By Shay Connolly
By Shay Connolly |
In those days the club was contesting for Senior Hurling Championships and Division 1 honours. Then some barren years were experienced and the Club fell down to Junior ranks. Along came a team under the management of Tom Ryan, Jack Nicholson, Peter Burnett and the late Jim Kavanagh and pride was restored again as this young team battled their way through the Junior scene to gain promotion to the Intermediate leagues in the late 90s. Some very near misses were encountered in their attempts to return to Senior grade including two agonising semi-final defeats by one point on both occasions. All seemed lost for this team in their quest to regain senior status as age began to creep up on them and already older colleagues began to retire. But along came the Warriors who having trailed a blaze of success at Juvenile level were now ready to join their elder lemons. It was the perfect blend. A crop of hardened and experienced 28 year olds and the dash and finesse of 18 year olds. It was hoped that this blend could reach the Holy Grail within two or three years but the lads were in no humour for such nonsense and after a year of constant hard work, that included training on St Stephen’s Day and such like the boys did it in the first year. This is truly a wonderful achievement for the local area and great credit is due to Paul, Bob McCarthy, and Paul Brennan for steering them there. Their campaign has started and the first two matches proved just beyond them as jitters and stage fright were all in evidence for both matches could have been won. But that all went out the window when the Erin’s Isle boys from Finglas came down to do battle in the small village of Ringsend. With a population deficit of about 10 to 1 between Finglas and Ringsend surely Fontenoys didn’t stand a chance. But we are made of tough stuff down here lads and after a titanic struggle the Ringsend lads won the day by three points and gained their first points in Senior league. There is a long hard struggle ahead of us to keep our status but believe me there are many fine quality hurlers here and instead of talking about retaining our status we should be talking about improving it and promotion to Division One. There is only one connection between the senior team of old and the recently-promoted side. Now who would that be? Wait for it! Of course it had to be! Sure who else would it be! You guessed it– The Legend. Having played for the last Senior team for all of 10 years his son is top scorer in the present team. We can’t shut him up here! Not to be undone, the Junior Camogie team decided to get in on the act. Having held senior status themselves some years ago these ageing belles (oh my God, my life won’t be worth living after that last statement) hadn’t gone away you know. It would have been oh so simple to retire gracefully having giving so much to the Camogie scene for many a year. But these ladies were in no mood for retiring. Confronted with a depleted squad, no manager and a host of other difficulties they faced adversity in the face and turned it around. Up stepped big Paddy Joyce who took the helm as Manager. Training resumed to acceptable numbers. A few younger belles joined the squad and slowly but surely it began to gel in place. This mighty effort from all culminated when they captured the Junior A cup amid great scenes in the Phoenix Park by beating Craobh Chiaran in the final by 4–2 to 2–3.Congratulations to all concerned. I couldn’t leave this page without mentioning Lisa Murray, who has scored a whopping 15 goals in 4 matches. * Inter footballers welcome new manager Maurice Leahy and the three points out of four gained last week has got the show seriously back on the road. The Club also welcomes back Graham Dent to the fold. * U12 Hurlers recently won their league match by 31 points while the U12 footballers contest the league semi-final against St Mary’s of Saggart at time of writing. * Mick Fitzgerald joins the management team of the U11 squad. Mick now teams up with one his former pupils, Simon Beirne from the Intermediate football team. * Our sincere condolences to the Heavey, Bannable and Ridgeway families on their recent sad losses. John Heavey was a prominent presence in the Clubhouse for many a year and the jibes between soccer and Gaelic were great. John played in goal in some of the Gaelic seven-a-sides held here at the club and he would jibe afterwards that it reminded him of his playing days with Shelbourne when he played against Barcelona. Willie Bannable was widely known around the area. At his packed funeral Fr. Coady joked about him lighting candles for Chelsea. As he had taken to attending Croker for the Dubs matches in recent years we can only hope and pray that Willie was lighting candles for the Dubs also. Willie’s daughter-in-law Sharon is a member of the O’Hanlon clan from Coolock who have donned the jerseys of Parnells and Dublin alike. Our condolences also go to Vicky and Rita Ridgeway on the death of Vicky’s father Victor, coming so shortly after the tragic loss of John. Ar dheis Dé go raibh gach ainm dilis. * Clann Óg, the Saturday morning Academy for 5 to 8 year olds continues each Saturday morning at 10.45. All newcomers welcome. * Summer Camps. * All local schools have commenced Cumann Na mBunscoil action and every one of them has recorded first round victories. * U15 Hurlers and footballers are still very much in contention for league honours with three great victories in recent weeks against Fingal Ravens, Commercials and Clontarf. This form bodes well for the upcoming Championship.
Docklands Young Achievers Awards
As the Lord Mayor Paddy Bourke received the envelope from Gerry Kelly, Director of Social Regeneration at D.D.D.A. a pin could be heard falling at the packed Mansion House. The moment had arrived and when the Lord Mayor announced the name of Desmond Soon the people of Clanna Gael Fontenoy went wild with delight. It was a truly momentous occasion for Des, his family and the Club. Des hails from Malaysia and his family moved here some 10 years ago. At an early age Des joined Clanna Gael Fontenoy. Des like many other foreign nationals could be forgiven for feeling somewhat isolated in his new surroundings. But he endured this isolation and took a huge liking to the native’s ancient craft of hurling and Gaelic Football. Again, like many foreign nationals Des would have heard the usual jibes about his nationality but undaunted he stuck with it and turned up for every training session. When he developed on to a team and started to play at competitive level Des would have suffered some more jibes about his nationality from opposing teams. I witnessed some of these jibes and it made me ashamed to be Irish. But by now Des had become the most popular player on the team and had won all the respect of his own team mates. If you were going to insult Des then you were going to insult the whole team and a wonderful bond of camaraderie emerged from these encounters. Des could have walked away. But he stood tall and remained with it and after one year at competitive level he was called into the Dublin Hurling Development Squad such was his skill at the ancient craft. Des survived to tell the story and he is an example to the Nation. In our eyes here at the club Des is a hero. He represents the new Ireland. A new Ireland where tolerance, understanding and welcoming of our new neighbours should be the order of the day. To Des and his Family we say welcome and thank you for embracing our culture in such a positive fashion as Des has done to date. Notice to all Gaelic Footballers past or present Top: Desmond Soon, who won the Young Docklander of the Year award. |
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Senior Status regained after 22 years
The Club was proudly represented at the Dockland Young Achievers Awards held in the Mansion House earlier this month. Last year’s U14 footballers won their Group award and Kim Flood won the Individual U18 award. There was also an award for St Pat’s Ringsend Ladies’ Gaelic Football team for their heroic day in Croker last year. The highlight of this award ceremony each year is the overall Young Docklander of the Year award. There were many nominations for this prestigious award from all the various groupings and organisations from both sides of the Liffey.