ON Friday night, December 5th, Carbery GAA will review an historic year at its annual convention in Kilbrittain.

The centenary year began last December at the convention in Bandon when a special centenary plaque was unveiled in the GAA pavilion. A similar ceremony will take place in Kilbrittain on Friday night where a plaque will be unveiled to close this centenary year.

Bandon and Kilbrittain are the two clubs from the original founding five in 1925 to be still active in the Carbery division. Kinsale, Innishannon and the defunct Knockavilla were the other three.

The unveiling of the plaque will take place at the new dressing-rooms in Kilbrittain at 7.30pm. The accompanying address by the president of the divisional board, Séamus Coakley of Diarmuid Ó Mathúna, will take place in the parish hall at the beginning of the convention at 8pm. All the championship winners from 2025 will parade their trophies on the night.

With the centenary year officially closed, it will be down to business for the convention, with a review of the year’s playing activities and planning for the 2026 season. The officer board shows no changes from 2025, all the outgoing being returned unopposed. Three board members will be co-opted onto the executive at the first board meeting of the new year.

Conventions now are much different than in the past when the delegates might have to plough their way through a raft of motions from clubs. That rarely happens now as most directives come from Croke Park and many aspects of the GAA, such as finance and championships, can only be dealt with at board meetings, not at convention.

From Clann na nGael Group were, front from left, Margaret Donovan Daly, Martina Burns, and Roisin Burns. Back from left, Owen Burns, Amy Enright, Facthna Daly, and Sean Keohane. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

On the playing front, there should be good debate on a few current issues. The constricted club season which sees many dual clubs in action week after week, with little break, from the end of July to September must get a good airing. The possibility of the All-Ireland finals being shoved back into August in 2027, while the Munster deadlines remain untouchable in November, will restrict the club playing season even more.

A major issue has also arisen over independent teams (amalgamated teams as most people call them) which could affect many clubs in Carbery. A new clampdown on amalgamations is underway at all underage levels even though depopulation of our rural clubs has seen an escalation in the number of clubs unable to field underage teams on their own. It does look as if this is one area that Croke Park is losing touch with its rural clubs. For instance, Ibane Gaels, a combination of Argideen Rangers and Barryroe, which has been very successful in recent years, will not be allowed to amalgamate at U21 in 2026 by the county board regulations, even though they reached that county football final this season. No doubt, their delegates will have their say on Friday night

New insurance schemes, new trusteeships, net vetting procedures, etc, all leading to more work for volunteer club administrators, have been foisted on clubs over the past 12 months and are now leading to a serious problem in recruiting volunteers at club level. More ammunition for the delegates.

St Colum's Jimmy and Kathleen O'Sullivan with Tim and Kathleen O'Sullivan at the Carbery GAA Centenary Gala Ball. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

The new football playing rules have seen the light of day this season and there have been various problems, while most would agree that they have improved Gaelic football as a spectacle. Still, there are improvements to be made and hopefully, we will hear some from the delegates at convention. Full credit to the loyal band of referees who have adapted to the new rules very well, under a lot of pressure, and the growing shortage of qualified referees, plus the ageing profile of the present band of referees, should get a good airing.

On the games’ front, it was a good year for the Carbery division. Kilbrittain brought back the county premier junior hurling title, as well as the Munster title last weekend. It was stated that it was the first club hurling Munster title to come to Carbery but the St James’ junior B hurlers of 2005 might question that. There was genuine delight in the division when Kilmacabea won the county junior A football title last weekend, after many heartbreaks along the way, but it highlighted the lack of county success at that level over the past decade. The wait for the county junior A hurling title goes back all the way to 2007 when Barryroe did the trick, and there must be concern among the hurling fraternity at that statistic.

While there is general agreement that the junior hurling standard in Carbery has slipped in recent years, and positive solutions would definitely be welcome, is there even more concern that our football standards are slipping back? Over the past decade, Bantry, Ilen Rovers, O’Donovan Ross, Dohenys and Carbery Rangers have all dropped out of the top premier senior football grade, why? Can the reason be traced to underage or to dropping populations?

Carbery will definitely be entering a divisional football team in the county senior championship in 2026 but it is now 21 years since they won that championship and how near are they to winning now? The Carbery hurling team is an annual problem, finding mentors, players and time to train. What is being achieved by having the team in the championship?

There may not be any motions to discuss at convention but if the delegates get properly stuck into the above problems, it could be a great night’s debating, fit to close off centenary year.