Sport - Thurles Information

Semple Stadium – Fields of Legends.

‘Semple Stadium – Fields of Legends’ – by Author Liam Ó Donnchú.

Semple Stadium, Thurles, Co Tipperary, is truly “the home of hurling”.

This illustrated history of Semple Stadium begins in 1884, when the GAA was founded in Thurles and chronicles the story of ‘Thurles Sportsfield’, from its purchase in 1910, right up to the present day.

This truly major publication features all its great days; from the development of the stadium; major games that were played there; significant players and managers; broadcasting from the grounds; the work of the groundsmen, Féile-The Trip to Tipp and other events held at the stadium over the years.

It also contains personal recollections and accounts of this place where legends are made. The publication is also richly illustrated by archive photographs and ephemera.

The Author.

Liam Ó Donnchú is a native of Hollyford, County Tipperary and now resides at Ballymoreen, near Thurles.

Having spent over four decades as a primary school teacher; Liam, now retired, is director of Lár na Páirce, the museum of Gaelic Games in Thurles and for many years, PRO of Semple Stadium. He is a former player, secretary and chairman of Thurles Sarsfields GAA club and at present its vice-president.

Liam is author of such publications as: Thurles Sarsfields GAA Story Vol 1&2, Tom Semple and The Thurles Blues, Pouldine School-Inné agus Inniu, co-author of Tipperary’s GAA Ballads, Horse and Jockey- a pictorial record and has written numerous articles on Gaelic games.

His latest book, ‘Semple Stadium – Fields of Legends’ will be published this September by the O’Brien Press and is available to pre-order online at Eason [ Link https://bit.ly/3ztEhGL ]

The book, which we highly recommend to lovers of Gaelic sports, is published in hardback; contains 384 pages and costs €24.99.

Tipperary Hurling Sponsor Declan Kelly Accused Of Drunken Antics At Charity Event.

According to Independent.ie, multi-millionaire PR mogul and Tipperary senior hurling sponsor Mr Declan Kelly, brother of Labour Leader and TD Mr Alan Kelly, has temporally stepped aside from some of his responsibilities as the CEO and chairperson of Teneo; latter, the strategy firm he co-founded. This follows accusations of drunkenly misbehaving at a charity event last month.

A statement made by a spokesperson for the chief executive said, Mr Kelly became inebriated and behaved inappropriately towards women and men at a cocktail party for a fundraising concert hosted by Global Citizen on May 2nd last, which was chaired by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and featured performances by Jennifer Lopez, Foo Fighters and Selena Gomez, as well as appearances from President Joe Biden and Pope Francis.

Global Citizen, headquartered in New York, with offices in Canada, South Africa, Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom, is a movement of engaged citizens who are using their collective voice to end extreme poverty by 2030.

Tipperary-born Mr Kelly is understood to have been asked for his resignation the day after the event, and resigned his board seat at Global Citizen, latter an anti-poverty charity, chaired by Mr Chris Stadler, the managing partner of CVC Capital Partners, the majority shareholder in Teneo.

The spokesperson’s statement further confirmed that Mr Kelly regretted his actions and had apologised to those he had offended. Mr Kelly had also “temporarily reduced his work responsibilities”, was now “committed to sobriety” and was “undertaking ongoing counselling from healthcare professionals”.

LIT Announced As New Basketball Ireland Centre Of Excellence.

Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) is now a Basketball Ireland Centre of Excellence.

Earlier today (Wednesday June 16, 2021), the national governing body for the sport on the island of Ireland, announced LIT and Trinity College Dublin as the latest Basketball Ireland Centres of Excellence, taking the number of centres to six nationwide.

Welcoming the announcement President of LIT Professor Vincent Cunnane said LIT was delighted to further develop its relationship with Basketball Ireland, thereby allowing for the further development of basketball in LIT and the region.

“The centre of excellence at LIT will provide a one-stop-shop for all the needs of Basketball Ireland teams and visiting teams. Here at LIT we have a renowned strength and conditioning programme as well as recognised expertise in sports data and analytics, and nutrition. These areas of expertise will be available to Basketball Ireland and the Centre of Excellence, along with our courts, meeting and presentation facilities, media facilities and changing rooms.”

Mr Jimmy Browne, [LIT Vice President Corporate Services & Capital Development] stated, “LIT is delighted to announce this important further development of our relationship with Basketball Ireland. LIT and Basketball Ireland have an ongoing relationship which culminated with the appointment of basketball development officer Niall Berry in 2020. The inclusive nature of basketball as a sport is perfectly aligned with LIT’s ethos, community reach and sporting philosophy. Today’s announcement will provide a platform to further enhance this ethos and the growth of basketball in the Mid-West region.”

Mr Niall Berry, BasketbalI Ireland Development Officer LIT added “Ireland’s international basketball teams have been doing a great job over the years competing in Europe. The Basketball Ireland Centres of Excellence, like the one here in LIT, give young basketball players a vision of a collegiate structure that will in turn encourage them to work hard to be involved in a Centre of Excellence. These young players will also see their own club members going to Centres of Excellence and travelling just down the road to LIT, to train and to play. These players will want to emulate that success and this in turn will have a massive impact on both the players and basketball in the region.”

Speaking about the LIT and Trinity College Dublin announcement Basketball Ireland CEO, Mr Bernard O’Byrne said, “This is another significant announcement to have renowned institutions like Trinity College Dublin and LIT as Basketball Ireland Centres of Excellence. They both have a strong track record in basketball and this commitment further reinforces it. With Ulster University, NUI Galway, Waterford IT and Letterkenny IT already announced, it illustrates our commitment to have a geographical spread of these facilities across the country, to reach all corners and provide top notch facilities for our basketball community, continuing to provide platforms for the growth of our sport.”

The Centres of Excellence will be used for national training camps for international sides, along with Basketball Ireland academies. There will also be the ability to host international fixtures, national senior competitions, intervarsity competitions, as well as local schools’ cups and blitzes.

Thurles Skateboard Park Padlocked.

The Thurles Skateboard Park, used mainly nowadays by the new scooter generation, the older BMX generation, daredevils using hijacked shopping trolleys, yes and even one or two skateboards; suffered an unwarranted, serious act of vandalism, possibly last night.

This amenity here in Thurles remains padlocked today, in the interests of health and safety.

The already graffiti clad skateboard arena had one sheet of its surface ripped out, (See picture above), leading to a complete closure of the whole facility.

Of course there was, once again, a failure to identify those involved, due to the non existance of CCTV cameras.

Our readers will remember back in August 2017 (Over 3 years ago) we asked the question, “Does Thurles CCTV Actually Work?” Read HERE and see also blog of July 2019, “Is Thurles CCTV System Just A €100,000 Bird Perch?”. Read HERE.

Did anyone hear anything, see anything or has anyone got further information. It should be noted that calls made to Crimestoppers are completely anonymous and callers do not need to leave names or addresses.

Historic Grand National Win For Killenaule’s Rachel Blackmore.

After capturing the attention of the Horse-Racing world at Cheltenham 2021 with her Champion Hurdle win aboard ‘Honeysuckle‘ and ending the week as top rider, Rachel Blackmore today has made history as the first female rider to win the world’s most famous race, the Aintree Grand National on ‘Minella Times‘, for Waterford trainer Henry De Bromhead and owner J.P. McManus.

Ms Blackmore, the daughter of Charles and Eimir Blackmore, of Killenaule, Co. Tipperary, kept her mount out of trouble throughout the race and struck the front after the 29th and 2nd last fence. A fantastic jump at the last propelled ‘Minella Times‘ into a few lengths lead over ‘Balko de Flos‘, and Rachel never relinquished her lead despite the long run in from the famous Elbow at Aintree.

This is a famous achievement for Ms Blackmore, being the first female to win the Grand National. She has shown what hard work and dedication to her craft can do, and it is a proud day for Co. Tipperary, as her Star shone brightest on the biggest stage of all on Grand National day.

She has shown that when given the opportunities, this Tipperary lady is as fine a jockey as ever produced from within these shores, male or female.