Eugene McNamara Memorial Tournament – Build-up
After a 2-year hiatus due to Covid, the Eugene McNamara Memorial Tournament makes a welcome return this St. Stephen's Day, December 26th, 2022.
So after midnight mass, multiple helpings of turkey and trifle, draining a glass or two with visitors, wondering whether you can exchange that “gift” without a receipt, watching Willy Wonka on the TV for the 475th time and rather than head to town to grab a “bargain” in the sales to add even more burden on your over-worked credit card, why not head down to the Clonroadmore for the return of the Eugene McNamara Memorial Tournament; starting at 11 am with our Academy stars strutting their stuff from 11 am to 1 pm followed by the stars from our Camogie, Ladies Football, Gaelic Football and Hurling adult teams on St Stephen’s Day (or Boxing Day for our cross-channel neighbors).
The Eugene McNamara Memorial Tournament is to honor our dearly departed friend and clubmate, Eugene McNamara, who was taken away from us on November 2nd, 2016, in tragic circumstances. Eugene was of course deeply immersed with Eire Óg from eight years of age as a player, coach, and manager. We are deeply grateful to the McNamara family for allowing us to honor Eugene in this manner.
Eugene McNamara in happier days.
Our burgeoning Academy kicks the day off at 11 am for boys born in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Players are asked to be present at 10:45. Games will take place on the Astro turf and main pitch from 11 am to 1 m. After our Academy have successfully kicked the day off, the stars from our adult teams will take over at 1 pm and we have 8 teams and their respective captains lined to play on Stephen’s Day as follows;
1) Clare Road - Niall O Connor
2) Flannan’s Road - Kevin Moynihan
3) Gallows Hill (Turnpike) - Philly Walsh
4) Gort Road - Liam Corry
5) Kilrush Road - Kevin Brennan
6) Lahinch Road - Anthony O Halloran
7) Shanaway Road - Brian Cooney
8) Tulla Road - Dean D’Auria
It’s not too late for you to sign up! Whether you play Camogie, Ladies Football, Gaelic Football or Hurling - we would live to see you involved. Anyone who wishes to play can contact Niall O’Connor on 087-6715568.
In a departure from previous years, we will be having a knockout (rather than groups in previous years) competition with the quarterfinal winners advancing to the Eugene McNamara Cup and the quarterfinal losers progressing into the Eugene McNamara Shield. The open draw for the quarterfinals will be held on Monday, Dec 19th at 8 pm in the Temple Gate Library by our new chairman, Brian Howard. The draw will be shown on Facebook Live on the CLG Éire Óg Inis page.
The outline schedule for the day is as follows –
a) Eugene McNamara Memorial Academy Games from 11 am to 1 pm.
b) Eugene McNamara Memorial Tournament Games from 1 to 4 pm.
c) Winner’s presentations straight after the Eugene McNamara Cup final in our new stand.
d) Live Sport will be shown in the clubhouse throughout the day - starting at 5.30 pm with the return of the Premier League with Liverpool vs Aston Villa followed by the titanic Munster vs Leinster rugby clash at 7.30 pm.
e) Plus, a presentation will be made to Shane O’Donnell in honor of his 2022 hurling All-Star at 6 pm.
f) Finally, we’ll have Live Music in the clubhouse with Lee Wall from 6 to 8 pm to keep us all entertained.
As a build-up to the big event on the 26th, we will be profiling a team a day, starting tomorrow with our senior hurling captain, Liam Corry and the Gort Road team. One team a day up to Christmas Eve so stay tuned!
