gold Coast seaside complex is graded four star - Bord Failte's highest self catering classification - and it consists of sixteen luxury bungalows, sleeping seven people apiece and each with master bedroom en suite, and all the comforts of home in the kitchen including dishwasher, microwave and fridge/freezer. What more could a body ask for! The bungalows are arranged in an orderly manner around gardens, shop, bar and restaurant, all of which demonstrate the McGrath family's unique flair for creating eye catching wood interiors and a relaxed, cosy atmosphere. Tennis and board sailing are available on site and residents can also use the recently acquired golf club. Just like the Clonea Strand Hotel, the Gold Coast is open all year round for parties, dances or special occasions.
Excellence is the keyword in all of John McGrath's business practices and, not surprisingly, the Clonea Strand Hotel sets an exceptionally high standard. Clonea Strand is a stretch of golden strand which runs for a mile between Helvick Head and Ballyvoyle Head, under the magnificent sweep of the Comeraghs in the lush countryside of west Waterford. The Clonea Strand Hotel as it stands is the result of an ongoing policy of upgrading and expansion which the McGrath family have been implementing since 1989. It boasts every facility any modern hotel should have, a vast range of luxury amenities including swimming pool, gymnasium, leisure and fitness centre, sixty superb bedrooms all fully en suite and with a glorious view of the sea, three large function rooms, conference facilities, and elegant dining room and public areas. The hotel's amenities extend to a jacuzzi, sauna and steamroom, turbo sunbed, a hair and beauty salon and a fully equipped gymnasium and four lane Brunswick ten pin blowing alley, all under the supervision of a trained gymnast and a nurse. John and Ann McGrath and their two sons Sean and Michael and daughter Moira play a large active part in the day to day running of the hotel and Gold Coast Complex and rely on the professional skills of a highly trained and vastly experienced management team. The Clonea Strand Hotel is an ideal venue for parties, functions and weddings alike.
The Clonea Strand Hotel is often used by GAA people - for example, the county footballers and hurlers use the hotel's gym and leisure centre during the winter months. The conference room is also used by the county board and various clubs for meetings. John McGrath hurled himself for the guts of thirty years between 1950 and 1980, and also often lent his services to the big ball code. At underage level John's club was Ballinameela and he captained them to a county minor championship success in 1960 before switching to the Abbeyside club for whom he hurled at senior level between 1961 and 1980 and also lent his services to the big ball code. At underage level John's club was Ballinameela and he captained them to a county minor championship success in 1960 before switching to the Abbeyside club for whom he hurled at senior level between 1961 and 1980. Ballinacourty was the football end of the club and in 1965 McGrath captained them to a county intermediate championship title. Two years later the dual player was to start up Waterford Joinery Ltd., a company with just three employees and operating from a product area totalling 2,000 square feet. Thanks to a boom period in the house building industry which resulted in a subsequent increase in demand for timber , coupled with John McGrath's great business sense and leadership qualities, Waterford Joinery Ltd. has enjoyed a healthy expansion to its present status as one of the oldest joinery and door manufacturing companies in the Irish market, employing over fifty persons.
John McGrath's talent for gaelic games came to the attention of the county selectors at an early age and he pulled on the blue and white county jersey for two years as a county minor hurler (1959 and 1960) and one year as a minor footballer (1960). By the time under 21 hurling was introduced, John was over the age limit but he did play football at under 21 level for Waterford. the Ballinacourty man went on to hurl for Waterford at senior level from 1962 up until 1970 and he also made a few appearances for the senior county footballers. The undoubted highlight of John's inter county career arrived in seasons 1962/63 - a great era for Waterford hurling. In 1962 the Decies defeated Tipperary by 4-12 to 3-9 to claim their only ever Oireachtas tournament success and in the 1962/63 national hurling league, they beat Tipp in the home final and New York in the final proper, before going on to win the Munster championship (again beating Tipp in the decider), and reach the All-Ireland final, only to lose out to Kilkenny. None of those great achievements of the Waterford senior hurlers in 1962 and '63 have been achieved since.
Some of the game's greats whom John McGrath had the distinction of playing against included Jimmy Doyle and Babs Keating of Tipperary, Eddie Kerr of Kilkenny and Wexford's John Quigley. The Waterford man rubbed shoulders with hurling's greatest legend in one of his first inter county games. "The first league game I played was against Cork in 1963 in Pairc Ui Chaoimh. I was on Patsy Harte that day and Christy Ring was playing one of his last games," he recalls, adding that he feels that certain aspects of the game have changed since he himself was a player. "The players don't seem to be concentrating as much on playing hurling as we did. We trained any time we got the chance because we loved the game. We weren't as purposeful maybe in our training as they are nowadays but we put more time into perfecting such skills as striking and hitting."
John McGrath believes that the standard of hurling being played in Waterford these days is quite high. "I think it's back to where it was in the fifties. We have some great talent in Waterford if we co-ordinate it. We reached the All-Ireland minor final in '92 and won the under 21, we have some great talent coming through. We're equal to a lot of counties and with a little bit of organisation, they could do well. But that just doesn't seem to be happening at the moment. There's an awful lot of things wrong in Waterford. Rows seem to be ongoing and it makes it hard for the players. They sense the divisions and there's just not a united front. Waterford is a very small county and we're not going to win an All-Ireland like that." Sadly, it seems that internal squabbling remains an unwanted feature of Waterford hurling.
Nevertheless, John is confident that Waterford could win a senior provincial title within the next few years. "They have the players to do it. Our players are as good as those in Offaly, Tipperary, Kilkenny or Galway," opines the man whose nephew Kevin was on the all conquering Waterford under 21 side of 1992. "Kevin's working outside the county as a geological surveyor these days and he isn't home enough to get into the county team - but he's just one of dozens who haven't come through onto the senior panel. There were a lot of very good under 21s on the '92 team and I just wonder where they are now. They wouldn't let them slip in any other county," notes the man with the midas touch. Whether it be in the world of gaelic games or the even more competitive world of commercial affairs, John McGrath and the McGrath family of Dungarvan have a habit of coming out on top.
Taken from Hogan Stand magazine
4th March 1994
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