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Replying To Timbertony: "Looking at those numbers there's going to have to be amalgamations of smaller clubs. Not temporary ones underage but permanently. Whole different debate as to why the state aren't investing in social/affordable housing and other infra in these villages/rural communities. But realistically likes of Ferns are going to continue to increase population wise while Fethard will decline.
For arguments sake, how far off would a Fethard/James combo from winning a senior club? With likes of Hanlon back and a few others." If those clubs have to amalgamate down the line it's unlikely they will amalgamate with eachother.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 17186 - 07/10/2025 15:10:43
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Replying To Formertownie: "Listening to the semi final podcast . I turned it off half way through . Might go back and listen to rest if I get chance in work. Managers using the breaks for fleadh , ep (a joke ) as one said . We all differ on our opinion but surely its the same for every team .and not having total access to players as football taking their valued time for prep away.
In last 2 years one of these teams has lost 1/4 finals by record margins surely something more than football or Ep is wrong within that club .
They had beaten the team that beat them sunday in relegation final 2 year previous , whilst having the largest playing pool underage collectively for last 10 to 15 years and still can't get 25 players on a senior squad to at least compete in 1/4 final .
Been premier minor champions and finalists over last 5 years ,but very few making the breakthrough why where's the players pathway going wrong .
and in I ve heard about the amount of players travelling etc but every team has suffered in that regard and will continue to do so but would nt have the numbers to replenish the squad .
I think they need to look harder at themselves than any outside factor .
On their prep the 2 teams in question have the players 70% of the time with several of their squads playing hurling only . The other team has been consistently competive over the last 4 to 5 years and will be again next year too but would nt have the same underage numbers although still good numbers . Got caught on the day by another dual club. Who would also be consistently competitive and would test if not beat all teams left on ny given day . To be fair that manager did nt really blame the outside factors as such more timing and coming up against a team hitting firm at a good time .
Excuses are easy to find but u have to look a lot deeper in one case anyway ." Well Glynn made a big hoo-haa about starting a hurling session immediately after their final group game in the football. And were wholly uncompetitive in the hurling quarter-final subsequently. Went out then with a whimper in the football last weekend.
That damn EP.
beano (Wexford) - Posts: 1508 - 07/10/2025 18:20:24
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Replying To Viking66: "If those clubs have to amalgamate down the line it's unlikely they will amalgamate with eachother." Who will they amalgamate with then though?
ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 662 - 07/10/2025 19:05:40
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Replying To ElGranSenor: "Who will they amalgamate with then though?" Dunno the answer to that if push comes to shove.
St James have 3 schools. I doubt they should need to amalgamate long term. They field by themselves at u10, u12, u16 and minor, and had a good shot of u8s when my youngest lad went down there for a blitz a month or 2 ago.
Fethard might not have big numbers of underage players but some of them are decent. They have a good lot of lads around 21/22/23 who hurled for Wexford underage too, the 2 Byrnes, the 2 Whelans, Jake Molloy. All started for Wexford and all 5 have been involved in Senior panels under Keith Rossiter. Sean Nunan and Morgan Ellis were on the u20 football panel last year also.
You don't need a huge number from any year to keep 2 adult teams going. 3 good lads a year would do it.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 17186 - 07/10/2025 21:10:52
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Replying To Viking66: "Just on the population in Ross District it's younger families in particular that are growing less in number, as well as smaller in terms of number of children. I think from memory Clongeen NS only has 90 children and is the only school in the parish. Fethard NS only has 140 odd enrolled, and again is the only school in the parish. We have 2 schools, combined enrolment of about 220, although a large number of these children would have more interest in horses than GAA.
To put that into context Ferns has 3 schools I think, possibly 4, and Ferns NS has over 300 pupils by itself." Ferns NS actually has about 250 pupils.
There are other schools in the parish, but they're relatively small, and one of them is in what some people would regard as "enemy territory" -
- Tombrack generally has around 50 to 60 pupils.
- St. Edan's in Ferns itself is the traditional Church of Ireland school, and is one of the smallest in the county. Typically only has about 20 pupils, and not many play football and hurling. I heard this year is the first time in many years that the Rackard League team has a pupil from St. Edan's on it at all.
- Ballyduff generally has 40 to 50, but that's in the heart of what would have been Clonee country when the club was operating there, and many of the families there still have an attitude of "Anywhere but Ferns" when it comes to GAA. The children of these families generally go to St. Pat's or Kilrush/Askamore. Maybe not always legally, but that's a whole other story!
Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3153 - 07/10/2025 23:03:24
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Replying To Pikeman96: "Ferns NS actually has about 250 pupils.
There are other schools in the parish, but they're relatively small, and one of them is in what some people would regard as "enemy territory" -
- Tombrack generally has around 50 to 60 pupils.
- St. Edan's in Ferns itself is the traditional Church of Ireland school, and is one of the smallest in the county. Typically only has about 20 pupils, and not many play football and hurling. I heard this year is the first time in many years that the Rackard League team has a pupil from St. Edan's on it at all.
- Ballyduff generally has 40 to 50, but that's in the heart of what would have been Clonee country when the club was operating there, and many of the families there still have an attitude of "Anywhere but Ferns" when it comes to GAA. The children of these families generally go to St. Pat's or Kilrush/Askamore. Maybe not always legally, but that's a whole other story!" https://gov.ie/en/department-of-education/schools/naomh-maodhog-ns/
According to Gov.ie Ferns NS has 301 enrolled, of which 160 are boys.
https://gov.ie/en/department-of-education/schools/tombrack-n-s/
Tombrack has 53, of which 34 are boys.
https://gov.ie/en/department-of-education/schools/ballyduff-n-s-2/
Ballyduff has 71, of which 34 are male.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 17186 - 08/10/2025 17:41:59
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Replying To Viking66: "Dunno the answer to that if push comes to shove.
St James have 3 schools. I doubt they should need to amalgamate long term. They field by themselves at u10, u12, u16 and minor, and had a good shot of u8s when my youngest lad went down there for a blitz a month or 2 ago.
Fethard might not have big numbers of underage players but some of them are decent. They have a good lot of lads around 21/22/23 who hurled for Wexford underage too, the 2 Byrnes, the 2 Whelans, Jake Molloy. All started for Wexford and all 5 have been involved in Senior panels under Keith Rossiter. Sean Nunan and Morgan Ellis were on the u20 football panel last year also.
You don't need a huge number from any year to keep 2 adult teams going. 3 good lads a year would do it." St James have 4 schools actually and it's 2 parishes. They have always had plenty of numbers and always will with 4 schools. It's just in the last 20 years they have really got their act together and fair play to them. Clongeen have always punched way above their weight over the last 50 years with the numbers they have. School operated at around 140-160 for years and that was enough to produce decent adult teams but last 10 years have seen it fall to under 70 but it's back to 90-100 now. Bottom line it's not enough to feed adult teams in the next 5-10 years and amalgamation is very probable. With other clubs in new Ross district experiencing the same fate it's inevitable.
bottletopbill (Wexford) - Posts: 77 - 08/10/2025 18:15:05
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Replying To Viking66: "https://gov.ie/en/department-of-education/schools/naomh-maodhog-ns/
According to Gov.ie Ferns NS has 301 enrolled, of which 160 are boys.
https://gov.ie/en/department-of-education/schools/tombrack-n-s/
Tombrack has 53, of which 34 are boys.
https://gov.ie/en/department-of-education/schools/ballyduff-n-s-2/
Ballyduff has 71, of which 34 are male." Well, obviously I'll bow to those stats from the Department of Education! They'd know better than me.
News to me that Ferns has grown to 300. Ballyduff seems to have picked up a few too. Even if many there do still regard it as "anywhere but Ferns" territory in GAA terms!
Was basing my own numbers just off a project I was involved in with those schools just before lockdown. Not actually from Ferns myself.
Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3153 - 08/10/2025 20:47:53
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Replying To bottletopbill: "St James have 4 schools actually and it's 2 parishes. They have always had plenty of numbers and always will with 4 schools. It's just in the last 20 years they have really got their act together and fair play to them. Clongeen have always punched way above their weight over the last 50 years with the numbers they have. School operated at around 140-160 for years and that was enough to produce decent adult teams but last 10 years have seen it fall to under 70 but it's back to 90-100 now. Bottom line it's not enough to feed adult teams in the next 5-10 years and amalgamation is very probable. With other clubs in new Ross district experiencing the same fate it's inevitable." Problem for Clongeen is that all their immediate neighbours, Gusserane, Bannow-Ballymitty, Adamstown and Taghmon-Camross, don't have quite the same possible future issues with numbers at adult.
And the underage amalgamation with Fethard has cost both clubs playing numbers, as parents have to drive so far to bring their kids to training. And that's from the horses mouth, people I know in both parishes.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 17186 - 09/10/2025 10:20:03
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Don't agree with the "hurling needs this club, hurling needs that club" mantra.
I come from a moderately successful club, we have had our ups and downs. But we have largely held our own.
The mentality that hurling would "need us" any more than they would need Clongeen or Ballygarrett is farcical.
If other clubs out-work our club at underage and we slip down, then we are to blame for that.
Its the same with Wexford. You should nod to our past at times, but always remember that the games owe us zilch and what we put in to it we will get out of it.
Incidentally, I listened to Paul Carley on The Hurling Podcast. Complained about dual clubs being beaten by hurling only, Electric Picnic was another problem but then in the next breath he complained about games every week. Did he want the break or not? Is he admitting that the dual club is unsustainable? Everything was wrong except Glynn's preparations.
I know some Rathnure players and they had challenge matches against 2-3 clubs in Kilkenny while the others were playing football. They are flying by all accounts, having come back up from Intermediate if they even get to the senior final it will be such a great achievement.
StoreysTash (Wexford) - Posts: 1937 - 09/10/2025 11:24:39
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Have listened to Paul Carley on that podcast myself now, and could pick several holes in his arguments. Lots of excuses and looking to throw the blame elsewhere for various things. While I wouldn't necessarily expect him to speak much about it publicly, wonder how much reflection he did privately on how things went for them this year, and how much of it was just down to themselves?
Anyway - at least we're back to talking somewhat about hurling! Anybody with thoughts on this weekend's semi-finals? I set out my own predictions on the last page - or maybe even the one before that, before we got sidetracked about numbers in schools and the like!
Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3153 - 09/10/2025 12:52:09
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Replying To Pikeman96: "Well, obviously I'll bow to those stats from the Department of Education! They'd know better than me.
News to me that Ferns has grown to 300. Ballyduff seems to have picked up a few too. Even if many there do still regard it as "anywhere but Ferns" territory in GAA terms!
Was basing my own numbers just off a project I was involved in with those schools just before lockdown. Not actually from Ferns myself." Was reading something online about how the Camolin Principal is fearful that the school could close, could be the case that they're going to Ballyduff instead which is why Ballyduff is surprisingly big
ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 662 - 09/10/2025 13:34:41
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Replying To Viking66: "Problem for Clongeen is that all their immediate neighbours, Gusserane, Bannow-Ballymitty, Adamstown and Taghmon-Camross, don't have quite the same possible future issues with numbers at adult.
And the underage amalgamation with Fethard has cost both clubs playing numbers, as parents have to drive so far to bring their kids to training. And that's from the horses mouth, people I know in both parishes." Well I can tell if they hadn't of amalgamated neither club would have fielded any teams in the last 6 years as the numbers were not there and even at that you were competing in the lower divisions. I know what the facts are in relation to one of these clubs as I am a member and I have a pretty good idea of the scenario in the other club too and the distance did not cause the amalgamation to lose any significant numbers.
bottletopbill (Wexford) - Posts: 77 - 09/10/2025 13:37:59
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Replying To Pikeman96: "Have listened to Paul Carley on that podcast myself now, and could pick several holes in his arguments. Lots of excuses and looking to throw the blame elsewhere for various things. While I wouldn't necessarily expect him to speak much about it publicly, wonder how much reflection he did privately on how things went for them this year, and how much of it was just down to themselves?
Anyway - at least we're back to talking somewhat about hurling! Anybody with thoughts on this weekend's semi-finals? I set out my own predictions on the last page - or maybe even the one before that, before we got sidetracked about numbers in schools and the like!" If St Martins are in top form you'd have to expect them to beat Ferns comfortably enough but if there's an over confidence in them, Ferns might just surprise them.
I think the Rathnure game is harder to call but I think Gorey are coming good at the right time and the game v St Anne's will stand to them I think. Should be tight though.
YellowShadeOfPurple (Wexford) - Posts: 60 - 09/10/2025 14:02:14
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Replying To YellowShadeOfPurple: "If St Martins are in top form you'd have to expect them to beat Ferns comfortably enough but if there's an over confidence in them, Ferns might just surprise them.
I think the Rathnure game is harder to call but I think Gorey are coming good at the right time and the game v St Anne's will stand to them I think. Should be tight though." Rathnure to get it done v Gorey
logger (Wexford) - Posts: 317 - 09/10/2025 14:56:06
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Replying To logger: "Rathnure to get it done v Gorey" I'd love to see a Rathnure v Ferns final, that would upset all odds.
On a second note, regardless if Rathnure win it or not I think Ruth should be the next Wexford manager. Serious track record, he definitely deserves a shot.
YellowShadeOfPurple (Wexford) - Posts: 60 - 09/10/2025 16:00:48
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Replying To bottletopbill: "Well I can tell if they hadn't of amalgamated neither club would have fielded any teams in the last 6 years as the numbers were not there and even at that you were competing in the lower divisions. I know what the facts are in relation to one of these clubs as I am a member and I have a pretty good idea of the scenario in the other club too and the distance did not cause the amalgamation to lose any significant numbers." I'm not saying that the amalgamation wasn't necessary to field a team, only that because of it Fethard lost players. We played them at u9 a few years back. They had 14 or 15 young lads. A friend was a mentor over their team. We played them again at u12 after they were amalgamated and between the 2 clubs they had very few more. My friend was still with them and I asked him where all the lads were, he said alot of them gave up because their parents didnt want to drive to Clongeen.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 17186 - 09/10/2025 17:07:50
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I actually fancy Rathnure to get it done. I know Naomh Eanna are coming good but I just think Rathnure are on this run of form. Martins to win the other semi, Ferns probably lucky to be at this stage to be honest. I fully expect Oylegate to win the relegation final, think Ballymurn have been poor all year, I just cant see them lift it enough against on paper is a good Oylegate team.
Intermediate probably harder to call although I expect Cloughbawn to beat the Alley. Jimmies and Fethard will be tight but having seen both teams in action, I would have to say Fethard should win. Relegation will be tight but Blackwater should have more hurling than Gusserane, Blackwater probably a little unlucky to be in this final while Gusserane were very poor last day out against Tara Rocks
Inter A is a very tight call. Monageer have pretty much breezed to this stage while Davidstown have come into form. Still though I expect Monageer to be in the final again. In the other semi i saw Duffry earlier in the year and was impressed by them. Think they will beat a dogged Clongeen team.
Know little about Junior but Rathnure have been flying but play a Pats team who should be strong I would have thought. Will say the Ballyoughter men. Marshalstown and Glynn in other semi, Marshalstown's first team, also out of the football so going to say them.
alwaysasub (Wexford) - Posts: 533 - 09/10/2025 17:15:33
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Replying To bottletopbill: "Well I can tell if they hadn't of amalgamated neither club would have fielded any teams in the last 6 years as the numbers were not there and even at that you were competing in the lower divisions. I know what the facts are in relation to one of these clubs as I am a member and I have a pretty good idea of the scenario in the other club too and the distance did not cause the amalgamation to lose any significant numbers." How many u13 players have Fethard got now?
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 17186 - 09/10/2025 17:21:36
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Replying To YellowShadeOfPurple: "I'd love to see a Rathnure v Ferns final, that would upset all odds.
On a second note, regardless if Rathnure win it or not I think Ruth should be the next Wexford manager. Serious track record, he definitely deserves a shot." By his own admission he has very little managerial experience. The Rathnure job is actually only his second management job.
In fairness to him he's had success in both jobs, he's managed teams who have won a Senior and Intermediate Hurling title already.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 17186 - 09/10/2025 17:24:24
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