Ballymore Ladies GFC

Division 4 League – No Silverware for the Ladies
Ballymore Ladies had finished top of the league and following a semi-final walkover travelled to the Curragh on the morning of 20th October. It was a final against old rivals Castledermot who had finished third but had well beaten Balyna II the previous week.
It was a nervous start to the game by Ballymore and Castledermot used it to their advantage. A goal at the end of the first half, left Ballymore trailing at half-time.
Ballymore came out all guns blazing in the 2nd half but Castledermot got 2 more goals in the first 10 minutes. The Ladies regained their form, dominating the rest of the match and piling pressure on the Castledermot goal.
The girls notched up points but the goals just didn’t happen. Stephanie Harney created numerous shots on target but their goalkeeper stood firm and Dawn Murray’s quickly-taken free was disallowed.
With no extra time and having played some great football, Ballymore had lost their first final by a goal.
There were 2 players who deserved Woman of the Match in this first ever Division 4 final. Sheena Hubbard dominated in the middle of the park and Stephanie Harney was a constant thorn in the side of the Castledermot defence.

Scorers for Ballymore
Dawn Murray 5 points
Stephanie Harney 2 points
Fran Burke 1 point
Megan O’Neill 1 point

Castledermot 3-3 Ballymore Eustace 0-9

THANIK YOU…
To everyone who came to support the Ladies for the final on a chilly morning in Athgarvan. The county secretary noted the large contingent that had arrived from Ballymore during his presentation speech.
To Rose Barrett O’Donoghue for the post-match sandwiches
To Rita and staff for the lovely dinner in Poulaphouca House that evening


Presentation
A signed jersey was presented to Brian and Martine Rigney in the Ballymore Inn the evening after our final. This was in recognition of being the first ever sponsors of the Ballymore Ladies football team…they had faith in the ladies before anyone else did! A big thank you to both of them from all the girls.



Handball News
Simply the Best
Ballymore handball supporters will be delighted to learn that Jim Clarke is to receive the 2007 Kildare Handball All Star Award. He will receive his award in the Keadeen Hotel on Saturday November 17, 2007. This is a fitting reward for a man who has given many years to the cause of handball at county and club levels. Jim is a particularly good man to have on your side when it comes to fund raising. Nor is Jim shy when it comes to rolling up his sleeves and working for the handball cause. This was Jim’s second occasion to win this award that was instituted in 1972 when Cecil Winder was our illustrious winner of this award then known as a Phillips Award.

Paddy
Eamonn Deegan tells me he visited Paddy Monaghan in Naas Hospital where Paddy was recovering following a setback. Eamonn found Paddy in good form notwithstanding his setback. Hopefully Paddy will be well enough to return to the Larchfield Nursing Home in the near future.

Like Grandson, Like Grandfather
In Ballymore Eustace on October 26, 2007 Glen Browne retained the Leinster U-17 B Singles 60x30 Softball Championship Title. In making his mark in handball Glen was following in the footsteps of his grandfather, John Browne, who in his time won several All-Ireland titles – I even have the photos to prove one of these successes. In 2006, Gareth Clarke was our successful player.

Joe
Joe was delighted to see me. Told me we last met about February. He was very shocked to hear I was unwell when he visited Ballymore a while ago. I’m talking about Joe Quinn who now lives in Rathfarnham and meets me occasionally shopping at Supervalu, Churchtown. Joe was a good handball player but his first love was Gaelic football so he rarely played handball competitively. Years ago when Joe was starting out on a carpentry course he worked on our new house in Ballymore (1950 it was).

Tommy Archibald Memorial Tournament
The Tommy Archibald Memorial Tournament took place on Sunday September 9 and again was really well supported. Christy Browne and PJ McGrath won it, beating Mick O'Donnell (Leixlip) and Jody Devine (Donard) in the final by 3 aces. There were 16 players representing Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare from the following clubs Dunlavin/Moone, Ballymore-Eustace, Clondalkin, Donard and Coolboy.
PJ and Christy were very popular winners.

Patience is a Virtue
Associated with the local club for many years, Gerry McGrath won his first All-Ireland in the 60x30 Golden Masters B Doubles when he partnered Paddy Kelly to success. Gerry also got to the singles final but unfortunately he was beaten in it.

© Matt Purcell 2007.

Matt’s Memories
As I’ve said before, I had a stroke on April 13. Thereafter I have no recollections for several weeks. I have no memories of my first stay in Naas Hospital nor have I any memories of my stay in Beaumont Hospital. In Beaumont Hospital I understand I underwent a brain operation.

Following my illness my powers of recollection are limited. If I forget something, I hope my readers will make due allowance for me. From my sister Margaret in Cobh I discovered that Mrs Elliott had died sometime ago. Margaret had worked with Mrs Elliott’s son Cyril for about twenty years in a Cork Hospital. Recently Margaret had met Cyril. Some years ago Kathleen Elliott had taught one of my nieces in Templeogue College. More recently I got to know Phil Elliott quite well as I used to meet her in Ballymore as I got my daily paper. Both Kathleen and Phil played a lot of badminton with Ballymore in days gone by.

Seamie (O’) Brien was one of the first to visit me in the Naas Hopital. Seamie and I are long time friends. When Seamie was at the height of his powers as an athlete he regularly trained with my late brother Paddy. In more recent times he has done well in graded handball competitions. Since coming home Seamie has been in touch with me by phone.

Another early visitor to me in Naas was John (Johnny) Murphy. Long ago Johnny operated a butcher shop for several years in the premises where Jerry Blake now has his chemist shop. After that Johnny went to England where he stayed for several years before returning to Ballymore. Johnny was a good football player who was on the winning 1953 Ballymore team. I used often-meet Johnny at the races. He is a regular at the senior citizen meetings on a Tuesday. I used to go to these meetings but unfortunately they did not suit me.

Michael (Meahall) Murphy was also an early visitor to me in Naas Hospital. Meahall played on the winning 1953 Ballymore team and was very much to the forefront on that team. I used regularly meet Meehaul at the races at which Meehaul was a good man at picking Jackpot winners. Meahall’s son Michael, daughter-in-law Eilish and granddaughter are also regular race goers.

Eamonn Deegan was another early visitor to me at Naas Hospital. Nowadays Eamonn is a prominent official at club and county levels and has served handball well over a long number of years. Eamonn has also a keen interest in the brass and reed band. I have not seen Eamonn since I left hospital but no doubt I will.

Tom O’Rourke visited me one evening in Naas while I was doing some of my exercises and then disappeared. Afterwards he reappeared again having gone home for a meal that was the sensible thing to do. In the Bugle I see where Tom and Jacinta celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary recently. It is hard to imagine 25 years have gone by since Tom and Jacinta got married on September 25, 1982. People I remember being there then were the late Paddy and the late Ivy Barrett and Dick Lyng and his wife. Many others were present but I particularly remember that foursome.

Mary Deegan, my next-door neighbour in Ballymore, was also an early visitor to me in Naas Hospital. Mary in fact visited me a couple of times. She and Tommy were very good to me the day I took ill in Ballymore. Mary came in with me in the ambulance and spent several hours with me in the hospital while Tommy looked after my brother.

To my surprise, Fr Breen visited me several times while I was in Naas Hospital. I believe he also visited me while I was in Intensive Care in Naas but I have no recollection of that. Prior to that he and I occasionally talked horses while we waited for a meal in the Ballymore Inn.

Monsignor Seamus Conway visited me several times while I was in Naas Hospital. He also surprised me by visiting me just before I left Dun Laoghaire Rehab Centre. On that occasion he spent a lot of time trying to find me but eventually he did. I was in the Reading Room on Ground Zero.

Were there other visitors? The answer is yes. Family members were particularly good to me during this difficult period in my life. In the fullness of time hopefully I’ll get around to dealing with those people.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

This is an extract from one of the late Dr Tom Dooley’s favourite poems by Robert Frost. As far as I recall, Dr Dooley served with the American forces in Korea.

Matt Purcell 2007

A great turn out for the Fund Raising Coffee and Raffles at the Harvest Thanksgiving festival for the Church of the Immaculate Conception. Fr. Breen would like to thank all who attended on each day and of course, the organisers of the event. Over 1400 euro was raised over the weekend.
The Raffle winners were as follows;
Grania Glancy.
Kathleen Lawlor.
Buster Murray from Coughlanstown.
Amy Horan.
Larry Glancy.
Mick Horan.
Laura Campbell.
Nicholas Daly from Mullacash.
Marie Murphy from Barrack Street.
Niamh Nolan from Slate Quarries.
Sean Dowling (another Glancy connection.)
Chantelle Murray.
Brigid Headon.
Joan Gilroy.
Colette Hempenstall.
Julie Anne Byrne.