Clanna Gael Fontenoy GAA Club S

CLANNS UPDATE

Proud sponsors of Clanna Gael Fontenoy Clanns: a club ahead of its time “It’s a real joy to see so many youngsters safely using the club’s facilities, Club News particularly during these very challenging times with Covid 19. You’ll scarcely see better in other sports clubs around the city or county. It’s a fitting testament to these youngsters’ love of sport, to their parents’ Club Lotto dedication and to the commitment of many volunteers over the years and right up to the present day in helping to create and maintain these great facilities.”

So states Eugene Davey, former club player and official of note over a number of decades, when he recently viewed the huge numbers of kids participating in non-contact training hubs and utilising every available space on the pitches and in The Cage. As one who played with Clanns and teams throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and served in every club The numbers drawn in the Lotto draw official capacity bar Treasurer in that time and indeed well into the 1990s, on October 11th were: there are few better placed than Eugene Davey to make that judgement. • 12, 28, 29 and 30

There was no winner so the €10,000

jackpot rolls over to next week.

The €20 Lucky Dip Winners drawn were: Carol Byrne, Heno Ma, Ann Marie Roche, David Bolger and Deirdre Byrne.

The Club Lotto can be played online

A typical Saturday morning at the club, with every available space utilised out on by clicking here. the pitches and on the all-weather

A footballer and a hurler, he featured on many fine Clanns teams, including the U-21 football team that won the Dublin championship in 1965; and the Senior football and Junior football teams that did likewise in 1968 – a full 20 years after the senior team’s previous championship title.

. His club career was a long and fruitful one that lasted until the right young age of 44. He also featured with Dublin minor football and hurling teams – usually in the centre forward position – and has a 1965

All-Ireland winning hurling l medal to his name. Not surprisingly he graduated to also feature with Dublin senior football teams under the management of the likes of Kevin Heffernan and Lar Foley; and he also featured over a 13-year period with Dublin hurling teams, playing his last game for them in 1979 against arch Leinster rivals, Kilkenny.

RDS to host Gaelic and soccer double header But it’s Eugene’s insights from his off-field activities in support of the club that are most revealing. From the day he was appointed club Secretary in 1969 at the age of 22 he sat on the Executive Committee for many years, fulfilling a range of roles including that of Chairman. During that time he was part of a team that saw the club think and act ahead of its time in @Clannagaelfont coming up with innovative ideas and approaches.

Clanns: a club ahead of its time contd...

Eugene keenly recalls, for example, the notoriety that eventually surrounded the club’s most novel of fundraising proposals in 1991: a double header in the RDS Ballsbridge that would see Dublin playing Down (the 1991 All-Ireland champions) in and Shamrock Rovers playing Bohemians in soccer.

“Club personnel had put a huge amount of work into planning and organising the event, the participating teams were all up for it, the Dublin

County Board had given the green light and we had met the various Pictured here on the right at a past conditions advised by Croke Park. But for reasons of their own, within a championship match in O’Toole Park week of the event and with all tickets sold, the Croke Park Central Council with (l to r) John Hall (former club bar pulled the plug.” manager) and Colum Delahunty (current Junior Football management This was a most disappointing outcome for the club, but also for a great team), Eugene Davey’s love of the many Gaelic and soccer supporters beyond the club who welcomed the game continues, not least through his planned collaboration across the sporting codes. While very frustrated role as Chairman of Friends of Dublin and dispirited at the time, Davey takes a more sanguine view today of the Hurling – an organisation established situation: in 2002 to help project a dynamic

image of hurling in Dublin. “With the continuous on/off nature of events this had more turns of fortune than you’d have seen in The Forsyte Saga (popular BBC drama series). The national news coverage generated certainly made the club more widely known; but also more widely respected by a great many for the innovation and foresight shown by us.”

Teams of Excellence

Innovation was also the hallmark of the Team of Excellence idea, whereby the club honoured All-Ireland winning county teams of the past. This was done by means of an awards presentation at the club in the run-up to the All-Ireland final. It proved very popular for its uniqueness and its generosity of spirit. Throughout the 1990s senior teams from various counties including Offaly, Galway, Mayo, Down and Dublin (senior and minor) were honoured; and the event drew large numbers to the club for the presentation. The idea has since been replicated in many ways by various other clubs and organisations.

“Not alone did it prove very popular with supporters from various clubs as well as our own, but we managed to get Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh as presenter on a number of occasions, Brendan Bowyer to dance the Hucklebuck and Albert Reynolds (then Taoiseach) to address the gathering” , says Eugene.

Innovation and development

The formation of a club Development Committee in the early 1990s was to prove instrumental in forging the development of the club’s facilities, including the prunty pitches, all-weather surface and hurling wall. Working under successive Chairmen and with input from many volunteers across the club, the task of securing funding and sponsorship (particularly the Dublin Port Company) to drive continuous development cannot be taken for granted.

“It’s clear that development continues apace today”, says Davey. “Look at the revamped dressing room facilities and locker room area, the new gym, plus the way the Academy has grown. As for innovation, the Global Clanns initiative during the summer was a great idea; and what better way to mark the club’s historical connection with Fontenoy in Belgium than to visit the place which is what our Minor players and mentors did. Clanna Gael Fontenoy may not always be ahead of other clubs on the playing field, but nobody can say this club is not ahead of its time.” @Clannagaelfont

Staying in touch with schools Our Games Development Officer, Shaunna Curtis, regularly visits our local Club News schools. Her latest rounds included visits to the boys in St Patrick’s and the girls in Scoil Mhuire Lakelands. Covid-19 precautions

We wish to thank all our club officials, our team coaches and mentors, our players, supporters, colleagues, as well as visitors to our club, for their ongoing assistance in our work in applying best practice guidance around the club’s training activities.

Also, as evidenced by the posters on display at the entrance to our club as well as other material, we continue to draw attention to the all-important measures of regular hand washing and social distancing.

St Patrick’s Boys National School, Ringsend Photos: Shaunna Curtis

Scoil Mhuire Girls’ National School, Lakelands Photos: Shaunna Curtis

------

Visit www.clannagaelfontenoy.ie for lots more information on the Club’s activities ------@Clannagaelfont