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Coolmore Stud Partners China In Horse Racing

Top Irish stud farm Coolmore Stud, owned by successful racing tycoon John Magnier and based in Fethard, Co Tipperary, will help China set up a new horse racing industry, under a new agreement.

This new partnership agreement is estimated to be worth €40 million to Ireland over the next 3 years.

Sited in Tianjin, China’s fourth largest city, this planned world-class equine centre will be the first of its kind in the country and is due to open for business next year.

The Chinese facility will be stocked with broodmares from Ireland, with over 100 mares, together with stallions, to be exported over the next three years. The deal will also see Coolmore Stud playing host to seven of China’s top agriculture graduates, to learn about the horse racing industry.

The construction of the new site at Tianjin marks the return of interest in horseracing in China, as the population continues to become more affluent. The sport was banned under former Communist dictator Mao Tse-Tung.

Mr P. J. Magnier (Junior) stated: “The sector plays a huge part in the Irish economy, currently generating 1.1 billion euros annually. This industry is something we are very good at, and today one of the biggest markets in the world has recognised this and has chosen to partner with Ireland.”
Photo courtesy G.Willoughby.

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Thurles New Link Road Opens

Picture shows: Mr Noel Coonan TD, Mr Michael Lowry TD, Mr Jimmy Doyle and Minister for State Mr Alan Kelly TD, latter who officially opened "Jimmy Doyle Road," here in Thurles today.

The long awaited new link road in Thurles, which now joins the Templemore and Nenagh roads, was officially opened at midday today by Mr Alan Kelly TD, Minister of State at the Department of Transport & Tourism.

The new link road was named after one of Thurles Town’s proudest sons Jimmy Doyle, possibly the finest Tipperary hurler in the history of the game, and will henceforth will be known as “Jimmy Doyle Road.”

Jimmy was born only a short “puck,” from Semple Stadium, close to the Hospital of The Assumption, and a short distance from the road now bearing his name. Jimmy played hurling for his local club Thurles Sarsfields and at county senior level for almost two decades, winning four county minor hurling titles and ten county senior hurling titles. He is also holder of a football county title with Thurles Crokes in 1960.

Jimmy Doyle pictured here with family members who attended the event.

This road is an important piece of infrastructure in the Thurles area, which should now assist in alleviating at least some traffic congestion in the town centre for the future.

In 1991, Thurles Town Council first identified the need to provide a link road from the N-62 Templemore Road to join the R-498 Nenagh Road, thus addressing serious road safety issues for both vehicles, cyclists & pedestrian at the junctions of Parnell Street / Cu-Chulainn Road, and Cu-Chulainn Road /O’Donovan Rossa Street.

We will be bringing you more pictures & details on this positive event for Thurles, over the coming days.

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Thurles International Hurling Festival 2012 Expands

Last July Thurles Sarsfields hosted the first ever International Hurling Festival, its prize the Tom Semple Cup.

This inaugural competition saw eight teams taking part on Munster Final weekend 2011: The Wild Geese from the USA; Robert Emmets and Kilburn Gaels from London; Na Magha from Derry; Keady from Armagh; Naomh Moinne from Louth; Dunboyne from Meath and Naas from Co. Kildare.

(Click on Pic Image, courtesy of J.O’Loughlin, for larger resolution.)

The Tom Semple Cup was presented to the captain of Kilburn Gaels, after an exciting final against Dunboyne, by Anne Semple daughter of the great Tom Semple.

This initiative by Thurles Sarsfields, to promote both tourism and hurling Internationally, has to be commended and supported by all who have an interest in promoting Tipperary as a venue for National and International tourism.

The success of the competition can be gauged by the fact that all teams have agreed to come back in 2012 and all publicly have expressed their enjoyment and appreciation of the event. The festival gave a much needed boost to the local economy last year and was very much appreciated by local business and all tourist interests in the area. The Tom Semple Cup is now recognised by both Croke Park and Shannon Development and is a permanent fixture on the GAA calendar.

This year, Thurles, proudly waving the  banner “European Town of Sport,” for 2012, will see an even more exciting Festival, with the competition expanded to 12 teams, with the European County Finals in Hurling and Camogie also taking place in conjunction with the Tom Semple Cup.  The first every official Hurl Ball competition will be established and Road Bowling teams from Cork and Northern Ireland have promised to join in and entertain.

This event has the potential to attract very large crowds of people on July 13th and 14th 2012 and the fact that it is run on Munster Final weekend is very much an added attraction. This competition will now grow and grow. Word has already started to spread about the Tom Semple Cup, and 4 teams from the USA have expressed an interest in taking part in 2013.

It is envisage that not only Thurles and Tipperary people abroad will come home but also the new hurlers in the developing hurling clubs in America and elsewhere will come to Thurles to see what hurling is all about. To all our friends abroad, Thurles says “Come home for the hurling.”

Thurles Sarsfields would like to thank all those who supported last year’s event, which they are eager to point out, could not have taken place without the generous support of the local sponsors named hereunder:-
Lisheen Mines, Ryan’s Waste Management, Jim Ryan Financial Services, Des Hanafin, Ely Centra Food Market, McKevitt Costcutters, Gary Loughnane Barber, Stakelum’s Office Supplies, Naoimi’s Café Friar Street, Anner Hotel Thurles, Templemore Arms Hotel, Brian Farrell Catering, Walsh Printing, Thurles Credit Union, Moran’s Menswear, Hanafin’s Furniture, Mitchel House Restaurant, Thurles Co-op, Murphy Office Systems, John Enright and Josephine Lowry Event Management.

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Tipperary GAA Bloody Sunday Football Ticket For Sale

A rare GAA Gaelic football match ticket for a game between Tipperary and Dublin and which was played on “Bloody Sunday,” November 21st 1920, goes on sale next week.

The ticket is one of only a handful still in existence from that infamous football game held in Croke Park, in which 14 people were killed and 60 wounded, after British soldiers fired on attending spectators and players.

This rare ticket, in fine condition, is attracting huge International attention and is expected to be sold at between €5,000 – €30,000, during a two day auction tomorrow (13th) and Tuesday 14th February, in Foley’s Auction Rooms, Sixmilebridge, Co. Clare.

The story of Bloody Sunday 1920 is a tale of extreme violence in Dublin during the Irish War of Independence, when a total of 31 people, fourteen British, fourteen Irish civilians and three republican prisoners were killed.

The day had begun with an Irish Republican Army’s (IRA) operation, under the direction of Michael Collins and Richard Mulcahy, to assassinate the “Cairo Gang,“or “Special Gang,” and others, using a clandestine group of IRA members known as the “The Twelve Apostles.”

The “Cairo Gang,“or “Special Gang,” were a team of undercover British agents working and living in Dublin. Twelve were British Army officers, one a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary and the last a civilian informant. In the end, of the 35 people originally on Collins’ hit list, only about a third were assisinated, however the action would terrify and cripple British intelligence here in Ireland.

In retaliation for this IRA action, the Royal Irish Constabulary opened fire on a crowd attending a Gaelic football match in Croke Park, killing fourteen civilians. Some police fired into the fleeing crowd, while others outside the Park, opened fire from the Canal Bridge at spectators who climbed over the Canal end wall in their attempt to escape. When the firing stopped seven people had been shot to death, five more had been fatally wounded and another two people lay trampled to death by the fleeing crowd. The dead included two boys aged 10 and 11 years and Tipperary Gaelic football player Michael Hogan, a native of Grandemockler, Co Tipperary. Hogan’s name was memorialised posthumously by the building of the Hogan Stand at Croke Park, in 1924.  Later that evening, three IRA suspects in Dublin Castle were beaten and killed by their British captors, allegedly while trying to escape.

Continue reading Tipperary GAA Bloody Sunday Football Ticket For Sale

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Death Of Tipperary Hurling Legend Phil Shanahan

Tipperary Hurling Champions 1949

It is with regret we report that Phil Shanahan, who played hurling with both his native Tipperary and Dublin, has passed away.

Born in the parish of Toomevara North Tipperary in January 1928, Phil made his debut at senior level with his club in the 1945 Championship, at just seventeen years of age.

Phil played minor hurling with Tipperary in 1946 and won both All Ireland and Munster senior hurling medals with Tipperary in the famous three in a row victories of 1949, 1950 and 1951, one of only eight players who played in the same position for the three championships.

Phil retired from club hurling in 1966, after a successful career of twenty years. He later turned his attention to training and coaching, beginning with Portlaoise, where he lead the club to five senior football titles between 1966 and 1971. On retiring from Esso in 1982 Phil trained and coached Killenaule, to win three South Tipperary Intermediate Championships in hurling, in 1983, 1985 and 1986.

Phil will be remembered as one of hurling’s finest midfielders, winning four Railway Cup medals in 1950, 1951, 1952 and 1953 and four National Hurling League medals in 1949, 1950, 1952 and 1957.

We extend our deepest sympathy to his wife Joan (Power) and to his sons, Philip, Brian and David and to all his extended family.

Removal will take place from O’Donoghue’s Funeral Home, Kickham Street, Clonmel, at 7.30pm to St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church this evening. Burial will follow Requiem Mass at 1.00pm tomorrow, in St. Patrick’s Cemetery.

Go ndéana Dia trócaire ar a anam dílis.

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