Shinrone GAA and Camogie Clubs set ambitious fundraising target after purchase of new playing pitch
New playing pitch will alleviate pressure for Shinrone GAA and Camogie Clubs
A NEW hurling and camogie pitch will be developed in Shinrone after the purchase of a long sought after extra four acres of land.
The new full size pitch will be developed to the left of the current training and soccer pitches at their very impressive community owned complex in Shinrone village.
The land was purchased from a local man Philip Kennedy and the new pitch will be of great benefit to Shinrone GAA and Camogie Clubs, who field several teams at adult level and in underage grades.
With Shinrone Camogie Club one of only a couple in Offaly fielding two adult teams, and Shinrone GAA lining out in senior, intermediate and junior “B”, there has been considerable pressure on availability of their very impressive main playing pitch.
The new pitch will greatly alleviate this and will be a great asset to the wider community as the development will included the provision of a 2 metre wide walkway around the pitch and adjoining areas.
There was a large turnout at a launch of the acquistion and their development plans in Shinrone Community Centre on Saturday night.
Extensive work has to take place to get the pitch ready for action and a €150,000 target has been set to meet the cost of this and its acquistion.
A big 5k walk has been planned for Shinrone on October 31 to try and meet, and hopefully exceed, this target. Participants will be asked to secure support through the Idonate fundraising portal and an extensive social media campaign will take place.
Other GAA clubs have achieved spectacular results through similar fundraising ventures and Shinrone GAA and Camogie Clubs are hoping to tap into the huge goodwill that exists in the area.
All members of the Shinrone senior hurling and camogie teams have signed up to raise funds and other locals were urged to put their shoulder to the wheel at Saturday's big launch.
Businesses will also be asked to support the project and there was obvious enthusiasm for the venture among the big crowd at the formal launch.
Chairman of Shinrone GAA Club, Sean Ormond stated that they are “building for the future” and he praised everyone involved in delivering the project to this stage.
Shinrone Camogie Club's Joe Cleary spoke about the importance of providing extra playing facilities for their large number of hurlers and camogie players and he thanked the Shinrone community development committee and the Kennedy family for their backing in securing the pitch.
Mr Cleary outlined a charming story about a recently discovered U16 Hurling Championship medal that was won by Shinrone in 1936. It was won by Michael Spain who went to America in the 1940s and was brought back to Shinrone by his son who was keen to find information on it and his father. Mr Cleary said this was evidence of how important these things are for people.
He said the new pitch and walkway will be of great benefit to the whole community and outlined the history of the Camogie Club, which was formed in 1979.
Mr Brendan Feehan told a captivating story about the initial securing of the original land for the community from the old Belfield Estate in the early 1960s.
A member of the Shinrone team that won the minor hurling title in 1951, he recalled that they had used a different hurling field a bit outside the village and wanted to get one in close to the centre.
The formal part of the evening concluded with Stephanie Ormond conducting a light hearted questions and answers session with senior hurler, Killian Sampson; senior camogie player, Orla Maher; former camogie player, Caroline Glynn; and underage players Conor Keeshan, Lucy O'Sullivan and Rachel Dockery.
They spoke with great pride about playing for Shinrone and urged support for this project. The link for making donations can be accessed here.