FOUNDED in 1925, the Carbery GAA Board continued the celebrations of its centenary year with a spectacular display by all 26 of the division’s clubs in the Parkway Hotel, Dunmanway, last Sunday.
Each club was allotted a stand to display its activities, including the history of each club, and the display of colours in the hall was breathtaking. All clubs enthusiastically took part in the occasion with an amazing array of photographs, cups, medals, jerseys and other paraphernalia.
The Parkway Hotel was an appropriate venue for the exhibition as one hundred years ago, as the Railway Hotel under the ownership of the Bernard family, it was the venue for many meetings of the newly formed South West GAA board.
The Bernard family later sold a nearby field to the local Doheny club and that became the impressive Sam Maguire Park, now recognised as the centre of West Cork GAA, where the present South West board holds its meetings.
Cork County Board CEO/secretary Kevin O'Donovan adressing the large attendance at the Carbery GAA Centenary Celebration in the Parkway Hotel, Dunmanway last Sunday.***
The oldest cup on view was the original one presented to the Kilbrittain club on winning the first-ever junior hurling championship in West Cork in 1905, a priceless heirloom.
A replica of the Sam Maguire Cup on the Doheny stand really caught the eye, Maguire, himself, being a native of the parish. The retired, famous Little Norah junior football cup sat proudly on the Carbery stand, side by side with the Flyer Nyhan hurling cup.
Hamilton High School proudly displayed the cherished Simcox Cup, won for the first time this season. Castlehaven had the Andy Scannell senior football cup and the array of cups on the Rebel Óg stand would have taken the whole day to study.
The oldest team photograph we spotted was Clonakilty’s football team of 1892 which won the West Cork senior football championship in 1892 and 1893.
The photograph of the Doheny team that brought the county senior football title to West Cork for the first time in 1897, and reached the All-Ireland final, grabbed a lot of attention.
We were delighted to unearth a photograph we thought never existed, the Carbery senior football team of 1937 that won the division’s first of four county titles.
As we looked at the photographs of Carbery hurlers’ historic win in the county senior hurling win of 1994, we had the privilege of talking to one of the heroes of that great victory, Denis Healy of Kilbrittain.
A photograph of a victorious Farranferris Harty Cup team of yore was displayed with many West Cork lads involved. We lamented the loss of that great hurling school to West Cork hurling.
Also noted was the huge collection of medals on the St Oliver Plunketts’ stand while Clonakilty displayed their seven county senior football and South West junior hurling medals won by their legendary Seamie O’Donovan. Kilbrittain had hurling medals dating back to 1924 and were the worthy winners of a hamper for most tweets on social media.
Dohenys - Barry Herlihy, Philip Kelleher, Mark Farr, Denis Collins Michael Farr, Eddie Moloney and Christopher O'Mahony with the Sam Maguire Cup.***
Beautifully framed were the jerseys of two clubs no longer in existence, Caha Rangers and Gloun Rovers. St Colums’ famous tangerine jersey caught all our attention when it first appeared on the GAA fields of West Cork in the early seventies and was also displayed.
Darrara College, Drinagh Rovers and Barley Hills were other clubs remembered in the displays but now gone from us.
We were taken too, with the manner in which the St. Mary’s club, home of the late, great John Corcoran, paid tribute to its deceased members.
The Centenary Committee which organised the day’s events deserve great credit on a job well done and they are Tim Buckley, David Whyte, Martina Burns, Don Desmond, Donal McCarthy, Padjoe Connolly, Gabrielle Crowley, Joe Crowley, Barry Herlihy, Christy Daly, Séamus Coakley, Tom Lyons, Aidan O’Rourke and Frank Long.
Sadly missed were past president, Danny Warren, and assistant secretary, Donal McCarthy, who would have loved to be present but are hospitalided at the moment.
It was our great honour to rub shoulders and chat with some great players of the past, Dan Murphy of Ballinascarthy, Mick Farr of Dohenys and Den Nyhan of Mathúna’s.
Carbery hurling sponsors JJ and Veronica McCarthy of RCM Tarmacadam Ltd.***
Apart from the club stands, it was encouraging to see the Referee’s Association, Rebel Óg, Sciath na Scol, Hamilton High, MICC, Carbery Cheese and Cancer Connect stands also catering for the appetite of a huge crowd.
The contribution of our Scór singers, musicians and dancers was well appreciated. For once, we had all 26 clubs in the division pulling together, showing huge pride to make the day a wonderful success. C103, Radio na Gaeltachta and the Southern Star provided media coverage. The formal parts of the proceedings saw Cathaoirleach of the Carbery Board, David Whyte, welcome everybody and he thanked all those who had provided stands. President of the Board, Séamus Coakley, in his wide-ranging address, referenced the huge role the GAA played in communities.
‘Each club is embedded in its own community and the GAA clubs have evolved not just as sporting clubs but as a powerful organisation central to all community activities,’ the president stated.
‘Because of demographics and shifting populations the GAA must continue to adapt. It needs to add its voice to those seeking planning and housing justice.
‘Those issues are central to the GAA surviving in every corner of this division. The next generation has a right to live and work in their own local areas.’
The president also paid tribute to Rebel Óg and Sciath na Scol for developing the games in schools and thanked the teachers for passing on the love of our games to their pupils.
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Later in the day, a parade of clubs, flanked by young players in club colours with flags and trophies, took place before the official launch of the 2025 club championships. The board sponsors, RCM Tarmacadam, Bandon Co-op, Clona Milk, Carbery Group, and Laide and O’Brien were thanked for their valued contributions.
Specially honoured were the Bandon junior hurling team from 1975, who won the junior A championship 50 years ago. That was followed by a parade of Carbery referees who were warmly thanked for their contributions.
The afternoon concluded with an address by the CEO of the County Board, Kevin O’Donovan, a member of the Kilmeen club, a local man the Carbery division is immensely proud of.
Supporting him on the day was the present vice-chairperson of the county board, Noel O’Callaghan of Clonakilty, soon to become the first ever chairperson of the county board from a Carbery club in the 100-year history of the division.
The feeling at the end of such a marvelous occasion was that all the hard work and promotion was worthwhile. It showcased what the Carbery Division is all about and what it has achieved over the past 100 years.
Hopefully, it will encourage clubs to put on exhibitions in their own areas and to provide a proper headquarters for the board which would contain a divisional GAA museum.
Looking at all the history on display last Sunday, it is definitely a project for the division’s Gaels to undertake as it begins its second century.
