Our annual dinner dance took place on Sunday night in the wonderful Longford Arms hotel and was well attended with 300 people sitting down to dinner. We had a very special guest in attendance, the magnificent Darragh O Shea of Kerry fame who made a number of presentations on the night.
Ceremonies commenced with our junior player of the year award and this year James Hughes from Farragh was a very worth winner. James performed consistently well through out 2014 with our junior team and fought till the bitter end in the county final. He was a very popular winner amongst his team mates and was certainly the junior player of the year for 2014.
Our senior player of the year award this year went to Michael Quinn. Michael is a player, who although he missed a portion of the championship, certainly brought performances to another level through out the team upon his return. He has been instrumental in modernising our club in recent years and was one of the driving forces behind the establishment of our state of the art gym. Michael has some serious competition for this award but was certainly a worthy choice as winner.
Our club man of the year award which was selected by secret ballot by club members at our recent AGM went to our club secretary John Dowd. John is in his second year as club secretary at present. This is a role which is hugely time consuming in a club of our size and could be compared with a full time job. John brings a thorough and professional approach to ensuring the clerical end of our club is always correct and works hand in hand with the county board in ensuring the best interests of our club at all times. John has been involved for many years in different roles within our club and is certainly deserving of recognition with this award.
Our hall of fame award for 2014 was a break with tradition when for the first time ever a female member of our club was the recipient. After several years of supporting us and assisting in several formats, Margaret ‘lucky hat’ McCormack from Kiltyreher was a very popular and deserving winner of this award. Margaret is an unofficial life long member of our lotto teams and can be seen selling lotto tickets on a weekly basis. She always adds a splash of colour with her attendance at games and is never prouder than when sitting in Pearse Park togged out in the white and green supporting our lads as they strive for victory. Margaret proudly accepted her award surrounded by her family to great applause in the ballroom. We wish to congratulate Margaret and all the award winners.
Darragh O Shea and county board chairman Brendan Gilmore went on to present our players with their various medals before Darragh took part in a very interesting question and answer session with questions from various members in attendance. Darraghs words and choice of answers were inspirational and he is certainly a model of humility for any young player coming through.
Our ladies club made their various presentations before Declan Rowley and Eugene Murphy rounded events off events in their customary style with their witty heads and tails competition. As usual of late Daniel Mimnagh was the winner. With the Daniels run of luck is going, if he were to ride a horse at Cheltenham he would be worth backing.
We thank sincerely Darragh O Shea for his attendance on the night as well as our other special guests Fr. Sean Casey, county board chairman Brendan Gilmore and his wife Ann, county Board PRO and children’s officers Gerard Hagan and Brid McGoldrick.
Dancing then began to Pascal Liz and Dave and continued into the small hours of the morning.
We wish to thank Orla Reynolds and her staff at The Longford Arms for a truly fantastic meal and their hospitality on the night, and anyone else who helped out in the run up to this event. We also say a big thank you to all in attendance.
Our weekly lotto draw took place on Sunday night in the Olde Forge. The numbers drawn were 6, 16, 19 and 29. Unfortunately there was no jackpot winner. €20 winners were Jason Tighe, Rathowen, Joseph Rowley, Barney Mahon, Corboy, Mick Reilly, C/O Coys bar and Olivia Brady, Boher. This weeks sellers prize went to Vanessa Kiernan in the Olde Forge. Next weeks draw will take place in Begleys on Sunday night.
Well done to Sean, Mickey, Mark, Simon and Cian Farrelly who were involved with the county senior team in the national league on Sunday.
Finally congratulations to Val Delaney who was recently selected as the Longford player of the year in New York for 2014. We hope to see Val back in the Killoe jersey before long.
